Tempting Raven (Curse of the Vampire Queen #1)(34)

"No, but you said I could only drink your blood, so when it happens, it won't be by choice. And no one will ever drink from my vein."

He eyeballs my lips again. "Yes, they will  …  eventually." He pushes away, sits back down in the seat, and pulls a knife from out of his pocket, growing quiet and leaving me to wonder what he meant.

I straighten in the seat as he flips open the knife. "What're you doing?"

"Lay your head on my lap," he instructs as he aligns the tip of the knife to his forearm.

"Um, no thanks," I tell him. "I'm cool right where I am, far, far away from your lap and other things near your lap."

He stares at me with his teeth sunk deeply into his bottom lip. "I need you to put your head on my lap so you can catch the blood when it drips out of my arm."

"Oh." My cheeks flood with warmth as I lie down on the seat and tentatively rest my head onto his lap.

He gazes down at me, sucking on his lip ring.

"What?" I rub my hand across my forehead. "Do I have something on my face?"

"No, you're fine. I just  … " He rips his attention off me and drags the tip of the knife down his forearm, making a small incision. Then, keeping the bleeding wound facing upward, he moves his arm above my mouth. "Ready?"

No. Not at all.

Not wanting the burn to spread, I nod.




       
         
       
        
His Adam's apple bobs up and down, then he rotates his arm downward and puts the bleeding wound right above my lips. Blood begins to trickle down like raindrops, and I open my mouth, ready to drink and get this over with.

Nothing could have prepared me for what happens next.

I mean, I've drunk blood before, but never like this, so close to being fresh from the vein.

So  …  powerful.

That's what I realize the moment the first droplet of his blood kisses the tip of my tongue. Rhyland is powerful. Very powerful, in a way my body can barely understand. In a way my body craves.

Something snaps inside me, and I suddenly go from reluctantly drinking his blood to grabbing his arm and devouring every delicious drop that spills from his forearm. Groans fumble from my lips as I greedily drink, the buzzing in my veins pumping to life again. Power. The buzzing is power. My power. Rhyland's power. Vampire power.

Eventually, all self-control leaves my mind and body, and my fangs descend. I pull back only to prepare to sink my fangs into his vein, ready to drink until I black out from a blood high, but Rhyland cups the back of my neck, stopping me.

"Easy," he whispers hoarsely, soothingly stroking the back of my neck with his fingertips.

I take a ragged breath as I dazedly gaze up at him, struggling to calm down. "I'm sorry," I whisper, horrified. I was about to attack him. Drink from his vein.

He carries my gaze, hunger and pain emitting from his eyes. "It's okay. I just don't want you to let the frenzy take over and do something you'll end up regretting. I want you to want it when it happens."

I nod, licking some blood off my lips as the frenzy fades from my mind. "Thank you."

He nods, moving his hand away from the back of my neck. I return my head to his lap while his fingers drift to the bottom of my throat, lightly tracing a path along my skin.

"Are they gone?" I ask breathlessly.

He nods. "For now."

Fear creeps up inside me, but whatever sort of magic his blood holds erases the feeling almost instantly. Instead of sitting up, I remain lying in his lap. The dizzy, hazy, temporary euphoria takes over my body and mind again. My leg feels better; the bones healed. And I feel strangely content, like I'm exactly where I want to be, which is weird since I'm with Rhyland.

I could get used to this.

I really could.

I start to smile at the thought when the vehicle rolls to a stop and Rhyland utters softly, "We're home."

I sit up and wipe more blood from my lip, expecting to see us parked in the driveway of either his or my two-story childhood home. Nope. All I see is miles and miles of forest enclosing the biggest castle I've ever laid eyes on. 





11





I blink at the lofty trees, the endless number of fields, and the three-story stone castle towering toward the starry sky. "Where are we?"

Rhyland reaches for the door handle. "I already told you  …  Home." He jumps out before I can ask more questions.

Gritting my teeth, I dig my phone from my pocket, calling my mom to tell her I'm okay and to ask her why the hell I'm parked in front of a castle that Rhyland is saying is my home.

"Hey, honey." She sounds calmer than I thought she would.