He could think of a million things she should do. She should run because he wasn’t worthy of her. He was a selfish bastard, and he always would be. He couldn’t commit. It was simply impossible. This raging passion he felt for her would fade. It was inevitable, so if he had a heart in his body, he would save her the pain.
“Come to me.” He held out his hand and indicated that she should sit on his lap.
Kaja got to her feet and stepped forward. She placed herself on his lap, the soft flesh of her ass kissing his thighs. The minute her skin touched his, he felt something ease deep inside him. That nagging beast that raged below the surface let up the tiniest bit.
“Put your arms around me.” Dante let his hands drift to her waist as he breathed her in. Her hair was mostly dry, and it bloomed around her delicate face like a halo of softness. He let his nose run through it. Kaja’s hands found their way around his neck, and he could hear the way her heart sped up. She might be frightened, but there was obviously a part of her that wanted, too. Kaja knew what Dante was going to do, and yet she wrapped her body around his, allowing him to fill his every sense with her.
Dante’s heart began to pound in time to the rhythm he heard. Kaja’s chest thudded as he ran his nose along the line of her neck. He could hear the blood running through her body like a river of life. His fangs scraped her skin, and she trembled.
“Don’t be afraid.” He couldn’t stand the thought now. Her arms were around him, circling him in her light. Her very touch had softened his predatory instincts and brought out a need to please her. A consort had her power, too.
“Will it hurt?” The words came out on a breathless whisper.
He kept his mouth close to her neck. He couldn’t seem to move it. It was far too tempting. But he soothed a hand down her back. “I don’t know, love. I don’t think so. Consorts seem to love the bite, and it’s always followed by some righteously nasty sex.”
He felt her chuckle, and something eased inside him. “You sound like Dante again.”
He felt more in control. Her very nearness allowed him to push the beast back. It was still there, simmering below the surface, but Dante felt more like himself.
And he was hungry. So fucking hungry.
It gnawed at his gut, but it was so much more than physical. He hungered for her. If someone had offered him a pill at that moment, he would have smacked them down. He didn’t need fucking nutrition. He needed her.
But there was a process. Every royal knew it. Every royal was forced to study it right along with an embarrassing course in sex education. Dante had laughed his way through it, from the talk on safe feeding to the teaching plastic model every student had been forced to “feed” from to prove he wouldn’t rip its throat out. Delicacy was given high marks. If he simply bit down, she would be in agony. Persuasion was the key.
“Look at me, Kaja.” Dante forced his head up. He looked into her eyes, not allowing himself a moment to blink.
“They’re so beautiful. So green. Like the forest in high summer before the winter takes everything away.” Kaja stared at his eyes, not fighting him at all. Her mouth was slightly open. This was what the class had talked about. Persuasion. It felt good to pull her in and know she was his for the taking. She wouldn’t feel the pain of his fangs penetrating that smooth, white neck. All she would feel would be pleasure with every drag he took from her.
“You’re the beautiful one, Kaj.” He smoothed back her hair. Her crystal-blue eyes were a little cloudy, but he couldn’t mistake the affection there. She was fully in the moment with him.
And this was more than a feed. Dante pulled her close, her nipples brushing against his chest. They were hard little points. He could feel her wet little pussy rubbing against his thigh. Kaja was ready for a long, hard fucking, and he would give it to her. After.
Instinct led him. He forgot about the class and everything he’d ever heard about this act. This was between him and Kaja, and no one else in all the planes of existence could know what it felt like. The world had narrowed down, and Kaja filled it. There was only the scent of her, and the pearly glow of her skin, and the sound of her heart.
Dante gently grabbed a handful of silky hair and pulled her head back, exposing the long line of her neck. A single vein seemed to pulse and tempt him. He licked from her collarbone to just below her earlobe, following that sweet river that would feed his hunger.
“Please, Dante.” She squirmed just a little.
Dante chuckled. There was no fear in her voice now. She wanted it. She was ready to beg for it. And Dante was done playing. His cock ached and every muscle in his body screamed to take her.
“Yes. Yes, it’s time.” It was time to join with her. The phrase stuck in his head like a song he couldn’t get rid of. Joining. Being. Kaja.
Dante struck. He didn’t question how he knew where to strike. He simply let that primal piece of himself take over, and his fangs pierced the vein with flawless accuracy. Not too deep. He felt the small hollow in his fangs fill for the first time with sweet, living blood. So warm and rich. He hadn’t realized how cold he’d been before, but as Kaja’s blood began to flow through his system, he knew he’d never look at a meal pill again. This was what it meant to be full and complete. Her blood invaded him like the sweetest drug he’d ever known. She was better than alcohol, better than anything.
Dante dragged blood into his body as Kaja moaned in his arms. She clung to him, her hands clutching as though she never wanted him to stop.
And that was the danger. She didn’t want to stop. He didn’t want to stop. He could drink until she was dry and still want more. Just another minute and he would stop.
Then there was something beneath the taste. Dante felt something skittering on the edge of his consciousness. It was a single vision.
The world was white and cold. All around him was snow. It coated the ground and filled the air. White flakes danced through the wind and played on his snout.
He had a snout. He had four feet and a strong body. He could feel the long line of his spine. He scented the air. It was like the layers of an onion. There were surface smells—his own body, the scent of pine trees, the clean smell of snow. But there was more. He breathed it in, peeling back the layers. There was dirt under the snow. It had a loamy smell. Just to his right, he scented blood and the smell of the pack. That was his pack. He turned toward them. They had a huge buck down, its tan hide opened, and the blood made a stark contrast against the snow.
His heart constricted. There was a reason he stood behind. His stomach gnawed in hunger. It felt like his stomach was trying to turn in on itself. He wanted that flesh. He needed it, but he wasn’t welcome. He would have to wait until the pack was done and hope that there was something left. He would munch on the bones and try to tear the bits of meat that would cling to the hide.
He stood apart and watched them.
He was Kaja. Dante’s eyes flew open, and he released the vein.
What the hell had happened?
Kaja slumped back in his arms. He tightened his hands on her so she didn’t fall. Had he taken too much? He forced the odd vision out of his brain as panic took over for a moment. He couldn’t have hurt her. He wouldn’t want to live if he’d hurt her.
Kaja’s eyes came open. A dreamy look crossed her face. She lifted a hand to his cheek. “That did not hurt.”
Relief swept over him. She didn’t look anything like a woman he’d abused. She looked like a woman who’d had a good time. She looked like a woman who was satisfied.
His eyes strayed to the twin marks on her neck, and he felt his cock swell again. Those small holes marked her as his. She belonged to him. More than any piece of paper or monetary exchange, the fact that her blood was in his body, sustaining him and making him warm and alive, was proof that he owned this woman. The worries fell away, and Dante began to hunger again.