I hissed in a breath. “You know human fairy tales?”
I could feel the air shift as she shrugged. “I know books. I’m not someone looking for a prince. I’m not fragile or broken or in need of rescue. I don’t have the gentleness that calls animals to me and prevents me from harming anyone, even for my own safety. I fight my own battles with teeth and nails, with my wit and my position, the same way all vampire females do. The same way we’re trained to from the time we’re born. If you think that as a princess I can’t, or won’t, kill anyone who wants to harm me, who wants to harm the people I love, then you’re dangerously underestimating me.
“Now, you have a choice. If you don’t want me to numb this, if you want it to hurt—or at least don’t want it to feel pleasurable—then that’s your call to make. I will drink from you, no matter your decision, but I won’t make the choice for you.” What did I want? Did I want it to hurt, to remind me that she was evil and corrupted? Or did I want to see what she meant when she promised that her bite could bring pleasure I hadn’t dreamt of? Pleasure, my body screamed the word at me, already decided in what it wanted, my morals unimportant. “Choose, my pet. I won’t wait forever.”
“Pleasure.” The gravelly word was pulled from my lips, and I shivered when her mouth pressed to the tender skin at the side of my throat. I wanted to see if she was lying to me, trying to give me a false sense of hope. That was the only reason I asked for pleasure… Maybe if I said it enough, I could convince myself it was true. “But nothing more than the bite.” There was no way it could feel as good as she promised, but it was better to keep that boundary firmly in place.
“I understand, pet. Just close your eyes. It won’t hurt, I promise.” Her tongue stroked lightly across my skin, tracing the sensitive curve, and my breath caught in my throat. Her lips closed around me, sucking lightly as her tongue flicked with gentle, teasing strokes. I angled my head to give her better access, groaning lightly as the tips of her fangs grazed me before sinking deep. “Fuck!”
I was instantly hard as a rock, lights dancing in the corner of my eyes as my blood plummeted south. My eyes rolled into the back of my head with a moan as she sucked and licked, taking swallow after swallow of my blood. It was as though she had wrapped her mouth around my cock at the same time it was wrapped around my neck, each suck and flick geared toward making me come as hard and as fast as she could. Every pull of her mouth had me throbbing against my pants and heat burning through my veins as I panted and writhed. Her hands came up to hold me in place, keeping me still as she fed and drove me closer and closer to the ledge. My hips thrust forward, searching for relief against the fire that flooded me. Her fangs pulled from my throat for a moment before she struck again, and that was all it took to have me coming hard as a moan ripped through me, the pleasure radiating throughout my body.
Her fangs slid from my neck and she licked over the wound, washing away the remaining blood and sealing the wound before she stepped away. She slipped around to the chair opposite me, settling into it as her skirt flowed around her. Color flushed her cheeks and her lips, painting them in shades of rose. Not a drop of blood remained to show what she had just done, her manner cool and calm as she reached for a book. She hadn’t even touched me, and I’d come like a teenage boy with his first girl, yet here she was acting as though she hadn’t just turned me inside out with pleasure. I stroked a trembling hand lightly across my neck as I sought the marks. I could feel my skin slightly dimpled in, much the way it would look if another human had bitten me, but no blood remained behind.
“You’re welcome to use my shower, pet. There should be extra pants in my bathroom that will fit you for the moment, but in the future you will want to have a few changes of your clothing here. I’d send you down to your rooms, but we’ve wasted quite a bit of time this morning already.” She’d already pulled a book in front of her, her hair falling forward as she bent over it, giving it her focus. I was slightly shaky as I pushed to my feet, though whether that was the blood loss or the orgasm, I couldn’t be sure. I headed for the shower, hoping the pounding water would help to clear my head because, as of now, there was no way I could look at her and think “servant,” let alone “monster.” And maybe, just maybe, that made her even more dangerous than she already was.
Chapter Five
Elsie
That had been far more intense than I bargained for. I pressed my thighs together, seeking the friction I so desperately needed, debating if I would have enough time to take care of this pleasure that bordered on pain before Sebastian returned. Probably not, no matter how badly I needed release. Where I had enjoyed his blood from the sip I had last night, between the bond connecting us and drinking my fill, I was about ready to combust. The way he had moaned as my mouth worked across his skin, his taste coating my tongue, the muscles in his arms rippling under my hands as I held him against me… I shivered as my core clenched. I needed to focus, to distract myself. I wasn’t the kind of vampire who let herself be sidetracked by the needs of my body. Sex, hunger, comfort, and even sleep could all be put off or redirected. My research was what mattered, and no matter how gorgeous or delicious my new pet was, I would not allow him to be the diversion that brought me to my knees. I heard the water turn off, followed by Sebastian shuffling around and redressing. He would need to eat now, a decent meal to help his body replace what he had lost. Our bond would make him stronger and allow him to lose more blood without detriment, but it wasn’t foolproof. He still needed to be cared for to keep himself at the peak of health, and food was one thing that would do that. I pushed to my feet, pulling the bell cord twice in a row, the signal for whatever servant was closest to immediately attend. It only took moments for a knock to sound on the door, and I tugged it open, showcasing a small, cowering male servant with dark hair covering his face. His shoulders were hunched too far down to guess at his height or what he looked like, though I was pretty sure he was close to my own stature or a little shorter. I’d have to question Sebastian about the changes in service, seeing as females were normally the only gender in this wing of the castle, not males.
“A tray of human food for my pet,” I ordered briskly, glancing back with only minor irritation at my books. Hopefully we wouldn’t need to do this little routine every time I needed to feed. I hated wasting time when I could be researching. “Heavy on the sugar and protein, and quickly too.”
“Yes, miss.” His words were a whimper as he scurried away, nearly tripping over his feet in his haste, making me roll my eyes. Sebastian might have wondered why he was my first pet, why he had caught my eye, but it was the fact that he still held that fire inside him, that seed of rebellion so carefully hidden behind his polite facade, which had sparked my interest in claiming him. I had lived for many years, and I couldn’t remember meeting his counterpart.
I let the door swing shut, returning to my place at the desk as Sebastian exited the bathroom, rubbing a towel across his hair to dry the mixed strands. Wet like this, it was harder to see the gold threads, his hair turning to a blend of shades of brown and black due to the water that had soaked it. The pants were snug against his body, riding low to showcase a strip of his toned abdomen and clinging to his thickly muscled thighs. I forced my eyes away, stroking a tongue against my fangs as he placed the towel in the hamper and joined me, a blush staining his cheeks and sneaking up to color the tips of his ears.