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Why was his heart working so hard? Where was all that blood being pumped? Her attention descended his torso, past his navel to the trail of hair leading down. Below the low-slung waist of his pants, his penis stretched to his hip, visibly pulsating.

Mouthwatering. The organ of his pleasure just happened to be filled with his magical blood. It beckoned her to taboo’s front door, and her fangs sharpened again. With her tongue, she tested their little edges, their achiness.

His deep voice washed over her: “Like what you see?”

I want to pierce your manhood and drink you while you roar.

The seductive sorcerer murmured, “Take a sip, princess.”

From his fingers, his neck, or . . .there?

Yes, yes, yes!

“Your vampire instincts demand it. And I’ve decided I want to experience those fangs of yours buried deep into my skin.”

They’d never throbbed like this, as much as her pebbled nipples. She imagined his skin closing around her fangs, milking them of sensation.

Inner shake.She almost told him that no Dacian would lower themselves to consume blood from the flesh, but that wasn’t true anymore. Still, drinking from a source wasn’t something a proper princess like her would ever consider! She met his gaze. “If I took your blood directly from your body, I would harvest your memories.” His thousands of years’ worth of them would surely send her straight into madness. “I’ll dream your past when I sleep. Are you ready for that?”

A shadow crossed his face. Then his lips curled into a cocky grin, revealing even white teeth. “I think my sorcerer’s blood is potent. It’ll ruin you for all others, maneater.”

Stop staring at his sexy grin!“You want me to drink you because you think it will gratify you as well.”

“In so many words.”

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw his member pulse even harder.Gods above and below.At the Tree of Delight, she’d seen males in this state. Fantasies bloomed of this sorcerer participating in some of the acts she’d witnessed—participating withher. The scenes she’d deemed yawn-worthy took on a lascivious bent. Her breaths shallowed even more, and her skin grew flushed all over.

She’d never reacted this way while staring longingly at Kristoff. This bruiser of a sorcerer was a world away from the sophisticated vampire king, but only Silt conjured wicked scenarios in her mind.

Mina pictured him crazed for release, gripping her body.Enteringit. Thrusting between her thighs until she soaked hisrod in her climax. Would he bellow against her neck when his own lust spilled over inside her . . . ?

She blushed as if he could hear her musings.

“I don’t understand you.” He scrubbed a hand over his mouth. “One minute you’re throwing heads at me, the next you’re blushing like a demure virgin. So is my gratification on the table? I mean, why else would you mention it?”

She yearned to share pleasure as much as the next immortal female, but after witnessing that couple in the moonlit clearing, she knew she would need affection and trust to fully enjoy it. She didn’t want mere sex; she wanted everything.I crave the divine.This sorcerer wasn’t even in the realm of possibility. “It’s not on the table, no more than my drinking your blood is.”

“Such scruples. Do you think I’m not good enough?”

“Or maybe it has something to do with the fact that you’re sworn to kill the last of my immediate family!” Saying the words aloud reminded her of what a villain he was, snuffing her arousal like a candle.

Good. Arousal thwarted reason. She’d seen it happen again and again at the Tree. Would she forget the lessons she’d learned? Shame swept over her, and with it came fatigue as she’d never known. Thirst only worsened her weariness and confusion.

This sorcerer had protected her, but he’d acted for nefarious reasons. The mental wear of being near someone like him affected her as much as fighting wendigos.

Seeming to make a decision about her, he said, “We need to keep moving anyway.”

“Agreed,” she said, and they forayed deeper into a black-hole gloom.

Thirteen

The vampire’s shivering intensified, her steps swerving.

She and Silt were both soaked and had been for days. They’d fought through that sludge without rest, even though younger immortals needed sleep every night. How was she still standing?

When they came upon another abandoned basilisk nest, words left his lips: “I can make a fire out of those logs. Do you want to stop here for a break?”

She eyed him warily. “Warmth sounds good.”