"You will feed from me," she said firmly. "Just … tell me what to do."
Stars above, he wanted to groan with satisfaction and he hadn't even penetrated her skin.
"It will be easier if you lie down."
She glanced at the mattress, then stepped lightly and lay down on top of the quilt, smoothing her skirt, leaving her arms at her sides. Focusing all of his energy on moving slowly so as not to add a spark of fear on her lovely face, he lay down at her side, propping his weight on one arm. Her bosom rose and fell rapidly as he eased his body over hers. She turned her head and lifted her chin, offering her neck, like the lamb laying herself bare before the lion.
Nikolai lifted a finger to her chin and guided her face back to his. "I will only take what I need, no more."
"I know." She licked her lips. "I trust you."
And there it was. His seal of doom. He could no more take advantage of her luscious body while she was under his enchantment than he could chop off his own limb. She trusted him. He would die before he broke that trust. So he must prepare her for what was to come.
"I must tell you that my elixir may affect you. Rather strongly."
She gulped, and Nikolai followed the workings of the muscles in her slender throat.
"In what way?"
He thought best to be gentle, yet honest. "Sensually. My lady."
"I see." She looked down, her eyelashes black against her cheeks. Rather than protest or beg for a reprieve, she locked her gaze on his. "I'm ready."
Lowering his head, he swept her auburn waves away from her neck and shoulder, relishing the feel of her silken hair between his fingers before clutching a fist in its thickness without pulling. He brushed his lips lightly across her pulse, the swift tattoo throbbing against his mouth. The roots of his canines ached in pain. An agony he'd never felt quite like this.
She lifted her arm and lay a delicate hand on his shoulder. Enough. He could take no more.
With a swift beat, he sank his fangs deep, groaning as pure heaven seeped into his mouth. The tender aching eased as his elixir released into her bloodstream.
She threaded one of her hands into his hair on a soft sigh. Sliding the one on his shoulder up to wrap his nape, she held him close. With a whisper of a moan, she arched her back and neck, pressing closer.
"Nikolai," she whispered, and he thought he'd come undone with his name on her lips, her voice full of yearning, calling him like a siren to the sailor.
He pulled his fangs free and opened his mouth wide over the bite, sucking hard, taking in her lifeblood, which surged through his frame, the sweetest nectar. Raw energy lit him from the inside out, and he lost himself in the euphoria until he realized Sienna had opened her legs, allowing him to seat himself perfectly between.
Heaven help him, he ground his hard cock against her sex, sliding his hand to her bare thigh where her dress had hiked up and squeezing her sweet flesh to keep his hand from going any higher.
"Nikolai," she called again, clutching his hair, jerking his head away from her neck.
The fire burning in her gaze should've been warning enough. She was dangerous. He was dangerous with her. But like a wave rising and gaining speed in the ocean, there was no force to hold back this all-consuming tide.
"Kiss me," she begged, eyes hooded with desire. "Please."
Nothing in this wide world could keep him from obeying her sweet plea. He angled his mouth over her plump lips-parted and waiting-then stroked his tongue in deep, tasting the remnant tang of her blood, feeling the pliant softness of her mouth. He pulled his mouth away roughly and pricked her bottom lip with his fangs. Licking out with his tongue, he sucked her full lip between his teeth, then nuzzled down her neck to the puncture wounds for seconds.
She moaned and rocked her hips up, undulating against his painfully rigid cock. The friction was delicious, but not as much as her. Releasing her thigh, he glided his hand to her breast, the fabric so thin he easily found the taut peak of her nipple and pinched lightly.
"More," she begged. "Please."
Unable to think through the haze of desire, he yanked her top down off her shoulder below her breast, then opened his mouth over her pink nub and sucked, teasing her tight nipple with his tongue. He grazed gently with his teeth, then pulled hard with his lips, soothing again with his tongue.
With a sudden cry, she rubbed her sex against him, climaxing before he'd ever put a hand under her skirts. Maybe that was for the best. Her hand clenched in his hair as she whimpered with each exhalation of breath. He longed to feel her tight sheath clench around his cock. He flicked his tongue out once more across her nipple, savoring her sweet response to his touch. She flinched and whimpered louder.