Page 80 of Blood as Sweet as Roses

She straddles me from behind, still fucking me with one hand. The other hand moves the hair from my neck and I shiver as I think about what she’s about to do.

Then she sinks her fangs into my throat, as she adds another finger, stretching me and penetrating me from both sides. I scream, an unbridled, unhinged scream from deep in my core, and then I tighten as I come over her hand again. Pleasure crests over me like a wave, pulling me into a state of complete abandon.

She pushes her fingers into me as she takes a strong pull of my blood, claiming me completely, filling me up as I fill her. I surrender to her, giving myself over.

“Don’t stop,” I beg her. “Please…I’m your’s…I’mallyour’s…”

Now I feel the powerful vibration of her moan against my throat. Her thumb circles my clit and her fingers caress my G spot tenderly. We’re engrossed in each other, all tangled up in the need we have for one another.

The night stretches out into eternity and I lose all track of time, all sense of where she ends and I begin.

When the clock on the mantle approaches the dawn, I lay down on her chest, pressing my face to her cool skin. She runs a finger along my jaw, caressing my quivering lips.

“Paige,” she whispers, her voice silken like the petals of the roses in the garden. “Paige, you’reperfect…”

And for the first time, I truly feel it.

CHAPTER 27: SCARS

Crimson

They just don’t smell the same.

On the dance floor below, one of the new donors oscillates her hips in perfect time to the music, her chestnut hair grazing the trim of her violet dress.

And I just don’t care.

What iswrongwith me?

With a frustrated growl, I move my gaze away, and take a heavy swig directly from a bottle of distilled blood.

Usually, I have a rotating cast of breathers that I drink from, ensuring that I don’t weaken or drain any of them, carefully doling out my affections without singling out any of them or neglecting them.

But ever since Paige entered the mansion, I haven’t been able to get her scent out of my head. None of the other donors compare. I can’t get her out of my mind.

Could she be…

No. I’m not going down that road. She’s a breather like any other. She just has particularly delicious-smelling blood, and a sweet nature that I’m very fond of. It’s nothing more. I’ll continue to drink from her, but it would be wise to add a few more into the mix, so it doesn’t seem like I’m focusing my attention on her alone.

I’ve just decided on a tall, leather-clad donor, who’s eying me fiercely from their standing table by my throne. I’m about to call them over when a vampire appears out of nowhere beside me.

“Hi, Crimson!” he says, a little more loudly than is necessary.

“What is it, Alin?” I snap, annoyed at being interrupted right before a meal.

To mydismay, Alin holds up a thick, overstuffed binder. “My king, I’ve been working on the proposal for creating our own supply chain of glow!” he tells me, proudly. He pushes a strand of pale hair out of his face as he opens the binder, showing me the many charts and diagrams he’s prepared. “I met with some of the local independent witches, the ones we don’t believe are allied with Cedric. I even took the liberty of bringing on some Artemis witches with backgrounds in potion-making and blood magic…”

I’m already tuning him out. The donor gives me a heavy-lidded stare from across the room. “That’s great, Alin. Why don’t you put that on my desk and…”

“Did you know that there are ways to add additional elements to magical enhanced drugs?” Alin asks, his grey eyes brightening. “For example, some witches can make the substance binding to a particular vampire, or can heighten its addictive quality. I think we should do the latter, whiledecreasingits likelihood to render a magical coma. It’s tricky, but…”

“Ok, did you review all of this with Murad?” I ask, not wanting to get into the details of his plan right now.

Alin flips to a separate section in the binder. It’s covered in bright red and purple sticky notes, highlighted to an obnoxious degree. “Yes, sir, I met with him several times during the drafting process!” he says, pointing to one of his tabs. “He provided some excellent feedback, including suggestions for how to scale once we get our production line up and running…”

I raise a finger to stop him, but he’s already going at full steam, describing his business proposal in detail. I massage my temples. Nobody mentionedthispart of running a vampire clan.

But suddenly the strong, heavy smell of aspen and smoke fills the lounge. I sit up on my throne.