Page 77 of Blood as Sweet as Roses

Crimson’s lip twitches.

“As a favour to me?” I try.

It’s dark, but I think I see her give me the briefest nod, although she stands so still. Without a word, she descends the steps of the porch, and marches up to Sabina and Blake. Her deadened, hard eyes give him a look that I’m shocked doesn’t turn him to dust.

“It’s your lucky day, breather,” she rasps. “Be grateful that she has a soft heart…because I would have torn yours from your body for speaking to her that way.”

Blake swallows, his eyes locked on her in terror.

Crimson grimaces. “I’m letting you go on her request.But heed my words…if youeverbother her again, I will drain you on the spot. And I will do itslowly.”

She gestures to Sabina, who throws him angrily to the ground, clearly upset that she was denied his blood. Blake scrambles to his feet and takes off down the cobblestoned path without looking behind him.

“I’msosorry,” I groan, my face red with embarrassment. I’m kneeling before Crimson, down in her crypt. I don’t know if she brought me down here so she can drink from me, or so that she can fire me in private. “I can’tbelieveBlake turned up like that, I had no idea he was going to do that!”

“Is it true, you broke up with him?” she asks, swirling her glass of distilled blood. She doesn’t ask me to get up. I think she enjoys seeing me on my knees.

“Yes, a while ago.”

She hums, and raises an eyebrow as she takes a long sip. “Interesting.”

I sigh at her arrogance. I’m feeling surprisingly bold tonight. “WhatI said was true. I didn’t break up with him for not being a vampire, or because I came here. I broke up with him because he wasn’t treating me right. Which Idon’tregret. But I am sorry that he showed up at the mansion. It was…very unprofessional.”

“His bad behaviour was not your fault, and you have no reason to apologize,” Crimson declares, setting her glass down on one of the ebony side tables.

I take in her words. “You’re…you’re right. I shouldn’t apologize for him. I take it back,” I say, honestly.

A warm, pleasant feeling settles down around me as I say the words. Sheisright. Idon’tneed to apologize for Blake. I relax just slightly, feeling comfortable in a new way.

“But…” Crimson purrs, tilting her head a fraction to the side. “Youdiddeny Sabina and I the pleasure of draining him.”

A shiver creeps up my spine. But…is it fear? Or…anticipation? Both?

“And I believe,” she continues, stepping closer to where I kneel upon the hard floor of her crypt. I crane my neck to look up at her. “That I’ve promised to punish you on at least one other occasion. Is that correct?”

I swallow. Lust makes my head feel hazy. “Yes, my king.”

Crimson looks down at me, an evil flash of red in her eyes. “Do you remember what I’d promised?”

ThatI do remember. The memory of her words has lingered in my subconscious since she first whispered them in my ear, like an impossible, half-remembered daydream. “Yes, sir.”

“Does such a punishment seem…fairunder the circumstances?”

I’m overwhelmed at the thought. And I realize that she’s asking me for my permission to continue. “Yes, my king.”

She takes a measured sip of her wine. “And you know what you’ll say, if you want me to stop?”

“Yes. If I want you to stop, I’ll say ‘thorn.’”

“Good.” Her head cocks, messy tendrils of dark hair falling into her grey eyes.

She considers me, watching me for several long moments. Vampires really know how to draw out a moment. I wonder if she experiences time in the same way as I do. There’s so much I wonder about her.

But the longer she looks at me, the stronger the suspense becomes, until it’s almost painful.

Finally, she ends my agony. “Strip,” she commands, leaning back lazily against the bar.

Shakily, I make it to my feet, quickly reaching for the buttons along the front of my dress.