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)
A grin finally appeared. “I wish to see just how bad you are at drawing.”
“No, you don’t.” I eyed him, suddenly thinking about all the bare walls in the many chambers. “Do you still have those other paintings?”
He nodded.
“Where are they?”
“In one of the chambers you apparently haven’t entered yet,” he answered.
“Take me to them. Right now,” I demanded. “I want to see them.”
“I would be glad to. But not right now.”
My eyes narrowed. “Why not?”
He chuckled as he came back to me. “Besides the fact that you remain without pants,” he murmured, nipping at my lower lip, “you need to feed.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Thoughts of seeing his paintings vanished as those four words elicited a sudden throbbing in my upper jaw. Until that moment, I hadn’t felt like I needed to feed.
My gaze dropped to his throat, and the ache moved to my chest and then my stomach, reminding me of hunger pains. Muscles tensed, and I could’ve sworn I saw his pulse beating beneath his flesh. My throat dried with the sudden need to feed. I started to lean forward, but my thoughts decided to go in an unwanted direction.
An image of Veses flashed in my mind—her at Ash’s throat, taking from him as she straddled him. Used him.
I drew back, my heart thumping unsteadily. I didn’t want to do that to him. “I feel fine,” I said.
“I know you do.” He cupped my cheek. “But we don’t know how much essence you used against the kynakos. And even if you hadn’t been in that fight, you would still need to feed every couple of days for a bit as your body continues to adapt to the Ascension,” he reminded me as he smoothed his thumb across my cheekbone. “If you don’t, you’ll feel as exhausted as you did while in your Culling.” His eyes met mine as he fixed my shirt. “I don’t want to risk that.”
“You’re right. I remember. It’s the whole baby-Primal thing.”
His eyes searched mine. “Then why do you hesitate?”
“I…I guess I’m not used to it. I don’t find it repulsive or anything,” I quickly added. “It’s just…”
“Different.” He moved on to the vest, his fingers as nimble and quick as they had been when he unhooked the clasps. “That’s understandable. It’s not yet natural to you.”
“But it will be,” I murmured, running my tongue along the back of my teeth. The pulsing sensation returned, more intense than before.
Ash watched me, his eyes halfway closed. “I enjoyed it when you fed from me before. Thoroughly.”
I stopped messing with my fangs.
“And when you were at my vein, it was only you I thought of.”
I went completely still.
“I knew it was your fangs piercing my skin. Your mouth that moved against my throat,” he continued. “I knew it was you I willingly gave my blood to. Not her.”
A tremor ran through me. Gods, how had he known? I didn’t think sensing what I felt could’ve filled in the gaps like that. A mix of emotions swirled through me. I was relieved that he hadn’t thought about her when I fed from him and was clearly far better at dealing with certain things than I was. But that relief carried the bitter edge of guilt.
Eather pulsed brightly in his eyes. “Sera.”
I squeezed my eyes shut. “I didn’t want to, you know, make you feel like I’m using you.”
“I would never think that, Sera.”
“I hate that I even caused you to think of her,” I whispered. “That’s not what I wanted.”
“I know.” His lips brushed my forehead. “But I’m glad you did.”
My eyes flew open. “You sure about that?”
“Yes.” He drew back. “Because now I can make sure you know that when you feed from me, I’m not thinking of her.” His fingers slid into the hair above my loosened braid. “When I’m with you, she doesn’t even exist. That’s what you do for me. And that is an exquisite gift. Let me do this for you.”
I knew he spoke the truth, so when he guided my mouth to his exposed throat, I didn’t resist.
I’d just come out of stasis the last time I fed from him. I’d been acting on pure instinct fueled by hunger. But nature did take over as soon as my lips brushed the steady beat of his pulse. My body knew what it was doing even though my mind wasn’t exactly sure.
My head tipped, and my lips peeled back. My eyes fell closed once more, and instinct took over. I struck. His body jerked as I pierced his vein, and then mine did the same as the first drop of his blood rolled over my tongue.
Gods, the taste of him… The flavor of his blood filled my mouth and coursed down my throat. I swallowed, and it was like every cell in my body woke up and stretched in response. I took more of him into me.