Chapter Four
Mina watched the steam rise from her arms, draped along the tub’s rim. A hot bath never felt so glorious, the jasmine petals and lemon-scented soap filling her chamber with fragrant warmth. The fire crackled, lulling her into contentment. Though still weak, she’d never felt so good. So alive.
From the second she snapped open her eyes in the tower, a sense of urgency, of need had washed through her body, through her mind. Even her heart. The captain’s kiss, his blood, seared through her veins, jolting her primal urges to the forefront. It was as if the captain’s essence had changed her. No, not changed. Awakened. Now her eyes were wide open, and she longed to let loose the vampire she’d kept restrained all her life behind a mask of nobility and proper etiquette.
For Kathleen’s death and for her own wrongful imprisonment, she longed for revenge against Queen Morgrid. Apparently, the queen’s son King Dominik had joined her ranks, for it was his men guarding her at Briar Rose while she lay helplessly in a bloodless sleep.
“Damn them all.” She surged to her feet, the water sluicing down her breasts, torso, and legs.
A knock at the door. Mina froze, inhaling the tantalizing scent of leather and mulled spice. A responsive shiver thrilled through her frame. Stepping from the tub, she dabbed quickly with a bit of toweling and hurried into the thin, gauzy wrapper Irena had left for her. Knowing full well the fabric molded to her damp form, revealing more than it concealed, she walked to the door and opened it.
Mikhail lifted his bent head and froze, the goblet of blood in his hand nearly tipping over.
Mina pretended not to see his reaction, opening wide the door. “Come in, Captain.”
He remained in place, his scowl deepening as he seemed to consider whether it was safe to enter her lair. She smiled innocently and waited. Finally, he took heavy steps into the chamber, his gaze falling to the tub, jasmine petals still floating on the water’s surface.
“I brought you some sustenance.” His voice was rough and slow, like the words were stuck in his throat.
“Thank you. You can set it over there.” She waved to the sideboard as she walked to the vanity.
“You need to drink, Your Highness.”
“Of course. In just a moment.”
She busied herself uncoiling her braid and damp hair. As she brushed through the dampness in long waves, she watched him in the mirror where he stood with crossed arms, facing the window as the sun slipped away.
“Why were King Dominik’s Legionnaires guarding me?”
His gaze flicked to hers in the reflection. Clearing his throat, he finally answered. “King Dominik has a vested interest in keeping you a prisoner.”
Setting the brush down, she stood and faced him. “Which is?”
His stormy countenance darkened further. “It was announced not even a fortnight ago at his ball in Izeling that you will be his bride.”
Mina flinched, the horror of such a thing catapulting her heartbeat into a gallop.
“I would never agree to a match with him.” She shook her head, her unbound hair sliding over her shoulder and breasts. “How could he make such an announcement without my consent?”
He lifted the goblet and walked toward her. “He does not care if you give your consent.” His low rumble was a rough caress against her skin. “He would take you by force and then take the armies of Arkadia for his own.” His jaw clenched so tight she heard a pop. “Do not be afraid. It will never happen. I will not allow it. I will protect you with my life.” He handed over the goblet.
She took it and stared down at the lukewarm blood, her stomach twisting with nausea. She laughed.
“What is it?”
“I’ve always taken my feedings this way. In a cup. Secondhand. But now—”
“But now?” He hadn’t moved, yet his voice sounded closer, more intimate.
She looked up at him. “But now, I want to drink from you.”
He froze, full mouth firming into a grim line. “You need human sustenance. To regain your strength.”
“But that’s not what I want.” And she’d been setting her own desires aside all her life, hiding from her true nature for far too long. She set the goblet back on the sideboard and stepped closer to him. “I want to feed from you.”
“That’s not a good idea.”
“Why not? You thought it was a good idea in the cave.”
“That’s because there was no alternative.”
She stepped closer. His shoulders and chest stiffened. “I’ll make you a bargain.”
Amusement softened the lines around his mouth. “A bargain?”
“I’ll drink the human blood. But only after you let me feed from you first.”
The hot and heady scent of him stirred her desire to a fever pitch. Her chest rose and fell at a quickening pace, her fangs lengthening at the thought of sinking them into his flesh. Like a caged animal, he looked as if he might rush from the room.
Placing a hand on his biceps, she implored, “Please, Captain. I need it.”
She spoke the truth. The fervent need was crippling her with hunger. Not for a cup of secondhand blood but for the pulsing hot fluid straight from this vessel of masculine power. She wanted it. She wanted him. She’d been a complacent good little princess all her life. Now, she wanted what she wanted. And she wasn’t afraid to say so.
“Captain?”
“Lay on the bed.” His command was terse and dominant.
Mina choked on a grateful sob. If she wasn’t so consumed by her painful longing, she might have been embarrassed. All she could feel was relief that he’d give her what she wanted. Crawling onto the bed, she lay on her back, her robe falling open to reveal a bare thigh. She flicked the sheer fabric closed, but it did little to hide the curves beneath. The captain caught the flash of her bare skin, his gaze roving her body in a heated caress.
Unstrapping the harness of daggers across his chest, he let it fall to the floor with a clunk. Then he unbuttoned the top of his shirt and climbed onto the bed beside her. The sight of his bare throat sparked a tingling, pebbling her skin and raising her nipples. She squirmed, rasping them against the silky fabric.
Straddling her hips on his knees, his gaze flicked to her breasts and still she didn’t care how inappropriate this was for a woman of her breeding. She only felt want, need…heavy, flaming desire. The proof pooled between her legs.
His nostrils flared. “I’m going to need you to promise me something if we do this.”
“Anything.”
“Don’t touch me.”
A shocking request. She frowned. “Why not?”
He laughed, but it sounded more like a man in pain. Gently, he gripped her wrists, his rough calloused hands dragging hers to the wooden slats cut into the ornate headboard.
“Hold on.”
She did as he commanded and gripped two slender slats, his words launching her hunger a notch higher. Then he braced his hands on either side of her head and lowered his body, caging her in a wall of deliciously hard vampire. Pleasure spiked along her spine. She was sure she couldn’t feel any sensation better than this.
But she was so wrong.
…
Bloody, fucking hell. What was he thinking?
Her thrumming heartbeat and obvious arousal at the thought of feeding was the reaction of a newly made vampire, not a vampire born. Her sea-fire eyes blazed, dilating with desire. The sight of her was an aphrodisiac that threatened to strangle him with overwhelming lust.
“Mina, listen to me.”
She licked her lips, her gaze focused on his throat.
“Look at me.”
She did.
“I’m going to let you drink from my throat. You’ll get more blood than from the thinner veins in my arm.” And the ball-tightening torture of having her fangs in his flesh would end sooner.
She nodded. “Yes.”
If she licked her pink tongue over her lips one more time, he was going to come in his trousers.
“It’s natural to feel a certain amount of pleasure during feeding. Just go easy. Slow. Do you understand?”
“Yes.”
He eased his weight on top of her, cupping the back of her head and lifting her to his arched neck. She licked his pulse. He hissed a breath between his teeth, his own fangs sharp and aching.
“Bite, Mina.” His gravelly command did the trick.
With a sweet moan, she sank her canines into his throat. And his world came apart.
Molten, liquid heat flowed into his veins, her elixir racing straight to his cock. She sucked hard, the piercing pain rolling over into ecstasy. Her knuckles turned white where she gripped the headboard slats, but keeping her hands off him did little good. She arched her spine, pressing the supple mounds of her breasts against his chest.
Then she opened her legs, cradling his cock between them, the thin fabric doing nothing to hide the scorching heat of her body. The scent of her arousal filled his lungs.
She moaned, still sucking hard, and rocked her pelvis up, rubbing her sweet cunny along his rigid length.
“Mina,” he warned. “Easy.”
His warning seemed to have the opposite effect, for she whimpered and rode his cock harder. The wall he’d erected—his code of morals—was being bashed apart by the most sweetly sensual creature he’d ever known.
She broke free from his throat, pressing her head back into the pillow. The action thrust up her breasts and arched her neck, presenting him with the most vulnerable part of her. An act of submission. A temptation that commanded his sudden attention, calling to the predator inside him who wanted to pounce, to take. He imagined burying his fangs into her slender throat and his cock inside her, marking her for his own.
“For fuck’s sake.”
He pressed both hands into the mattress, leveraging to launch himself off her.
“No!” She let loose the headboard and gripped him at the shoulders, her nails sinking into his shirt. “Please,” she whispered, tears pooling in her eyes. “I ache…please.”
The despair in her eyes ripped his heart right out of his chest. He couldn’t fuck her. She was a virgin, meant for her husband. Which would never be him. But he could ease the pain. Something told him she’d never done this for herself. To herself.
“Please,” she begged again, closing her eyes as her body quivered with longing. He could smell it, taste it on his tongue. A tear slipped into her hair.
“Shhh. It’s all right. I’ll take care of you.” He pried one of her hands loose from his shoulder, shifting his weight to her side. “I’ll show you,” he crooned.
Her panting breaths increased as he untied her robe and opened it at the hips. Taking her hand, he lifted it to her mouth.
“Open.”
She parted her lips, her canines still sharp, her mouth reddened from his blood. A possessive thought flickered through his overheated brain. He pressed two fingers inside along her tongue. Cupping her hand with his, his index and middle finger along the back of hers, he slid her fingers down her body into her slick cleft.
She gasped, her mouth opening wider, her eyes tightly closed.
“That’s it.” He guided her own fingers around the swollen nub, sliding farther down to her entrance, then back up. “Just like that.”
She rocked up to meet the downward trail of her fingers, her undulating hips dislodging the top of her robe. The flap over her breast nearest him slipped free. Her perfect, rosy-pink nipple jutted up as she rolled her body to the rhythm he’d set. Losing focus, his fingers slipped from atop hers, gliding into her drenched folds. Like silken heaven.
She moaned and thrust her hips up harder. He couldn’t take his eyes off her writhing body—her thatch of dark-blond hair, pert breast, pale throat, and mouth open in ecstasy. A temptation no man could endure.
His fingers took control, gliding into her soaked folds, pressing against her engorged nubbin. Hot desire spiked his heart rate like a rocket, stealing his breath.
“Yes.” She clenched her fingers around his wrist, urging him on. “Please…more.”
“Just a little taste,” he murmured on a rumbling growl.
He lowered his mouth over her taut nipple, rolled his tongue in a circle, then sucked hard, grazing with teeth.
“Mikhail.” She cried out and thrust her hand into his hair, pressing him closer.
Sliding two fingers into her tight heat, he circled her clit with his thumb and flicked her nipple with his tongue, knowing for certain he’d lost his fucking mind.
Her panting cries filled the room, growing quicker, louder, as she plummeted toward her orgasm. Her nails dug into his scalp. He thrust his fingers faster, deeper as she pumped her pretty hips up to meet him. Pressing his cock into her hip to ease his own ache, he groaned at the pink flush heating her body. Then her fist tightened in his hair.
“Mikhail.” A long moan let loose from her throat. Her sex squeezed and pulsed with her climax. He continued to brush his lips gently over her kiss-swollen nipple, easing her down as the ripples of her orgasm slowed.
When her breathing had evened, he removed his fingers gently and closed her robe. Her expression showed only a woman well-satisfied. No regret. He was glad of that. Though he wished he could say the same for himself. He crossed a line he should not have, and the torture of knowing her so intimately would only kill him slowly.
Easing off the bed, he picked up his harness and strode for the door.
“Captain.”
He paused, the door ajar.
Her whisper was feather-soft. “Thank you.”
He nodded without turning and left, knowing for certain he had wandered off the path he’d set for himself. For the first time ever, he felt lost.