Page 13 of Blood as Sweet as Roses

Roslyn Night stands before the couch, her arms crossed, an expression of displeasure across her sharp features.

Tonight, she wears a blood-red oxford shirt, its collar sharp, unbuttoned far down her chest to see just the curve of her breast. Her sleeves are rolled up half-way.

She’s wearing a gold watch on one wrist, a matching triangular, dangling earring in one ear.

I gaze at her, entranced. I think I’ve forgotten how to breathe.

Sabina pulls away from my throat, snarling. “Can I help you, Crimson?”

“I’m cutting in,” she announces, brusquely. “This breather is mine.”

My heart drops into my stomach. Sabina rises from the couch, glaring furiously at the other vampire. “How dare you,” she hisses. “I was about to…”

“You’re about to leave my sight, and find another living human to terrorize,” Crimson replies, her eyes flashing red. “This one belongs to me, and if I see you even glancing in her direction, I will bind you in a coffin beside Waylan. Is that understood?”

Sabina’s nostrils flare. There’s a long, tense moment in which they lock eyes, bound in an unspoken battle of wills. I wish I could run away, get out of this lounge and disappear upstairs to my room. But I’m frozen in fear, unable to look away.

Finally, Sabina lowers her gaze. Her lips move subtly, whispering something that’s too quiet for me to hear. Then she stalks out of the room, retreating like a wounded lioness.

It takes me a second to readjust to her absence. I seem to have stopped breathing.

Crimson steps toward me, and offers me her hand. Now my heart starts to pound again, and that ache in my core intensifies.

Summoning all of my strength, I take her hand, but her touch is…strong. Cold, and powerful. She pulls me up easily, and leads me across the lounge. Everyone immediately parts for us. I keep my eyes down, self-conscious that everyone has noticed me with her.

She takes me to the throne, and we step up onto the raised platform. She sits down comfortably upon its velvet seat. Before I can wonder where I’m going to sit, she pats her lap.

“Oh,” I whisper, realizing what she’s asking me.

She cocks her head. “Would you prefer to kneel?”

Blood rushes to my face. For a moment, I imagine what it would be like to kneel before her, and I’m embarrassed to find the warmth radiating lower…

“No, no, that’s all right, I can sit on your lap,” I stutter, before I can entertain that thought any longer. I suppose there’s no other place for me to sit.

And the idea of being so close to her…makes me both nervous and unexpectedly excited. I try not to overthink it too much. I lower myself down onto her lap as daintily as possible, suddenly aware of how short my dress is. I pull it down as much as I can. Crimson notices, and grins.

“You can sit on me properly,” she says, putting an arm around my waist and pulling me closer. “Trust me, you’re not going to break me. I’m a three-hundred-year-old vampire.”

She hikes me up on her lap, and my feet leave the ground.

She’s at least a foot taller than me, and she sits comfortably with one arm around my waist, the other pulling my bare thighs closer.

Her touch is cold and assertive, sending thrilling shivers through me.

I clasp my hands together awkwardly, aware of the rising colour in my cheeks and the fierce pounding of my heart.

I’m acutely aware of the many eyes on us, and I’m equally shy at the intense power of her presence. I tuck a strand of hair behind my ear.

My voice is shaky, but somehow, I manage to get the words out. “Um, I just wanted to say thank you. For…for intervening just now.”

“Believe me, it was my pleasure,” she responds smoothly. “I was worried that you’d left our employ, after I didn’t see you last night.”

“No, I…I decided to stay.”

“Good.”

She regards me slowly, her grey eyes traveling confidently across my face and neck.

From here, I can see the artful curve of her red lips, the arch of her defined eyebrows, the acute jut of her chin.

Her short, dark hair is cropped close to the back of her neck.

A few strands fall almost cockily into her eyes.

Her proximity is overwhelming, and it’s making me feel extremely shy.

But I’m also…oddly relieved. That she could be my first vampire bite. The anticipation heats the air around us. She moves her hand along my trembling thigh, and another heat starts to build. The ache in my stomach is so strong it’s almost painful.

What’s happening to me?

“It’s your first time?” she asks, an unexpected softness in her voice.

“Yes,” I whisper, breathlessly.

“Then we’ll start here,” she says firmly, taking my wrist in her hand.

She moves her thumb in a circle over the tender, thin skin.

“But first, I’ll glamour you. Like I explained before.

” Her eyes find mine. Hasn’t she charmed me already?

It certainly feels like it. “It’s a spell, one that will make the bite feel good.

If you like, I could add other elements… ”

I shake my head. “I…I don’t want to feel out of control, or…or dazed…”

“Then I’ll keep it simple,” she replies. “You’ll be totally aware, and alert, the entire time. Do you understand?”

“Yes, I understand.”

She leans in a little closer, our faces inches apart. Something shifts behind her eyes, like a magnetic pull, tugging me closer to her. Suddenly, I have the sensation that I’m falling…like I’m about to drift into sleep…

All too soon, it’s finished. I don’t feel very different, although there’s a little tingle across my skin. I’m almost disappointed, and I wonder if I should have asked her to add those other elements she mentioned.

She turns her gaze back to my wrist, bringing it closer to her mouth. Her nose twitches, and I realize that she’s inhaling my scent. It seems to awaken something in her, and her fangs begin to elongate, shining and white, past her lips.

The ache in my gut twists into a painful, indescribable longing, and I’m embarrassed to find that I’m shivering with anticipation, both dreading and desperately craving what she’s going to do next…

Like a knife sinking into butter, her fangs pierce the skin of my wrist. I’m not prepared for how intimate the penetration is, and an unbridled moan rips from my throat. It’s an exquisite sensation, like being opened up fully, a delicious, burning pain all mixed up in pleasure…

She stays inside of me, her fangs buried an inch under my skin, and fixes her lips and tongue firmly to my wrist. Then she begins to suck at the wound, and I experience a powerful headrush as my blood flows toward her.

I grasp her shoulder with my other hand, clutching her like a life raft in a storm. In response, she pulls me closer to her, possessively, wrapping me up in her strong arms.

It hits me suddenly, her sheer power and might.

But at the same moment, I feel connected to her in a way I never could have imagined.

The act binds us together, makes us like one creature.

There’s something incredibly wonderful about…

about satisfying her like this. About giving myself to her so completely.

And too soon, her drinking slows, and she pulls her fangs cleanly out of my wrist. She laps at the wound with her assertive tongue, and the flow of blood immediately stops.

I’m breathing heavily, clutching onto her.

I feel transformed, and a little raw. My cheeks redden as I realize that we’re still raised high up on her throne, in clear view of everyone in the lounge.

I look around, and notice several vampires and humans watching us unabashedly.

I quickly turn back, shy at the thought of being watched.

But a little flicker of excitement tingles in my belly, knowing that everyone can see us. Can see me giving myself to her.

Crimson notices. “Do you like that?” she whispers. Her fangs are still long, and her voice is thick. “The others watching?”

I’m too far gone, and I can’t find my voice. I wouldn’t know how to answer her question anyway. All I can do is melt into her eyes.

“Are you all right?” she asks, a little line appearing between her dark brows.

I pull myself together, not wanting to worry her. “Y-yes, I’m all right,” I respond, breathlessly. She watches me patiently while I collect my words. “I just didn’t know that it was going to be like that. But I liked it. I really liked…you biting me.”

She smiles, and gives me an intense, probing look. It’s almost like she’s seeing me for the first time, or that she’s recognizing me. I swallow, feeling strangely vulnerable under the power of her gaze.

Then she bends her head toward my neck. My heart skips a beat, thinking that she’ll bite me there, but then I feel the gentle caress of her lips against my skin.

She…she kisses me there…her lips chilly, but so soft…

the edge of her fangs rub up against me, not enough to break the skin, but enough to tease.

I can’t help it. A pleasurable sigh escapes my lips as I surrender into her embrace. Her kisses become more insistent, her hand moving up my thigh.

A burning, throbbing desire rears inside of me…

Wait…what am I doing?!

My breath hitches. With all my willpower, I find my voice. “I…I have a boyfriend…”

She takes her mouth from my neck, a wicked smirk across her face. “It’s sweet of you to offer, but I’d like to focus all of my attention on you tonight…”

“No,” I stammer, clearing my throat as I try to pull myself together. “No, I mean…I don’t think we should kiss. Or…do anything like that.”

“Oh,” she replies with a frown. She retracts her fangs. Something shimmers in her eyes. Disappointment?

“I don’t mean to offend you!” I tell her, hastily. “You’re…you’re…”

She tilts her head again, a flicker of amusement in her eyes. “What am I?”

My heart flutters nervously. It’s impossible to deny the attraction I feel, even if it’s unexpected. “You’re beautiful. I…I just have to think about my boyfriend.”

Crimson nods, her expression serious. “I respect your loyalty.”

“Thank you,” I reply, genuinely.

Then I feel the eyes of the other vampires back on us, and that fierce, throbbing ache returns.

I tug gently at the unbuttoned edge of her oxford shirt. “But…can you keep drinking from me?”

Her lips twitch into a smirk, and she brings my wrist up to them once more.

I lose myself in Crimson’s powerful embrace, and surrender to the hazy, sensual atmosphere of the lounge. With each tug of her lips, my blood fills her up, and my head spins. My pleasure continues to crest, with no end or resolution.

When I feel her drinking slow, I gaze at her with desperation in my eyes.

“Please,” I moan. “Please don’t stop…”

She takes her fangs from my skin, licking me tenderly to heal the wound.

“That’s all for tonight,” she declares. Her definitive tone only makes the ache deepen. “I’m going to savour you. I can’t allow myself to become too greedy.”

Her words make my head spin. I blink up at her. “I feel so woozy…I don’t know how I’ll get to bed.”

She gives me that heart-stopping, cocky smirk again. Then, with no warning, she puts one arm under my legs, and stands, holding me firmly in her arms.

“Oh!” I gasp, grabbing onto her shoulder. But I have the feeling that I don’t need to hold on. She carries me swiftly down the steps from the throne’s raised platform, then through the sea of vampires and humans that quickly part for us.

I’ve never been carried like this before.

Somehow, I feel so…safe. I know it doesn’t make any sense.

Crimson is a dangerous, supernatural creature, and I should be terrified of her.

And yet, she holds me so carefully, like I’m something precious.

I allow myself to sink into her arms, to nestle myself against her chest.

She begins climbing the stairs, and takes me all the way up to the third floor. I’m surprised when she finds my room, and even more surprised when the door seems to open of its own accord.

“How did you do that?” I gasp.

“I attended a semester at a magic academy,” she says, as though this doesn’t multiply my questions tenfold.

The door shuts quietly behind us, and she takes me all the way to my bed. Somehow (magic? It’s impossible to believe), the blankets move so that she can place me underneath them.

“But how did you know which room was mine?” I ask her.

“Who do you think brought you back here, two nights ago?”

I swallow. The thought of her bringing me to my room should horrify me…

“I thought Eloise said that vampires don’t come up here?” I whisper.

She bends over me, her eyes darkening a little. “I’m the King of the Night clan. This is my mansion, and there is no room I cannot enter. But if you would like me to stay away...”

“No!” I’m surprised at how quick my response is, but I know immediately that I don’t want that. “You…you don’t have to stay away.”

“Understood,” she whispers. Her fangs have lined themselves back up with the rest of her teeth, and her eyes are back to their usual, pale grey. She gives me a final nod.

And then like a shadow, she’s gone.

Leaving me with a twisted chasm of desire that I don’t understand, and have no idea what to do with.