THE ROOM INSTANTLY STANK OF BLOOD and filled with the screams of the dying.
I didn’t have time to process what had just happened before the room flashed into what had to be bloodlust so thick, there were howls and screams as the bodies were charged and blood flowed around the room
Fangs, eyes, claws—slashing and sinking into flesh. Several bodies were ripped down and made use of for more than blood.
Women ripped their clothes, rendering them useless, painting themselves with the blood of those in thrall.
Men followed quickly, tearing at jackets, shirts, and pants.
Bending down to feed from whatever veins they could find, women and men were immediately stuffed with erections and fingers, in any and all entrances from those still standing.
Aiko looked around, and he was clearly horrified at our situation. “Oh, Gods, we’re in the wrong place.”
“What?” I clung to him.
This display was horrifying.
“We’re in the center of the room. We have to get to the edge.” His eyes were glowing, but he didn’t seem inclined to give into the madness.
Left as a few of the last ones standing, we were more than noticeable by everyone. Aiko pulled me as close to him as he could manage, winding our way through the undulating and thrusting bodies that were everywhere.
We had to move carefully so no one would notice we weren’t actively engaged in feeding on each other as we walked.
The sacrificial bodies were all down on the floor in a few minutes, being slowly sucked dry. The vampires rocked and moaned and yelled. By the time the last of the bodies hit the floor, the first of the orgasms hit and screamed across the room.
This was… so much. Too much.
I pressed my face into Aiko’s shoulder, even tighter than he held me. We were still not quite to the wall.
I dared to risk a look at him, and I saw a worried look on his face.
He had transformed like all the others in the room—long fangs, red eyes, claws from his hands. His face showed that as much as he had resisted before, he was on the edge of madness now.
The bloodlust slammed us again, like waves on a rock. I felt like I was drowning. The pain it caused him was unfathomable.
A hand shot out of a pile of vampires engaged in bloody sexual games. It gripped my ankle and started to pull me away from Aiko.
I jerked around and found a vampire I didn’t know had crawled out to me. She was plainly planning to drink my blood.
I kicked her face, hard.
The blow hit directly on her nose, cracking it and making it bleed. She started screaming.
Like vultures on a fresh carcass, the other vampires turned on her and made her another sacrifice, pulling her back and away from me at the same time Aiko pulled me away from her.
What kind of psychotic, primitive ritual was this? They were cannibalizing their own kind for more blood. If any one of them got their hands on me, I would be dead.
I could fight off one at a time. But if more came at me, I would need Aiko’s help.
Just as I was starting to panic that we weren’t going to make it to the edge of the room, his back hit the wall. He slid down with me in his arms and pressed his back to the bricks.
“Gods, Aiko, the bloodlust is so thick in here. What do you need me to do?”
“I don’t know.” His voice was a growl. “I’ve always just given in to the blood.”
I could feel the powerful magic in the room and decided to try putting a bubble around us, pushing against it.
The waves slowed a bit and didn’t crash as hard. They still hit, but Aiko’s breathing went from panicked to controlled. His features turned gaunt and sallow, the shadows deepening, despite my effort.
“Are you going to be able to hold on?” I whispered.
Barely managing a shrug, it was all the answer I really needed. He wasn’t going to make it, and I didn’t know how long this perversion would go on.
Even Odom was having trouble by the door, and he was with a consensual companion. His eyes were rolling back in his head, as well.
I didn’t want Aiko to give in to the bloodlust.
This was too dangerous.
Even though I didn’t know much about vampires, I realized in a frenzy like this, if he lost his control, I was in danger of being taken and passed around like a pitcher of fine wine.
My lord, have you sampled the druid? Excellent vintage.
No. Aiko needed blood.
Or…
“Aiko… is the blood separate from the lust?”
“Blood has power, but lust also has some.”
“Blood holds no power for the druids. We are fueled purely by sex.” This was the only idea I could come up with aside from giving him my blood—and I wasn’t sure that was a good idea at all. “Would something intimate be enough for you to stay in control?”
He nodded tersely, and I saw his eyes land on the ankle of one of the closest…sacrifices. Even I could see the pulse of the vein from here.
Rumbling with need, he started to push me away.
“Aiko, stay, no.” I pressed him against the wall.
“Need… “
Dear Gods, I was going to do this.
I threw a leg over his thighs to keep him from standing. “You cannot leave me here in the middle of the Blood Rite. I will be torn apart.”
Running his gaze over my face, he panted and tried to stay still. “I don’t know if I can resist this—”
I slammed my mouth over his and kissed him hard.
His eyes flared bright red, then settled to just a ring of red in the black. Closing his eyes, his hand fisted my hair and held me still while he possessed me.
The fangs were… strange, but I tentatively licked one with the tip of my tongue.
His hips jacked off the floor as he gasped and snapped his eyes open again. Pulling back, he stared at me. “Don’t do that. That’s erotic. Like a tongue on my cock.”
“Perfect. I need you here with me.” I breathed the words and covered his lips with mine again.
Even though I knew I should feel wrong about this, there was something so right about kissing Aiko. Until this moment, I hadn’t really thought of him as anything but a vampire who was helping me, but now that I had his taste on my lips…
His lips were coppery, but sweet at the same time. He had the flavor of fresh lavender and the scent of cool pine.
Even in this desperate situation, he wasn’t harsh or cruel or out of control. There was no sign of him wanting to devour me. He was enthralled—by me.
I licked out at a fang again, and a growl rumbled through him as his hips jacked up again. He nipped at my lip, not breaking the skin, but sending a clear warning.
“Tell me you’re with me,” I whispered.
“I’m here,” he answered.
“Is this enough?”
His chest heaved. “I don’t know. It’s working for now. Please don’t move.”
“This is insane,” I mumbled. “Who is protecting whom?”
“It seems to be working both ways.” Tipping his head back to the wall, he looked up. “Sweet Savior, keep me strong.”
I leaned my forehead against his and hoped I was blocking his view of most of the festivities in the room. We stayed where we were for long minutes at a time.
When he would start to breathe harder, I would lean in and kiss him—hard or gently. I would wait for him to calm and pull back, holding his face in my hands.
I thought we might make it out.
A blast of bloodlust tore through the room, making me dizzy for the first time, and lighting up every fiber in Aiko’s body. By the way that his eyes flared, I knew there was no kiss in the world that would bring him back.
Taking a risk, I glanced over my shoulder.
There were men and women dressed in priestly robes, walking through the participants.
They had literal buckets of blood.
Dipping what looked like a gold chalice in the buckets, they were offering it to the other vampires. The ones nearest the sacrificial bodies only sipped the blood. The ones further away would down the whole thing—and then beg for more.
The priestly men would take the same chalice and pour blood over their hands.
“Sweet Savior.” I gasped and looked back at Aiko. He was twitching, starting to push me off. “No, Aiko. Stay with me.”
“Need…”
I kissed him hard, flicking my tongue against his fangs while he moaned in delight, but it wasn’t enough this time. He couldn’t resist the blood as well this time.
I sent a thread of magic toward the chalice to see if I could tell if the blood was tainted in any way. I’d let him drink if it wasn’t—but I didn’t even get that far.
The chalice wasn’t really gold.
Under the gilt was a different metal. One that didn’t react to magic.
Lead. The inside of the chalice was lead.
Leadium blood.
Holy shit, Savion was driving his whole court mad.
“Aiko, you can’t take the blood.” I breathed.
“I need blood…”
“No, it’s laced with lead. You can’t take it.”
He worked his jaw, trying not to shove me off. “I can’t… The pull…”
I couldn’t keep him here with me. I wasn’t physically strong enough, and the bubble that pushed back at the bloodlust was going to collapse. There was nothing more I could do after that, especially as fast as my power was waning.
Do not let your power dwindle.
I had been using it here and there, and now, I was expending a lot to keep the bloodlust from consuming us.
There was another vampire nearby with a bucket of blood and a lead goblet. Aiko buried his face in my shoulder, and while his whole body trembled, resisting as much as he could, a thousand thoughts tumbled through my mind.
I managed to funnel them down to just a few.
I needed power.
Aiko needed a distraction.
We needed each other.
I had hoped that our kiss would be enough, but it wasn’t. We needed more.
Gods, I hoped my males would forgive me for this.
His teeth grazed my neck.
This had to happen.
With a hand on either side of his face, I pulled him away from my neck. “Aiko.”
His eyes were consumed by red.
With the worst possible timing, a wave of bloodlust swept over us. Studying me for just a moment, he dropped his jaw and hissed at me.
I went to reach for the fastener on his pants—and stopped.
I couldn’t.
I couldn’t do it.
I loved Roran and Rilen, and even Dorian when he wasn’t a bastard. I couldn’t risk their love—or their ire.
Even if it meant I would go powerless, I loved them.
Wrapping my hand in his hair, I pulled him back to my throat. “Swear to me you can stop.”
He nodded. “I can. I swear.”
“Then take my blood.” Gods, I hoped this worked.
Aiko’s lips brushed over my throat, and he caressed my skin with a slow lick.
Whoa.
There was a tickle at the edges of my mind, and it made me a bit numb. Shaking my head, I pushed out a strained breath. “Don’t put me in thrall. Just take it.” The man with the chalice and bucket was getting closer. “Do it.”
His fangs touched my skin, and a ripple shot through me. But before I could process the feeling, the sharp points sliced almost painlessly into my vein.
Holy ever-mother-loving fuck.
The sensation was nothing but pure sexuality.
Racing through my body, the feeling beaded my nipples and made my sex throb. I gasped and pulled him tighter to me.
And then, Aiko pulled on my vein.
The orgasm ripped through me. I was sure I had bitten through my lip to stop the scream of sheer ecstasy. I couldn’t even try to stop the moan that came out of me as he tasted my blood.
As I came out of the stupor of the sudden, unexpected climax, I felt him swallow slowly.
He was savoring my blood.
I gasped as he pulled slowly on my vein again. They were slow, small sucks, completely under his control. There was no danger he was going to lose his mind and drain me.
The problem was in the fact that there was another climax already building inside me.
He moved back for just a moment. “Relax, please, Kimber. Trust me—you’ve given me control.”
Power surged in me as he fastened his lips around the bite he had made. I let go, letting all the tension flow out of me and the pleasure flow in.
The priestly men came close, and I could see them smirk when they saw Aiko’s lips on my throat. With a nod, they moved off to serve the others from the bucket.
Aiko tasted me for another few minutes with small, slow mouthfuls of my blood. I couldn’t see for the pleasure his mouth brought.
We would survive the Rite without having tasted or touched any others in the room.
But I was a mess.
Aiko finally pulled back from my throat, and with a tender, careful lick, he sealed the wounds and tossed me into another consuming climax.
* * *
I jerked awake.
I didn’t remember falling asleep.
Looking around, I tried to figure out what was going on and where I was.
Comfortably ensconced in a bed, I was tucked tightly against a hard, toned male body. His arm cradled my head carefully, long black hair spilling everywhere.
Aiko.
We were still in the vampire stronghold, but we weren’t in that hedonistic, bloodied dining-room-cum-torture-chamber anymore.
Aiko was not asleep. I glanced up at him again, and he offered a wan smile. “Okay?”
“Not really,” I admitted. “Where are we and what the hell happened?”
“It’s my fault. I forgot to warn you about the…” He cleared his throat.
“The screaming orgasms?” I offered.
“Well. Yes.”
I let out a sigh. “A warning would have been nice. But the orgasm was just as nice, so I guess it’s a wash in the end. Any other times I’m in danger of climaxing around you?”
He smirked. “No. No. Just the blood exchange.”
I gasped. “You didn’t give me any—”
“No!” He shook his head vigorously. “No. I didn’t. You passed out after I cleaned the bite and seemed to be glowingly healthy.”
“I was. Druids’ power runs on sex and climax. I just didn’t expect that I would. There. In the room. From your… sucking.”
He chuckled. “That screaming delight is why we have rules about taking blood and sharing it. It is completely rude to just take someone’s blood. And depending on the circumstance, it could carry a death sentence. For anyone.”
“Anyone?”
He nodded. “Including the king.”
I sat up next to him in the bed and found I was mostly still dressed. Pants and shirt intact, shoes and gloves were gone. “What happened? After I passed out?”
Aiko sat up with me but swung his legs off the bed. “Your blood is insanely potent.” He grimaced a moment but continued. “I only need a few mouthfuls to be able to completely regain myself and then some. I passed out not long after you passed out. I just held on to you and let the mess happen around us. When I woke, I had to fight off a few more aggressive courtiers, but nothing I couldn’t handle.
“It was only about an hour before all the drinking and fucking slowed to a stop, and everyone just started passing out blood-drunk. Sometime around four in the morning, after everyone was soundly out, the doors unlocked. I quickly and quietly sped the hell out of there with you. I didn’t want you in your room, so I brought you to mine.”
I turned my head to look at him. “Why not my room? If you were planning to stay with me…”
“Because if Savion woke and decided to taste you, and this was your room, I wouldn’t be able to refuse him access to you. Here, this is my room, you are a guest, and I can protect you better.”
I rubbed my eyes and realized I had to use the bathroom. Levering myself off the bed as well, I spied the door that led to relief and headed that way.
The screaming started, and I turned to Aiko. “What the hell is that?”
“What?”
“The screaming. Don’t you hear it? It happens every day, at different times. Sometimes twice a day.”
He cocked his head and looked up at the ceiling. “Oh. That.”
“Oh, that?” My eyes went wide. “There’s a woman screaming in this place, and yelling something I can’t make out, and your response is oh that?”
Aiko swallowed. “It’s the queen.”
“Excuse me?”
“The Queen. Niniane. She screams for blood and for someone she lost millennia ago. Mostly for blood.”
“You see nothing wrong with this?”
Pausing, he shook his head. “I grew up hearing it. It’s not out of the ordinary. I think most of us just don’t realize it’s there. Until someone who doesn’t live here points it out to us.”
I shook my head. “And no one tries to figure out how to stop it?”
“The only way to stop Niniane is to kill her.” His voice was matter of fact and didn’t brook further discussion.
I was about to walk to the small bathroom but stopped myself again. “Odom. What about Odom?”
“He’s away,” Aiko said. “He slipped out immediately after the doors unlocked. I expect that if he was galloping his horse most of the way, he’s at the hideout already.”
“So, I’m next out of here?”
“That’s our plan.”
“Good.” I nodded and resumed my walk to the bathroom. “Let’s get some food. I’m starving.”
Aiko was standing in the middle of the room when I walked back out, and he looked confused and a little lost. He was staring at the bed.
“My lord? What’s wrong?”
“I…” He cleared his throat. “I feel wrong for having taken your blood last night, Kimber. It shouldn’t have happened. I should have realized how strong the bloodlust was going to be. I just—”
“Stop,” I said, holding up a hand. “There was no harm done. I don’t regret it—but in fact, it’s better now because…”
I trailed off. Aiko quirked an eyebrow at me.
“Because I was going to have sex with you instead of offering my blood. I couldn’t do it, though. I love my men too much to have done it. The blood was the better choice in the end.”
“Men? More than one?” His shock was visible.
My cheeks flushed red. “Yes. It’s a long story…”
His face clouded, and there was a hint of sadness hovering around him. He nodded. “Then yes. The blood was the right choice.”
Snapping back to himself, he walked to the door and pulled it open. “Food. And then we will meet with Kane to discuss our plans for getting you out of here after Savion’s open audience.”
I steeled myself and headed for the door. “How long?”
“Four days, Mistress Breaker. Just four.”
It seemed too long.
At least now, I could regain power without actual sex.
Just something so utterly sensual and powerful—and forbidden—I wasn’t sure Dorian would forgive me for it.