Total pages in book: 182
Estimated words: 171288 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 856(@200wpm)___ 685(@250wpm)___ 571(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 171288 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 856(@200wpm)___ 685(@250wpm)___ 571(@300wpm)
“I’m just going to lick you—just lick the place where I burned you,” he said simply. “My lust-honey is a little like a Blood Kindred’s essence—the blue liquid that flows from their fangs,” he explained. “It’s not just for pleasure—I’m also able to use it to heal the female I’ve Claimed for my own.”
“But you didn’t Claim me—not really,” Penny protested. “I mean that crazy ceremony—”
“Was when I swore to take care of you,” he finished for her.
Penny frowned.
“I’d like to establish one thing here—I can take care of myself.”
“Not in this situation,” V’rex insisted. “We’re in enemy territory here—we need to take care of each other. Which is what we vowed to do.”
“You also vowed to get me pregnant,” Penny pointed out. “But you’re not going to do that. Uh…right?” She suddenly wondered if she had pushed him too far. Just because he hadn’t raped her right away didn’t mean bad things couldn’t happen in the future. She thought of how Claudette had told her about the Spice which circulated through the air of the Compound and made all the males unbearably horny…
“No, I’m not going to rape you—I thought we already established that,” V’rex growled, cutting off her worried train of thought. “But I am going to look out for you—whether you want me to or not.”
“I didn’t say I didn’t want you to get my back,” Penny objected. “I mean, I think it’s a good idea for us to look out for each other—at least, as long as we’re here and until we can get away. I just don’t need you to take care of me all the time. I am a grown woman you know. I—”
“Penelope…”
His deep voice was serious and the fact that he’d called her by her name rather than ‘sweetheart’ or ‘little girl’ made Penny shut up abruptly.
“Penelope,” he said again. “We might have been forced into that Unification Ceremony, but I take my vows to you very seriously. Now, I vowed to love, cherish, and protect,” V’rex went on quietly. “And part of cherishing is healing you when you get hurt—especially if I’m the one who hurt you.” His face twisted briefly in an expression of self-loathing as he spoke and Penny realized that it really bothered the big Hybrid a lot that he’d had to brand her.
“I hurt you, too,” she pointed out, nodding at her name, burned on his chest. “Probably a lot more than you hurt me. Penelope isn’t exactly the shortest name to, uh, brand somebody with.”
V’rex shrugged, as though his own pain didn’t matter.
“I’ll be fine—Kindred are fast healers. But I don’t like letting you suffer.”
“I’m not, honestly,” Penny said, touching her fingertips to the small V at the top of her chest to prove her point.
But this turned out to be a mistake, since touching the fresh brand really hurt.
“Ow!” She gave a little cry and yanked her fingers away as the dull throb turned into bright, burning agony all over again.
“See?” V’rex said grimly. “You’re in pain. Now come here and let me heal you, Penelope.” He sighed when she still hesitated. “Look, I promise, it will only take a minute.”
At last, Penny allowed herself to be lured over to the big Hybrid. She was still wary of him, but she let him pull her down to sit on one of his broad knees so that he could reach the spot where he’d branded her.
Then, he simply leaned over and pressed an open-mouthed kiss to the small wound. Penny tensed to have even the gentlest contact hurt, but at the first touch of his tongue, instead of pain, she felt a soothing relief. It almost felt like the big Hybrid was putting some kind of warm, healing gel on the brand.
Ohhhh,” she whispered as he lapped gently at her burned flesh. Without knowing she was doing it, she lifted her hand and slipped her fingers into the long, silky hair at the nape of his neck. The strands were so black they were almost blue and they slid through her fingers like silk as the big Hybrid continued to heal her.
It was a very intimate position—more emotionally intimate than their previous encounter on the bed, Penny thought. And though he had sworn he wouldn’t be giving her pleasure, she couldn’t help feeling some anyway—a warm sensation as though a big, gentle hand was stroking all over her body.
Strangely, she didn’t mind it. Maybe because this time she had agreed to him touching her, and she had been ready for it. It did begin to get a little intense after a while, though. Her nipples began to throb and her breasts were aching while her pussy—which had been much better for a while after getting the big Hybrid’s seed all over it—was throbbing again.
But that could be the lingering effects of the Mother’s Milk, which she’d been forced to drink in the dormitories of the Breeding and Conception Center every single day, Penny told herself. And the fact that her breasts were still full of the sticky nectar.