Page 154 of Blood Day

But he maintained his distance, that strategic part of him still evaluating every word the prince had said to him.

“This is the training I wish to continue, Cedric,” the royal murmured, his palm gliding along Emine’s torso to palm her abdomen. “I think it would benefit your Lily as well.”

Emine arched back into him as he slid his fangs into her throat, his palm remaining against her belly as his opposite hand moved upward to cup her breast.

She moaned, her eyes closing as she gave herself fully to him.

I swallowed, my skin flushing at the sight. A vivid image of Master Cedric holding me in that way flashed inside my mind, making my knees go weak.

However, he didn’t move. He merely watched, his expression giving nothing away.

If I couldn’t hear his yearning in his mind, I would have thought this meant nothing to him.

Except I could hear his desire as loud as mine, his need to claim me in a similar manner making it difficult for him to remain still.

“I know you’ve already begun training Lily,” the prince said after a long drink. “But I think it would be mutuallybeneficial to combine our lessons for a common goal. We could show them how to be sexual with each other without truly being intimate.” His gaze lifted to Master Cedric. “After all, this society requires games. So let’s play together on the same side.”

Chapter 33

Cedric

This is a dangerous game indeed.

Khalid wasn’t just asking me to help train our pets for society’s purposes. He was asking me to choose him over Silvano.

“I may have a need for a new sovereign,” Khalid had said.

Not an offer, but a potential position within his territory. And he’d apparently been evaluating me as a prospective candidate for years.

I hadn’t considered that possibility when my position with Blood University had been approved. I’d just assumed they were short-staffed and could use an older influence on their faculty.

However, I should have known that it had required approval from Sahara and Khalid.

I wasn’t a royal.

But I was old. Powerful. And the progeny of a royal. If something ever happened to Silvano, I would be considered a candidate to take over his territory.

And if I chose to work with Khalid, the same could be said about his territory, too.

He returned his mouth to Emine’s neck, his fangs sinking into her flesh again as the palm on her stomach slid downward to her shaved cunt.

Lily squirmed in response, her own thighs clenching at the erotic display. I could smell her arousal, the heady scent making me dizzy as the aroma of Emine’s blood pulsed through the air.

Khalid was inviting me to join him in this lethal dance. And the scents were making it difficult to refuse.

He’d taunted my possessive side out to play when he’d taken a step toward Lily earlier. Her nudity had left her even more vulnerable in my mind, causing me to react instinctively by warning him not to touch her. Because I would defend her, something I hadn’t been entirely certain about until the moment had arrived.

The second he’d moved, I’d decided my fate.

Mine.

That word reverberated through my mind even now, my desire to hide Lily’s body from his view an intense need that took an insane amount of effort to deny.

Never had anything tested my patience as much as this situation.

Given how long I’d lived, this realization was shocking, to say the least.

But I’d never had anErositabefore.