Total pages in book: 362
Estimated words: 347293 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1736(@200wpm)___ 1389(@250wpm)___ 1158(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 347293 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1736(@200wpm)___ 1389(@250wpm)___ 1158(@300wpm)
“Liessa,” he said roughly. “Release your fangs.”
I obeyed, pulling them from his skin.
“That’s my Queen.” Ash’s hand fisted my hair. “Keep drinking.”
I did.
My mouth sealed hungrily over the wound I’d created. Maybe I really had needed to feed. I drank deeply, my fingers pressing into the taut flesh of his waist. Gods, there was nothing like his smoky flavor and how the awe-inspiring power of his blood felt like a jolt to every sense, strengthening me. Empowering me.
But his blood was doing even more than that.
Each draw on his vein created a languid, thick heat. I pressed against him, skin tingling all over as I moaned. My fingers dug into his shirt. My blood hummed as it pounded through me. Heightened desire pooled between my thighs, and my body reacted. I strained to get closer to him, needing him.
“I know,” Ash groaned, the arm around my waist tightening as he lifted me. “Don’t stop feeding.”
I drank, vaguely aware of him moving us to the settee. As he sat, I pushed on his shoulders, forcing him onto his back. A thick, husky chuckle stirred the hair at my temple and then ended in a moan as his rigid length parted my flesh.
I had no idea how we’d gotten turned around on the settee or when he’d ended up flat on his back. All I could concentrate on was the feel of his cock filling me as the power of his blood did the same. The combination drove me wild. I ground against him, keeping him deeply seated in me.
“That’s it.” His voice was a sensual snarl as one hand cradled the back of my head and the other fell to my hip. His fingers pressed into the flesh there. “Ride me.”
His demand fanned the flames. I fucked him, drinking and drinking. And, gods, I wanted to keep drinking. I wanted to drown in his taste. I felt my release barreling down on me, but I knew where that could lead—even for a Primal. Especially a newly risen Primal.
Bloodlust.
Though it wasn’t easy, I forced myself to lift my head. When I did, Ash wrenched my mouth to his. Our lips and fangs crashed together as I came, and he followed with a thrust of his hips.
“Do you need more?” he asked after a few moments, his voice richer.
“No.” A fine sheen of sweat dampened my brow as I drew back and opened my eyes. Two small, angry red marks marred his flesh. Instinct took over once more. I nicked my tongue with a fang and then licked the wounds. Ash shuddered as I sealed the punctures.
My grip on his shoulders relaxed as I wiggled down, resting my cheek on his chest. “Thank you.”
“I feel like I need to be the one thanking you,” he replied.
A tired smile pulled at my lips as a faint quiver danced from muscle to muscle.
“I want you to make me a promise,” he said after a moment. “That you won’t run off and start searching every inch of the palace for my paintings the first moment you get.”
“I wasn’t planning to do that.” I lied because that was likely exactly what I would do.
“Liessa,” he murmured, his voice heavy with knowing amusement.
“Whatever,” I muttered. “I won’t go searching for them.”
“Thank you.” He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “I want to be with you when you see them.”
The quiet way he said that and the fact that he wanted to be there when I saw them eased my impatience a whole lot. I smiled up at him. “I love you,” I told him. “Even though I’m thoroughly jealous of this hidden talent of yours.”
He laughed softly. “I’m sure I can help you improve.”
“I wouldn’t be so certain of that.”
“Trust me,” he murmured, smoothing his fingers over my hair. “I will have you drawing straight lines in no time.”
Smiling, I turned my head and dropped a kiss onto his chest—his cold chest.
Concern sliced through the pleasant fog in my brain. I sat up. His eyes were open, and the glow of eather was bright behind his pupils. He looked the same. The hollows of his cheeks weren’t stark. His features weren’t drawn, but…
“Do you need to feed?” The moment the question left my lips, a messy mix of emotions swept through me once again. There was blade-sharp anticipation, partly due to the sensuality of the act itself but also because I wanted to give him what he’d given me. Power. Life. But there was something else beneath the longing. Something oppressive and choking.
Fear.
And it was so godsdamn ridiculous. I had no reason to feel it. Ash had taken my blood at my lake. He hadn’t hurt me. He never had. And I hadn’t thought about my time in Dalos then or what had been done to me. There was no reason to assume I would now.