of the wrong king. How fast this has all happened is crazy, but I want you, a life with you, all of it.” She bit down on her bottom lip and rubbed hard at her throat.
Her words were like the sweetest salve, knitting up the raw edges of the psychic wounds he bore deep within. But still, he frowned. Unease stirred in his gut. Something wasn’t right… “Are you okay?” He grasped her hand before she marked her neck .
She trembled. Nodded. “I…I don’t…I’m so thirsty, Nikolai.”
The world went still around him. They weren’t mated. Not yet. But every instinct told him she was hurting for the want of his blood.
Jesus. How could he make her wait until the ceremony to feed? Even if they held it at tomorrow’s nightfall, that was hours away. He couldn’t. He didn’t want to.
An idea came to mind. Maybe he didn’t have to, either.
Withdrawing from her body, he squeezed her hands. “I want to ease you, angel.” He reached over the side of the bed and found his pants. From the pocket, he retrieved a small leather pouch. He returned to her and pulled the drawstring open. “Hold out your hand.”
Four faceted gemstones poured out into her palm. She gasped and leaned in, turning her hand this way and that to catch the light.
He smiled, knowing just how fascinating they were to look at. “They’re alexandrite. Our sacred stone. Very rare. It changes color in different lights.” Just then, they appeared red with flashes of pale purple.
“Oh, they’re beautiful. I’ve never seen anything like it. But, how will this help—”
“If you’ll allow it, I would like to share a private consummation with you. Right here. Right now. I still want the formal ceremony, Katherine. I want to stand before you and claim you as my own, but I can’t watch you suffer, not when I can take the pain away.”
“Oh, Nikolai, yes.”
Deep satisfaction pooled in his gut. The thought of her feeding from his vein seduced him with the rightness of the plan. “But I need you to hold on a moment longer, if you can, because you deserve a male doing his duty, shouldering his responsibilities. And I want to be that kind of a male, for you. So—” he lay on his back next to her, his marked hand settling on his chest “—it doesn’t have to be perfect, but if you could braid three of those into my hair…”
“You want me to do it?”
He looked at her and smiled. “Who else would I ask, my angel?”
“Okay,” she whispered. As her fingers grabbed and tugged thick strands of his hair, Nikolai closed his eyes and imagined all there was to come. Her mouth filled with the flavor of his blood. The consummation mark adding color to the black of their hands. Standing within a circle of his warriors and publicly claiming her, and being claimed in return. A new blooded family. Maybe even a newling, someday. She’d brought him back to life, and now she was giving him the world.
Trembling fingers stroked over his hair. “It’s done,” she said, voice tight with need. “What should I do with this one?” She held the last jewel between her fingers.
He drew her down for a single slow, deep kiss, then took the stone from her. “This one is going to bring you ease.” Placing a faceted edge against his throat, he pressed the jewel hard into his flesh until it felt the burn of the laceration, and then he scored a long line. Warm blood bloomed over his skin, pooled and ran down the side of his neck.
Her eyes went wide, her mouth dropped open. Her heartbeat thundered in the quiet of the room.
“What do you want, Katherine?” he said in a tight voice, his cock reawakening against his belly.
He didn’t have to ask twice.
She fell over him, her mouth finding and licking the crimson stream, her body writhing and shifting until she lay atop him.
Masculine satisfaction roared out of him, pounded through his dick, made his balls grow heavy with need. But this wasn’t just about him.
Nothing would be, ever again. Thank God.
For, he was meant to
Her words were like the sweetest salve, knitting up the raw edges of the psychic wounds he bore deep within. But still, he frowned. Unease stirred in his gut. Something wasn’t right… “Are you okay?” He grasped her hand before she marked her neck .
She trembled. Nodded. “I…I don’t…I’m so thirsty, Nikolai.”
The world went still around him. They weren’t mated. Not yet. But every instinct told him she was hurting for the want of his blood.
Jesus. How could he make her wait until the ceremony to feed? Even if they held it at tomorrow’s nightfall, that was hours away. He couldn’t. He didn’t want to.
An idea came to mind. Maybe he didn’t have to, either.
Withdrawing from her body, he squeezed her hands. “I want to ease you, angel.” He reached over the side of the bed and found his pants. From the pocket, he retrieved a small leather pouch. He returned to her and pulled the drawstring open. “Hold out your hand.”
Four faceted gemstones poured out into her palm. She gasped and leaned in, turning her hand this way and that to catch the light.
He smiled, knowing just how fascinating they were to look at. “They’re alexandrite. Our sacred stone. Very rare. It changes color in different lights.” Just then, they appeared red with flashes of pale purple.
“Oh, they’re beautiful. I’ve never seen anything like it. But, how will this help—”
“If you’ll allow it, I would like to share a private consummation with you. Right here. Right now. I still want the formal ceremony, Katherine. I want to stand before you and claim you as my own, but I can’t watch you suffer, not when I can take the pain away.”
“Oh, Nikolai, yes.”
Deep satisfaction pooled in his gut. The thought of her feeding from his vein seduced him with the rightness of the plan. “But I need you to hold on a moment longer, if you can, because you deserve a male doing his duty, shouldering his responsibilities. And I want to be that kind of a male, for you. So—” he lay on his back next to her, his marked hand settling on his chest “—it doesn’t have to be perfect, but if you could braid three of those into my hair…”
“You want me to do it?”
He looked at her and smiled. “Who else would I ask, my angel?”
“Okay,” she whispered. As her fingers grabbed and tugged thick strands of his hair, Nikolai closed his eyes and imagined all there was to come. Her mouth filled with the flavor of his blood. The consummation mark adding color to the black of their hands. Standing within a circle of his warriors and publicly claiming her, and being claimed in return. A new blooded family. Maybe even a newling, someday. She’d brought him back to life, and now she was giving him the world.
Trembling fingers stroked over his hair. “It’s done,” she said, voice tight with need. “What should I do with this one?” She held the last jewel between her fingers.
He drew her down for a single slow, deep kiss, then took the stone from her. “This one is going to bring you ease.” Placing a faceted edge against his throat, he pressed the jewel hard into his flesh until it felt the burn of the laceration, and then he scored a long line. Warm blood bloomed over his skin, pooled and ran down the side of his neck.
Her eyes went wide, her mouth dropped open. Her heartbeat thundered in the quiet of the room.
“What do you want, Katherine?” he said in a tight voice, his cock reawakening against his belly.
He didn’t have to ask twice.
She fell over him, her mouth finding and licking the crimson stream, her body writhing and shifting until she lay atop him.
Masculine satisfaction roared out of him, pounded through his dick, made his balls grow heavy with need. But this wasn’t just about him.
Nothing would be, ever again. Thank God.
For, he was meant to
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