^“Come on, Rueben,” she begged, already getting somewhat frustrated. For whatever reason, not matter what she did, she couldn’t get him to bite her wrist. Perhaps naively, she’d thought all it would take was her presenting him with access to her vein, but it seemed not to work quite like that. She frowned, unsure what to do. Maybe she needed to cut herself?

Despite knowing she didn’t have one, she still patted herself down in an attempt to find a knife, annoyed that there wasn’t one. Which was odd considering she never carried one, she had no need to when she could just freeze people instead. Well, and the fact that it’d be illegal to carry one anyway. She may be a paranormal, but she didn’t for a second think that she’d be exempt from the law. Rueben though…

She patted him down, unsurprised to find a small dagger strapped to his ankle. She guessed that if anyone else found it, then all he’d have to do was hypnotise them into forgetting again.

Without thinking too hard about what she was going to do, and by that, she meant not thinking about how potentially stupid it was, she slashed her left wrist and tried to ignore the burning pain that came with the motion. Holding it up to Rueben’s mouth she hoped he’d take it. She also kind of hoped that he wasn’t too out of it and wouldn’t kill her, but the threat of that wasn’t enough to stop her. It couldn’t be. Not when one of her mates was on the line. She’d do it for Leth and Josh too, though what it would actually be for them she had no idea.

Eira sighed in relief as Rueben responded, and the odd sensation of having her blood drawn from her veins distracted her from the sting of the wound. She didn’t know how long they stayed like that for, but she could see the colour returning to his cheeks, and began to finally relax a bit.

“Eira,” he groaned as he withdrew from her arm, licking a bead of blood from his lips.

“Are you okay?” she asked, lifting her right hand up to cup his face.

“I am now,” he said, his voice hoarse as if he’d been shouting a lot. Gently, he lifted her left arm to inspect it, and nodded once at what he found. Looking away from his face, Eira looked at her wrist in disbelief.

“But…”

“Vampire damage isn’t meant to be permanent, we’ve never been the monsters people thought we were.”

“I never thought that.” She spoke too quickly, but that didn’t make the words any less true. The only time she’d ever seen Rueben anything less than gentle was when he’d been fighting Edward outside the club. Not that she was saying not being gentle wasn’t always the worst thing. In fact, right now she could go with not gentle, particularly if it involved being slammed up against a wall.

“Your thoughts are written all over your face, Eira,” Rueben said, his voice laced with what sounded like lust. Hell, with what she hoped was lust.

“Are you going to do something about that?” she asked, pushing her body that bit closer to his, which was impressive if anyone asked her, they’d already been pretty close.

“I shouldn’t…”

“Why?”

“Eira…” He pushed a hand over his face before continuing. “I’ve just come back from taking down one of the other Elders. Don’t look at me like that, it was completely legal. I had to challenge him and…”

“And you got hurt, didn’t you?” she asked, thinking back to how he’d turned up at the ball.

“Yes. Considering how bloody my hands are tonight, I shouldn’t touch you…”

“But?” She looked up and saw his hooded gaze boring into her. She was going to win this one, it was finally going to happen. When Rueben didn’t move quite quickly enough, she lifted herself on herself up and kissed, him. Not gently either. She was giving him exactly what she wanted him to give to her. Unrestrained passion mostly. She nipped his bottom lip, trying to completely unleash what she was sure was inside him.

Growling, Rueben spun her around, hoisting her legs so that they were wrapped around his waist and she was pinned between him and the wall. She moaned into his mouth, wanting him to be closer. Wanting him to be rougher. She broke away as his hands began to bunch up the voluminous skirts of her dress, and she found herself cursing Leth for buying something with so many layers.

“Bite me,” she whispered, knowing he could hear. Hell, he could probably hear the individual thud of her pulse as it pounded harder and harder with each inch of skin that Rueben’s fingers skimmed.

“I shouldn’t,” he answered.

“Why?”

“I just drank your blood, we can’t risk more.” His voice was strained, and through half-open eyes, she noticed the teeth poking past his lips. He was close to giving in to her then. That was good, she wanted to experience it all, and she knew that without his bite, their bond would remain unsealed, and that just wasn’t something she wanted to wait any longer to do.

“Please,” she begged unashamedly, and it seemed to be all that Rueben needed, as his eyes glazed over fully.

“Eira,” he groaned.

“Now, Rueben.” She pushed her hands through the fabric, fumbling with his belt until he swatted her hand out of the way, performing the task himself much more efficiently, while keeping them balanced with his other hand. That was one use of vampire strength she could get on board with.

“You’re not wearing any underwear.” His eyes unglazed slightly as he looked at her, a shocked expression on his face.

“Couldn’t have you forgetting I’m not as innocent as the dress suggests.” She was surprised she’d managed to get that many words out, and was rewarded by a low chuckle from Ruben.

“I don’t think anyone would make that mistake. You’re lust personified.”

“I think there’s a few full-blooded succubi who’d disagree with you,” she murmured.

“Don’t care about them,” he grunted, and guided himself to her. “You ready, Eira?”

“I’ve been ready for days,” she replied, lust dripping from her words as her succubus part came to the surface. She’d have thought it would be satisfied after the past couple of days, but she wasn’t about to complain.

With one powerful thrust, Rueben entered her, drawing out a loud moan before he clamped a hand over her mouth. “You can’t be loud here.”

“Why not?” she asked through her ragged breathing once he’d taken his hand away.

“Someone might hear us.”

“And come watch?” she asked hopefully, losing the last word to a groan that she just about managed to suppress. Rueben growled.

“No one is watching. You’re mine.” He growled and she was half-aware of the predator that was close to the surface.

“Not even the others?”

“They can. Maybe they can watch later as I drive into you from behind.”

Heat washed through Eira as he spoke, building her up in a way she didn’t think she’d ever experienced before.

“Promise?” She followed the word with a series of whimpers as he drove into her at an almost punishing pace. Rueben leaned in, kissing her neck gently, and at complete odds with the rest of what he was doing.

“If you stay quiet now.”

She whimpered again as his teeth grazed the soft skin of her neck. Anticipation welled up within her, especially now she knew she’d won and he was going to do exactly what she wanted him to. There was pressure at her neck, and she waited for his fangs to sink in, wondering what it would feel like. From the way he’d talked about it, it would only add to the intensity of the connection between them. She wasn’t quite sure if that would really be the case, but she couldn’t wait to find out.

A sharp prick of pain broke through her haze, but it soon faded into something far more enjoyable. Rueben began to draw her blood, and as before, she felt the tug as it left her veins. But that wasn’t the only place she felt the tug, as each mouthful of blood seemed to pull her own release closer to the surface, and Rueben’s fast pace wasn’t slowing the build down. She wasn’t going to be able to quiet even if she tried.

“Rueben,” she groaned, not receiving any answer from him as his attention never wavered from where he was drawing her blood. Not that she cared. She didn’t care about anything but him, and her, and their bodies moving in tandem.

His pace quickened even more, and it was too much for Eira. Tipping her head back, she let out a scream that could have raised the roof, and made her thankful that the fae partied so loudly themselves. She came back down to earth as Rueben let out a final grown, thrusting into her and reaching his own release.

Gently, he withdrew from her, and set her back down on her own two feet, where she promptly stumbled. “You okay?” he asked softly, pushing a strand of hair away from where it had come unraveled from her up-do. She guessed that’s what she got for having a quickie in a corridor.

“Yes, just a little...”

“Light headed? Enraptured? Never going to be able to walk straight again?” He grinned at her, looking annoyingly self-satisfied. Least he had good reason to, that had been earth-shattering as far as she was concerned.

“Oh good, the two of you have finished.” Eira spun on her heels at the sound of Leth’s voice. He was leaning against the wall just a couple of metres away, with his usual amused look on his face.

“How long have you—”

“Long enough, Frostie, long enough.” He made short work of the distance between them, and leaned in. “I very much hope that Rueben keeps his promise, don’t you?” he whispered in her ear. Eira swallowed loudly, but not in nervousness. She couldn’t quite voice how she was feeling, it was too intense, and would surely make her seem far too needy. Instead, she simply nodded.

“Did you need something, Leth?” Rueben asked, trailing a hand around Eira’s back.

“Our mate?”

“We always need her,” Rueben pointed out.

“Good point, she’s like a drug. One hit and we’re addicted for life.”

“I can’t say I’m complaining.”

Eira snorted. “Alright you two, that’s enough. Leth, did you need us specifically, or just want to watch?”

“A little of both.” He smirked. Eira tapped her foot, waiting for him to continue. “I need you to come meet my Mother,” he said finally, following the words with a resigned sigh. She touched his arm gently, hoping he felt her support.

“You need both of us?” Rueben asked, not moving his hand from Eira.

“Yes, I’ll need to introduce all three of you.” He pulled a face.

“She won’t like it?” Eira asked with a frown. “That I’m not just yours?” Leth let out a bitter laugh.

“I don’t think that’ll bother her. She has six children by six different fathers.”

“What? How is that possible, did she have six mates like I have you three?” she asked, frowning and trying to make sense of it all.

“No. It doesn’t work the same for female fae. They can have children with their mates, or with humans. Most just go for the latter because they never really leave the Courts. Instead they have the underlings kidnap men and bring them here for an evening. Most believe they’re dreaming I think.” He shuddered, looking kind of repulsed.

“And your Mother...”

“Had a mate. He died from a broken heart. Rose is his daughter, but we have three younger brothers too, none of which were his.” Leth looked away.

“You were close to him, weren’t you?” Rueben observed.

“He treated me like his own son. He let me grow up with Rose when he didn’t have to, I’m just the result of one of my Mother’s kidnappings after all, but Simion...he was kind hearted. He loved Deni too, before she...” A tear formed in the corner of Leth’s eye and to Eira’s surprise, it was Rueben who reacted first. He moved past her, and pulled Leth into a bear hug.

“The same happened to my brother, during the war,” he said the words quietly. “I spent twenty years drinking away the pain.”

“Did it work?” She could hear the curiosity in his voice, along with what sounded almost like hope, and it broke her heart. She didn’t want him to be in pain, yet could understand why he was. Assuming that Deni was his sister, but given how he spoke about her and Rose, she’d say that was likely.

“No.”

Eira reached out to take each of their hands, giving them a squeeze, and received sad smiles in return. “Let me try to make it better,” she whispered, glancing back and forth between them quickly to try and convey that it wasn’t aimed at just one of them.

“You already are,” Rueben replied, dropping a quick kiss on the top of her head.

“Very much,” Leth added, squeezing her hand. She smiled at them weakly. “But now we really do need to go introduce you to my Mother, I don’t want to think about what will happen if we keep her waiting any longer.”