Total pages in book: 109
Estimated words: 101147 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 337(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 101147 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 506(@200wpm)___ 405(@250wpm)___ 337(@300wpm)
It’s the gentle hitch in her voice that pulls me from the edge. She’s seen so much violence, known so little kindness. I closed that odd connection between us before I saw too much, but I caught the edge of Kaja’s reality. The last thing I want is to be another person who uses her.
But that’s what you’re doing. That voice in my head doesn’t seem to care about my hunger. I’m not using her. I’m saving her. If I didn’t buy her, Beck would kill her, or she would spend a lifetime alone, wandering the forests. I did her a favor. And when she pays me back by convincing my father I have settled down, I’ll find her a nice home. She’ll have luxury like she never imagined.
“What should I do?” Kaja asks.
I can think of a million things she should do. She should run because I’m not worthy of her. I’m a selfish bastard, and I always will be. I can’t commit. It’s simply impossible. This raging passion I feel for her will fade. It’s inevitable, so if I had a heart in my body, I would save her the pain.
“Come to me.” I hold out my hand and indicate that she should sit on my lap.
She gets to her feet and steps forward, placing herself on my lap, the soft flesh of her ass kissing my thighs. The minute her skin touches mine, I feel something ease deep inside me. That nagging beast that rages below the surface lets up the tiniest bit.
“Put your arms around me.” My hands drift to her waist as I breathe her in. Her hair is mostly dry, and it blooms around her delicate face like a halo of softness. I let my nose run through it. Kaja’s hands find their way around my neck, and I can hear the way her heart speeds up. She may be frightened, but there is obviously a part of her that wants, too. She knows what I’m going to do, and yet she wraps her body around mine, allowing me to fill every sense with her.
My heart begins to pound in time to the rhythm I hear. Kaja’s chest thuds as I run my nose along the line of her neck. I hear the blood running through her body like a river of life. My fangs scrape her skin, and she trembles.
“Don’t be afraid.” I can’t stand the thought now. Her arms are around me, circling me in her light. Her very touch softens my predatory instincts and brings out a need to please her. A consort has her power, too.
“Will it hurt?” The words come out on a breathless whisper.
I keep my mouth close to her neck. I can’t seem to move it. She’s far too tempting. But I soothe 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.”
I feel her chuckle, and something eases inside me. “You sound like Dante again.”
I feel more in control. Her very nearness allows me to push the beast back. It’s still there, simmering below the surface, but I feel more like myself.
And I’m hungry. So fucking hungry.
It gnaws at my gut, but it’s so much more than physical. I hunger for her. If someone offered me a pill at that moment, I would smack them down. I don’t need fucking nutrition. I need her.
But there is a process. Every royal knows it. Every royal is forced to study it right along with an embarrassing course in sex education. I laughed my way through it, from the talk on safe feeding to the teaching plastic model every student is forced to “feed” from to prove we won’t rip its throat out. Delicacy is given high marks. If I simply bite down, she’ll be in agony. Persuasion is the key.
“Look at me, Kaja.” I look into her eyes, not allowing myself a moment to blink.
“They’re so beautiful. So green. Like the forest in high summer before the winter takes everything away.” Kaja stares at my eyes, not fighting at all. Her mouth is slightly open. This is what the class taught. Persuasion. It feels good to pull her in and know she’s mine for the taking. She won’t feel the pain of my fangs penetrating her smooth neck. All she’ll feel is pleasure with every drag I take from her.
“You’re the beautiful one, Kaj.” I smooth back her hair. Her crystal-blue eyes are a bit cloudy, but I can’t mistake the affection there. She’s fully in the moment with me.
And this is more than a feed. I pull her close, her nipples brushing against my chest. They’re hard little points. I can feel her wet pussy rubbing against my thigh. Kaja is ready for a long, hard fucking, and I’ll give it to her. After.