Page 61 of Blood Ties (City of Blood #1)

Bash

Now that the ceremony is over, it’s time for the party.

Getting Celeste bundled into the back of the suv with Jack so she gets home safely, I wander back into the cattedrale to watch the magic.

The room is almost instantly transformed into a club-like space, multi-colored lights strobing from the balconies, and people dancing to the music in the middle of the cleared church.

Alcohol and blood flow freely from fountains stationed around the room.

Humans lining the edges of the room, waiting to be of service to any vampires, either their blood or their bodies.

I warned Elina about the party when we first discussed the ceremony, and I warned her, again, last night when she asked me if we could do the binding today.

“Ok, if we can do it whenever, I want to do it now. Tonight,” she replies earnestly.

“Well, I think tomorrow. There are some preparations to be made, plus there is the party to plan.”

“Party?” she asks me with an inquisitive lift of her brow.

“Yes, the party. Remember when I explained the Legame di Sangue? Back in the letters. The party after the ceremony—the orgy?”

Her eyes widen comically. “I, uh, had forgotten that. Do I have to be in an orgy?” she asks incredulously.

Laughing and gathering her in my arms, I reassure her, “No, Tesoro, you don’t have to.

But you could. If you wanted. It wouldn’t matter to me.

You will be bound to me and the only thing the bond wants is your happiness…

if you’re happy with another man between your thighs…

well…I shall endeavor to work harder to please you, but I wouldn’t stop you. ”

She slaps my arm. “I will not be orgy-ing”

Despite my warning, I am concerned she doesn’t fully grasp what is going to be happening here tonight.

Watching her sway to the music in her wedding gown fills me with emotion.

My cousins did spectacularly with her dress.

It's entirely black including the tulle and lace.

The full ball gown skirt fans out around her, what seems like a thousand layers of cloth making her look like a princess of the night.

The top is a form fitting, lace up corset, similar to the one she was wearing when I saw her for the very first time, and it looks as stunning now as it did then.

The onyx and diamond tiara on her head, with its delicate filigree, fits her perfectly, and I wish I could see her this happy and gorgeous every single day.

The demons of our collective pasts still haunt us, but tonight, she is the shining star in the night sky as she commands the attention of everyone in the room.

Everyone revolves around her like she is the sun and we are her servants.

Aura approaches her where she dances, whispering in her ear.

She giggles freely and allows Aura to pull her away.

“Where are you going, Tesoro?” I yell after them and they look back at me, laughing loudly. Seeing her so free, and hearing her joy, is like finding a piece of my soul that was missing. But feeling the pure bliss radiating out of her, pulsing in my brain, is transcendent.

Watching the way she disappeared, I wait for her to reappear. I feel Jack before I notice he has walked up behind me.

“Sebastien, my friend, my brother, my sire. Fuck, this is amazing.” He wraps his arm around my neck, pulling me against him.

“I’m so happy for you. Who would have thought those months ago, when you told me about her, that this is where we would end up.

You did it, man.” Just as he finishes his sentence, I look back the way Elina went and am stunned to speechlessness.

Jack whistles next to me, laughing under his breath. “Not only am I so happy for you, but you’re one lucky son of bitch.”

“Shut up.” I huff out a laugh at his comments.

Elina has reemerged into the party, and if she was the sun before, now she is the moon.

Her ballgown has transformed into a short black mini dress with a flaring skirt that shows her thigh high stockings, embroidered with red beads down the back, a garter belt around her thigh made of black lace with black diamond drips, clipped to the stockings.

Her gorgeous wedding corset is now tightened, creating a luscious amount of cleavage, and a large red garnet hangs between her breasts.

I feel like she switched my brain off when she entered the room, and, based on the hush that has fallen in the party, I am not the only one who feels that way.

Appreciative looks rain down on her from men and women, all of them hoping to have an opportunity to get close to her tonight.

Smiling widely, she walks my way on her stiletto heels, confidence pouring off her.

She has always been gorgeous, and her confidence is something I have loved about her since the moment I watched her in that bathroom mirror while she adjusted her clothing and fluffed her curls.

Tonight, she knows that she is stunning and is relishing in the attention being on her.

She deserves to be the object of every affection.

“Hey, handsome,” she croons as she approaches.

“Hey, baby,” Jack responds from beside me. Elbowing him, I laugh. She shifts her beaming smile to his face, crinkling her nose at him. “You sure clean up nice.” He puts on his most seductive smile, for emphasis.

“Hey, Jack.” She leans down, planting a chaste kiss against his smiling mouth. “Don’t want to disappoint you, but I’ve only got eyes for one man tonight,” she adds, beaming at him.

“Well, if you get some space on your dance card, hold it for me, darlin.” Standing, he sweeps her into his arms and spins her around, giggles filling the space around them.

Setting her on her tottering heels, he kisses her cheeks and makes his way into the party, likely hunting for some entertainment of his own for the night. .

“So, Bash,” she straddles my lap, wrapping her legs around me, “I remembered something else from the letter about the party. Blood sharing?”

Reaching up, I move a loose curl behind her ear, looking into her eyes. “Curious, Tesoro?”

“Yes,” she draws the word out sassily.

Taking her arm in my hand, I bring it to my mouth, tilting my head to expose my throat. “Then by all means, let's do it, beautiful.”

Pushing my fangs through my gums, I lick the delicate skin of her wrist before biting gently, feeling the lightning that is her blood, flood my body. Her fangs break through the thin skin of my neck at the same time.

Blood sharing is an intensely intimate moment—the same sort of intimacy that exists in siring.

I can feel her elation as she draws life from me.

My veins feel like they are full of fire, thunder crackling through me.

I’m energized by the blood of my wife, my mate.

I grow hard beneath her in my lap. She moves her hips in time with her pulling draws on my neck, moaning against my flesh.

Throwing her head back, blood coats her tongue, lips, and cheeks.

It runs down her chin, joining the garnet nestled there.

I release her arm and move my hands to her hips.

If I thought her outfit change was hot, she is infinitely sexier now, with my blood coating her skin.

I lean forward, thrusting my hips up, rubbing my cock against her, and suck on her neck, tasting my blood.

I lavish her neck and chest with kisses, licking her clean.

Looking around us, I see that other couples have followed our lead, using our display as inspiration to cover themselves in each other's blood, taking turns licking and sucking.

The atmosphere in the room becomes charged with lust.

Couples, and groups of up to four or five, strip their clothing off—there are no limits, no conscious coupling, men, women, multiple men, multiple women, skin everywhere. Vampires are inherently hedonistic, and the celebratory feelings in the air turn to sensuality very quickly.

Even the elders partake. Marcus is engaged in a group session with two other men, reveling in each other in a rare display for the Re, and each of my uncles are with human women.

It's raw, it's real, it's incredibly erotic and stimulating.

Elina continues her gyrations in my lap, moaning as she pushes herself closer to the edge, using me as a tool.

Reaching down, I slide her panties out of the way and slide a finger inside her as she rubs her clit against me.

Her movements become more erratic as I caress her from the inside.

Raising her slightly, I slide a second, then a third finger into her.

“You’re soaking wet for me, baby, do you want to come?

We are in a room full of people. So dirty, so perfect,” I whisper, rubbing against her clit with the palm of my hand while I fuck her with my fingers.

Kissing her deeply, her tongue moving with mine as she starts to shake, her pussy tightening around my fingers.

Her hips move in rough circles, her breath panting out of her—faster, quicker, louder.

She cries out as she tips over the edge, her orgasm over taking her, yelling my name into the room, she draws the gaze of the vampires around us.

She falls on me and bites me as she comes, biting me deeply and drawing the blood out, enhancing her orgasm, nerve endings firing.

Kissing any part of her I can reach, I murmur, “Such a good girl, that's my girl.” She collapses on my chest breathing heavily. Wiping her hair off her face, I gently kiss her mouth. “I love you so much.”

A few hours later, Elina and I are laughing, surrounded by everyone we love. Sarah and Ethan are wrapped around each other, love shining in their eyes. Jack and a human woman, Katie, sit nearby. It's a family that I am building for myself, filling all the missing parts and pieces of me.

Tonight, we won’t consider what happens next, and the fact that there is a new monster out there somewhere and none of us know what that will mean. Tonight, we enjoy our loved ones. Tomorrow, Sarah and I have worked on a little surprise for Elina.

“Jack, get us some refills!” Elina calls out.

“Yes, my queen.” He bows low, pulling laughter from the group.

“So, Katie,” Elina says, as soon as Jack has wandered away. “I didn’t realize Jack brought a date. How long have you guys been,” waving a hand, “seeing each other?”

“Oh, uh, it’s relatively new. We met before that whole thing with you happened. He was with me the night that Bash called him away. He didn't reappear for a few weeks, but he explained everything.” Katie frowns a little as she speaks. I had no idea he was seeing someone or that he was with her.

Elina’s face is sympathetic, she carries some guilt about the whole thing even though none of it is her fault.

“Woah, what’s happened? I was gone, maybe, 30 seconds,” Jack asks, taking in the suddenly more serious atmosphere.

“Elina was asking Katie when you met. For all the shit you gave me about not telling you stuff when you showed up at my apartment, you were with Katie when I called you away and you didn’t even tell me,” I say to him.

“Well, of course I didn’t say anything. No offense, babydoll.

” He looks in Katie’s direction briefly before looking back at me.

“You’re my sire. If you called me out of my bed, while I’m buried in my mate, I will still show up.

Once I saw you, there was no way I could leave again.

Besides,” he grabs Elina’s hand, “I needed to be there. I needed to find her.”

I can barely bring myself to acknowledge how much his words mean to me. Knowing that, not only does Elina have me, she has the protection of Jack by her side. If anything ever happened to me, Jack would be there, would protect her and support her.

Reaching out, I wrap my arm around his neck, bringing him to me. “I love you, brother.”

“Yeah, yeah, shut up.” He shakes his head, turning to look at Katie, and she looks a little unhappy, pursing her lips at Jack. “I’m sorry. Bash would do the same for me.”