“I changed you,” he said simply, without a trace of remorse. “You’ve taken enough of my blood in the past to ensure a shift from mortal to immortal upon a draining. While your body transformed I’ve waited, anticipating the moment you finally opened your eyes.”
“Why,” I whispered, slightly afraid. I knew nothing of created vampires, only those born.
“I love you, Katja Arianna Morgan.” He spoke with a familiarity that revealed he knew far more about me than I was aware. “I have since I saw you on the platform at Telliandria’s auction. Even then, standing before the lords and ladies with your head held high, I knew you were special. But…” He sighed, hands forming into fists. “As your time in my keeping passed, I feared you wouldn’t choose to come to me. I thought I was going to have to let you go.”
“You told me we couldn’t be together, Bastian,” I reminded him, recalling the tears I shed when I questioned our future and he broke my heart. “You said it could never happen, that making love to one another meant death.”
“And I didn’t lie,” he replied tenderly, caressing the curve of my cheek. “You did die to your mortal life. But in the doing you have been reborn. It is against our laws to tell anyone outside our kind that only the selfless giving of life is worthy of the gift of the change. Had you not come to me as you did—with love and no fear for what it would mean for you—I never could have claimed you.”
Desperate to hear it, I asked breathlessly, “Do you really love me?”
He nodded and smiled, flashing fang. “Allow me to show you how much, Katja. I’ve dreamed of how it would be when we could truly be together. After your little show earlier, I know I am not alone in harboring fantasies.”
Smiling at the desire in his eyes, I tossed the duvet aside and bared my naked body. The air sizzled, electrified and charged between us. His lips descended and I opened my mouth in welcome but found things were markedly different. His flavor was headier, his scent more prominent.
Behind it all was the most luscious smell…
“It’s your hunger.” He groaned. “I feel it beating at me. You need to feed.”
His solid erection pressed against my thigh as he slid between my legs and brought other impulses to mind. I found myself pushing at him, forcing Sebastian onto his back. His cock was fully erect and jutted proudly from the light scattering of blond hair along his thighs.
I didn’t ask for permission, crawling on hands and knees until I reached him. With one hand I cupped his heavy sac, massaging the sensitive tissue carefully. With the other I gripped the base, brought the head to my lips and licked the skin around the tip that formed the crown.
“I’m glad to see my library has been put to good use.” He clasped the sheets with his fingers, just as I had when he pleasured me with his mouth. “Exceptionally good use.”
I grinned, finally understanding why I’d found erotic novels on the table near my journals. “You left them for me on purpose, didn’t you?” I said and then licked his cock.
“Of course,” he hissed, pausing as I took his head into my mouth and sucked. “Every time I returned to our chamber and the scent of your desire hung heavy in the air, I knew you’d been reading them. It took every ounce of self-control I possessed not to toss you onto our bed and eat you up. I wanted to hear you scream my name over and over again.”
I moaned, picturing him doing just that. He brought a hand to my head and twined his fingers into the strands. He didn’t instruct me this time, enjoying the slow and sensual exploration of my mouth against his straining flesh. This time I worked to take more of his length, trying to relax my throat. Before long he pumped his hips and pushed my head down to match the movement.
“I’ll come if you keep doing that.”
I stopped long enough to offer, “Don’t fight the feeling.”
He didn’t.
His thrusts were rough now, his hand at the back of my head almost violent. He came in a rush, cock jerking as wave after wave of his pleasure spilled onto my tongue. I sucked greedily, unable to get enough. I devoured him, drinking him down. He tasted different—salty but no longer bitter.
Like this, he was addictive.
“One day in our future, I’m going to go by the gentlemanly adage,” he told me in a hoarse voice, “ladies first.”
He changed our positions in a smooth motion and propped me against the pillows. He lowered himself, coming between my legs.
“This time I’m tapping this vein,” he said, parting my thighs for easy access.
Sharp fangs skimmed the sensitive skin of my inner thigh, followed by the caress of his tongue. Then I felt a fiery white-hot pain shoot from the area. I braced myself for the ecstasy that always followed his bite, holding my breath, quivering in anticipation. Pleasure bloomed, radiating from his bite, but the miserable burn didn’t go away.