Page 38 of Blood Ties

Heat ran up my arm and spread across my chest. My nipples tightened under the soft jumper, and my breath caught hard enough to embarrass me.

Stellan’s eyes closed. He drew in my scent with a slow breath, then opened them again.

He paused with his fangs against my skin and waited.

I tightened my hand on his shoulder and pressed my wrist to his mouth.

His expression changed.

The hunger remained, but control settled over it. His free hand moved from mine to the back of my neck, holding me steady without forcing me nearer.

His tongue passed once over my pulse.

Then his fangs entered my skin.

Pain flashed. It lasted less than a second.

Pleasure followed so quickly that I gasped against his shoulder. My grip on the chain tightened, but I didn’t pull it. Stellan’s mouth sealed over the bite, and the first draw sent heat down my body.

The connection between us opened wide.

I felt his hunger meet the blood on his tongue. Relief struck him first, sharp enough to make his chest rise under my hand. Then came pleasure, deep and controlled, feeding back into mine until I couldn’t tell which part had started with him.

His thumb moved against the back of my neck.

My body leaned towards him.

His knee slid between mine. The chain around his waist pulled tight, keeping him against the throne, but his free arm drew me safely against his chest.

He drank again.

The ache between my legs sharpened. I pressed my thighs around his knee and bit back a sound.

Stellan heard it anyway.

His pleasure changed. Hunger no longer filled all of it. He liked the way I reacted to his mouth, and the knowledge reached me as clearly as the heat spreading under my skin.

I turned my face into his neck. His skin was cool against my cheek, but warmth was returning to him with every swallow.

His hand moved into my hair. He gathered the loose length at my nape and held it firmly enough to make another shiver pass over me.

“Stellan.”

He eased his fangs free but kept his mouth over the bite. His tongue pressed against the small wounds, slowing the blood. “Fuck.” His voice was rough against my skin.

“Slowly,” he said against my skin.

“I’m fine.” My voice didn’t sound steady. “I wasn’t expecting your knee.”

His mouth curved against my wrist.

Red light moved over the iron.

Stellan went still. The amusement left him at once.

“The court is taking some of it,” he said. “I need another mouthful.”

He didn’t ask me to decide again. I’d already done that.