Page 17 of Caller of Crows

"You're brave, Sven," Altair said, his voice like silk. "But you cannot stop me."

Sven swallowed hard. "How will you take my blood?"

"We've got a room set up for blood donations. I'll take you there."

"You'll draw my blood with a needle?"

"Scared of needles?"

Sven shook his head, his eyes never leaving Altair's. "No, I'm not scared. I just don't want to be treated like a lab rat. If you want my blood, take it like a real vampire."

Altair had kissed him after tasting his blood that first night. Maybe there was something about drinking that lowered his inhibitions, like liquor did for mortals. If so, Sven had to take full advantage of that.

He'd almost convinced the vampire to bite him last night.

If he pushed just a little more carefully…

"Use your teeth," Sven said. "Not needles."

Altair cocked an eyebrow at him. "And why would I follow your orders, mortal?"

Sven took a step closer to Altair, heart racing. "Because," he said, pitching his voice low, "you know you want to." He reached up and trailed a finger down the vampire's chest, feeling the firm muscles beneath the fabric of his shirt. "You want to taste me, don't you?"

Altair's eyes darkened with hunger, and Sven knew he had him. He leaned in, pressing his lips to the vampire's neck, feeling the pulse of his blood beneath the skin. "Take me," he whispered. "Take what you want."

Altair's fangs descended, and a thrill of fear and excitement ran through Sven. This was it. He tilted his head back, offering himself to the vampire, feeling the sharp sting as Altair sank his teeth into his neck.

The pain was sharp, but so was the lust it sparked in Sven. He moaned, his hands clenching at Altair's shirt as the vampire drank from him. A rush of heat flowed through him as the vampire's venom mingled with his blood, sending waves of pleasure through his body.

This was dangerous, reckless, and completely insane. But Sven didn't care. The only thing that mattered was the feel of Altair's lips on his neck.

It was over way too soon.

Sven felt lightheaded as Altair pulled away. Lightheaded and sluggish, as if he couldn't move. Vampire venom, he recalled idly.

There was some kind of venom in their bite.

"This is why you cannot stop me," Altair said, clearly picking up on what Sven was thinking as he gently picked Sven up and carried him like he weighed nothing.

Sven wanted to protest, but he felt like his brain was drugged. Funny, he'd thought he could drug Altair with his blood, but the opposite had happened.

His eyes went to Altair's lips where he could still see a hint of the vampire's fangs, stained red.

What was it about that sight that made his cock twitch?

"Everybody out," Altair said, and it was only then that Sven realized there were other vampires in the room Altair took him to.

They left without a question. Sven barely spared them a glance. His attention was still fixed on Altair and the hint of his fangs.

"It was different," he muttered before he even realized the meaning of his own words.

Altair set him down in a reclining chair, pretending like he didn't care what Sven was talking about, but Sven caught the questioning glint in his eyes before his expression smoothed over. It encouraged him to keep talking.

"The first time I was bitten, it was different," he said, thinking back to that day, to the dream he'd had just the night before. The first time a vampire had attacked him, there'd been nothing but pain.

Altair tensed, and Sven remembered that this was a topic the vampire didn't like. Too bad, because Sven wasn't going to stop talking. He needed to distract himself from the needle Altair was handling.

He couldn't look at it without getting nervous.