Page 39 of Cruelly Bitten

My wine glass was the final item, something she walked over and hand-washed before slowly returning to my side. Her eyes were lowered in clear submission, her cheeks still boasting that alluring pink shade.

“Have a seat,” I said, gesturing to the table in front of me. “And spread your legs.”

She swallowed, her green eyes flickering up to mine before lowering again. “Yes, my liege,” she whispered, her earlier confidence seeming to have fled.

That reaction suggested she was used to my particular brand of brutality.

Good.

Because I was feeling ravenous for her and I would not be holding back, something she obviously knew and accepted.

I leaned back in the chair as Ismerelda slid onto the table, her legs appearing even longer as she positioned them off the edge and allowed them to dangle on either side of my thighs.

“Wider, Ismerelda. And pull up my shirt.”

Her pulse jumped at the sound of my voice, her eyes briefly skipping up to mine before lowering once more. Rather than verbally reply to my command, she skimmed her palms up her thighs to the edge of the fabric and higher to expose her bare sex.

I’d already seen it earlier when I’d stripped her before bathing her—a task I would have given to someone else, but I hadn’t wanted anyone else to touch her. Not when I’d been so hungry for her.

Alas, she’d been unconscious through the experience. Mostly dead, truly.

However, now she was very much alive.

Which meant I could ask her a question I’d considered before yet hadn’t been able to voice because she hadn’t been alive enough to answer.

“Did you keep yourself groomed for me?” I couldn’t imagine who else she would have been prepared like this for, but a possessive part of me felt the need to confirm her intentions.

“No. I did it for me,” she replied softly, her answer surprising me. “I kept it trimmed for centuries, but shaving everything is… freeing.” Her pretty blush spread down her neck to the sliver of skin revealed by my shirt. “It makes things more sensitive.”

“Hmm,” I hummed, intrigued by her claim. She widened her legs, allowing me an unfettered view of her slick heat.

So wet and ready.

So very much mine.

“Let’s see just howsensitiveyou really are, Ismerelda.” I gripped her thighs and forced them even farther apart before leaning down to inhale her addictive fragrance.

Her pretty eyes met mine, allowing me to see the flicker of uncertainty mingling with interest in her dilated pupils. She had no idea what I intended to do to her. And I had no desire to define it.

This was my playground. My rules.My fucking blood slave.

“Lean back and balance on your palms,” I told her, my grip going to her hips. “And try not to?—”

My wrist buzzed with an incoming notification, stirring a growl from my chest. Ismerelda trembled in response, her needy pussy a mere centimeter from my lips.

Fuck. “This had better be important,” I snapped as I accepted the call on voice-mode only. I didn’t want anyone else seeing myErositalike this. She wasmydessert, not theirs.

“You asked me to notify you when the preparations for the ritual were done,” Mira replied, her tone flat. “I’m ready to begin.”

I straightened, my gaze still on the delectable sight before me. There really wasn’t a choice on how to proceed here despite my wishing I had one. But I’d wasted most of the night taking out my aggression on lesser vampires and indulging Ismerelda in a meal.

And now I was paying for delaying my gratification.

I blew out a long breath and closed my eyes. “I’ll be there in five minutes. Don’t start without me.” I ended the call before she could reply and refocused on Ismerelda. Lust shone bright in her gaze, her interest palpable and very welcome.

Just a few hours too late.

“I expect you to be naked, wet, and waiting for me in my bed when I return,” I told her. “Don’t disappoint me, Ismerelda.” I moved before she could reply, my lips meeting her thigh on my way to her clit, where I bit her.Hard.