Chapter 10
Ten
Mina
I fought not to squirm.
The scent of blood was making me crazy, and I couldn’t look away from all that was happening in the room around me.
“What is this place?”
“A feeding club. This is where blood drinkers and donors meet and make mutually beneficial transactions.”
His voice slid over me, low and smooth, and I couldn’t stop my shiver. “Donors?”
“People, others who like to be bitten and fed from.” His warm breath teased my skin. “They get sexual gratification from it. The blood drinkers get what they need and so do the donors.”
I didn’t like the thought of Nero doing that, of him feeding from someone else, of him…touching them. “Have you done that? Have you made a mutually beneficial transaction with the donors who come here?”
“Yes,” he said. “Many times.”
No. I didn’t like that at all. In fact, the idea of it was so abhorrent, I found myself pushing back against him, the action involuntary, as if to shield him from anyone in this room who might think they could offer themselves to him. It made no sense. I didn’t like this male. Until tonight, when he’d finally let me out of my room for a few hours, he’s been nothing but cold, cruel, and manipulative.
But that was the power of fate, of a bond like ours. Still, I found I wanted to hurt him back, because the thought of him being with another did hurt. It was stupid, of course he had. He was old. He would have fed from many others over the centuries, but that didn’t seem to make any difference.
“Maybe I should choose a donor to feed from,” I said.
His fingers were back at my throat in an instant, his fang grazing my ear. “If you feed from anyone but me, little doll, I will skin them, shred them in front of you until there is nothing left but gore. Do you understand?”
His words should scare me. Instead, they made my heart race faster and the deep throb between my thighs grow heavier. “Does that mean you’ll only drink from me?” I whispered.
He nipped my ear, and I shivered again. “Is that what you want?”
It was. I was already at a disadvantage with this male. I didn’t want to give him anything else to hold over me, but then I thought about what Lucinda said and I decided if I wanted to claim my mate, to break through the ice and thaw the emotions that were buried deep, I needed to tame Nero’s inner beast, whatever it was. I needed to disarm him, and giving him the truth would hopefully do that.
“Yes… I want you to only drink from me,” I confessed.
“Then no more drinking from a glass, Lalka. No more barring me from your room, and you can have what you want.” He sucked my earlobe gently. “I gave you freedom tonight, Mina, does that mean I get everything?”
“Not everything,” I forced myself to say. “That was only a taste of freedom, and I’ll need a lot more than that before I fully surrender to you.” Lucinda had pushed Rainer to his breaking point, and if I wanted Nero to give me everything, then I would have to do the same.
He purred low and rough. “So does that mean I get a taste of you, little doll? It’s only fair, a taste for a taste.”
His cool lips and warm breath caused goose bumps to lift across my skin. The scent of blood and the moans of pleasure filling the room had my head spinning. My body was tight and hot and hungry for more than just blood. I was supposed to entice him, instead he’d turned the tables on me. “Yes,” I said, giving him the truth again and hoping he didn’t make me regret it.
“I can smell how wet your cunt is. Does it ache?”
A whimper slipped free. “Yes.”
“Would you like me to ease it?”
I rubbed my thighs together, squeezing them tight, but it didn’t help. Only Nero could make it go away. “Yes…please.”
“Say that again, little doll.”
He wanted me to beg for him to make me feel good. If I hadn’t been in this room, if I didn’t feel so out of control, I would have refused, but I needed relief. I needed him to touch me so badly I shook. “Please,” I whimpered. “Please, Nero.”
A long, drawn-out rumbling sound vibrated from his chest, startling me. I expected him to lift me to my feet, to lead me from the club, but instead he turned me on his lap so my side was pressed to his front, my bottom cradled by his muscled thighs.
His hand slid up under my dress, and I slammed my knees together. “What are you doing?”
“What you asked for, bride.”
“But everyone will see.”
“Look around you, Mina, no one gives a fuck what we’re doing. They’re taking their own pleasure. Besides, if anyone looks at you while I’m pleasuring you, I’ll kill them, so it won’t matter.”
I blinked up at him. “You’d kill them?”
His hand traveled down the back of my thighs, then easily slid up between them. A gasp left me when his fingers brushed where I wanted him to touch me so badly.
“Unclench your thighs,” he ordered softly.
I did, feeling hot and desperate and weak. It was wrong, but Nero’s threat to anyone who looked at us made my belly swirl in a pleasant way. He didn’t want anyone to look at me like this either. Honestly, that made me feel safe here in his arms.
“Very good,” he said. “My little Lalka is drenched. Panties so fucking soaked they’re ruined.” The sound of tearing fabric came next. He tore my underwear from me, then tucked them in his pocket. “The scent of your need is so heavy, bride, that everyone in this room can smell it. Look,” he said against my ear as he slid his thumb along the seam of my slick flesh. “Look around you. They’re wild. You caused this, Mina, you did this.”
He was teasing me. My scent was only one of many in this room, but as I looked around, I squirmed against his hand, seeking more, needing more. The beings in this room were moving against each other, doing things I couldn’t name, things I didn’t understand, but the pleasure they were feeling was blatant to see.
Nero kept up that slow, steady slide of his thumb, teasing me, not giving me more, not until he was ready. I clung to his shirt, caught between wanting more and reveling in his wonderful torment.
I watched as a female moved on top of a large vampire on one of the couches. The male was drinking from her bare breast, while she writhed, moving up and down, sometimes bouncing, sometimes staying tight to him and swiveling her hips. She threw her head back and cried out. At the sound of her pleasure, my thighs squeezed around Nero’s wrist. I was panting now. The vampire dragged his tongue over his puncture marks and lifted the limp female off him, propping her up on the couch beside him.
I gasped. “What is that?”
“What?” Nero asked roughly.
“Sticking up from his…his hips.” It was long and thick and glistening.
The big vampire crooked his finger, and another female walked up, straddled his hips, then reached down, took the flesh in her hand, held it between her thighs, and sat. The glistening length disappeared inside her, then the vampire bit her and she threw her head back with a cry of pleasure as well.
Nero had gone silent beneath me.
“What was that, Nero?” I asked again, my heart beating wildly as I watched the second female bounce and grind on top of the vampire while he drank from her throat.
“Males and females are made differently, Mina, you have to know that?” he finally said.
My face heated. “Well, yes, I just didn’t know how… I’ve never seen…”
He took my jaw in his hand and turned my face toward him, his eyes locked with mine. “That, Lalka, is a cock.”
I blinked up at him. “Oh.” I had no idea what that meant.
“Cocks are soft usually, but they get hard, growing thicker, longer, when a male is around someone they want to fuck. And little dolls have an opening that is made especially for it.” His thumb slid lower, rubbing over a part of me that often felt empty when I was near this male. I’d touched it, ran the tip of my finger over it, but I’d been too afraid to do more than that. “It feels tight and wet and hot when we slide inside.” He pushed his thumb inside me, and I moaned at the intrusion. He dragged it back out, then slid back in, and my thighs spread wider all on their own.
I gripped his shirt tighter, then he slid his thumb out and instead filled me with one long, thick finger. My nails were close to tearing the fabric of his shirt as I gasped and whimpered.
“Feels good, doesn’t it, bride?”
I bit my lip hard to stop the needy sounds coming from me, and I tasted my own blood.
That’s when I realized what the hard thing underneath me was. Nero’s cock was hard. It was long and thick and straining against his trousers beneath me. “Do you want to put your…your cock inside me, Nero?”
“Yes,” he said roughly, his gaze dipping to the blood on my lip. “I want to contort your tight little body in all sorts of ways while I fuck you senseless, Mina. You have no idea how badly.”
His fingers moved faster, sliding deeper, and I fisted his shirt at his throat to hang on and pressed my flushed face to his cool skin. I felt it building, the thing that Nero had done to me several times now, but this time it was more intense, more out of control. I felt out of control. “Then do it.” I moaned against his tattooed throat. “I feel so empty. Oh gods…please, Nero. I need it.”
He growled and added another finger. “I would destroy your little cunt, Mina, the way I want it right now. I’d make it hurt. You’re not ready for the way I’d fuck you.”
My hips were mindlessly rocking against his hand as he filled me with his fingers, thrusting into me over and over again. It was too much, I was too full, yet it wasn’t enough. I wanted him. I wanted his cock. “I don’t care if it hurts. I want it to hurt.” My fangs had extended, and they grazed his throat. “I need… I have to—”
“Bite,” he snarled. “Now.”
I struck, sinking my fangs into his throat, and as soon as his blood hit my tongue, I broke, shattering around his fingers. I pulled my fangs from his flesh so I could cry out and warm blood slid down my chin.
When I opened my eyes, blood had dripped on the bodice of my dress. Panting, I quickly sealed my bite, then dragged my hand across my chin, staining my skin with more.
My gaze shot up to Nero, and he was watching me with starved eyes. I was instantly caught in his predator’s gaze.
“Messy, little doll,” he said, lifting his fingers. He held them up so I could see that they still glistened from being inside me…then Nero slid them into his mouth and sucked them clean. He took my jaw in his hand next and swiped his tongue up my chin, lapping up the blood before sucking on my lips.
It felt amazing. Then he swept his tongue into my mouth, and my head spun, my body reigniting from his kiss.
His blood and my juices mingled between us. I wanted his hand between my thighs again. I ached for it. I was like some wanton creature when he touched me this way, when he fed me.
“Now it’s my turn,” he said, and a chill slid down my spine.
“Your turn?” I asked breathlessly.
“To feed.”
My pulse sped up, but I wanted it, badly. I tilted my head to the side, exposing my throat without even a second thought. He could have me. “Take it.”
He dipped his head, his lips drifting over my sensitive skin, but he didn’t bite. Instead, his mouth went to my ear. “You’re just going to give in so easily, Lalka? After the way you’ve teased and tormented me?” He made a tutting sound. “I don’t think so.”
I turned back to him. “I don’t understand—”
“Run,” he said, eyes flashing with excitement. “I’ll give you a head start, but if you want your freedom, then you need to fight for it.”
“Wha—”
“Run.”
My heart slammed into the back of my ribs. He was serious. If I wanted any kind of freedom, I’d have to play by his rules. I’d have to play his games, because that’s what this was to him. A game.
I clumsily got off his lap, stumbling back, unsteady after feeding, after Nero touching me in front of a room full of people. He sat unmoving, watching me as I backed up a shaky step.
I licked my lips, and his nostrils flared, then he jerked forward. I shrieked and spun away.
Racing through the main room, I stumbled over my own feet as I headed for the privacy screen in front of the side entrance I’d come through earlier. Shooting a glance over my shoulder, I saw Nero stand, buttoning his jacket as he stepped around the table.
Oh gods.
Rounding the screen, I grabbed the handle and yanked the door open. I exploded into the hall, and not knowing where else to go, kicked off my shoes and ran toward the door that led to his office and the empty club beyond it, where I’d been earlier. I tried to tread as soundlessly as I could as I sprinted up the stairs and into Nero’s office.
Racing through it, I opened the door on the other side, descended the stairs, and burst out into the now dark and empty club. It felt different without the lights or the music. Cold, eerie.
My sight was okay in the dark, but nothing like Nero’s would be. A vampire his age would have no trouble seeing in utter darkness.
Music suddenly blared through the speakers, and I screamed, stumbling back, desperately searching for an escape. The exit was across the dance floor, on the other side of the room, and I sprinted for it while the pounding beat vibrated through my chest and made it impossible to hear, to think clearly.
I reached the main door that led out onto the street and fumbled with the locks, yanking on it, but there was no getting out that way.
Lights started, flashing between bright and dark so fast it distorted the room around me. I panted, my pulse racing so fast I was dizzy.
Groping for the wall, I used it to ground myself. I needed to go back. I needed to get to my room. I was safe in my room.
Something tugged hard at my dress. Nero. I spun around, my arms out. Cool air hit my skin as the fabric was torn open at my back. I screamed, searching, flailing, but he was too fast. Again and again, he rushed past, tearing, pulling, ripping my dress until I stood there in only a bra since my shredded panties were already in his pocket.
I pressed against the wall, tears streaming down my face, shaking, confused, overwhelmed…and wetter than I’d ever been before. Aching more deeply than I ever had. I wanted this to end, for him to stop, yet desperate for him to strike.
Trying to cover myself, I frantically searched the room—
Suddenly, he was in front of me, his fingers tight around my throat. His lips curled up in that imitation of a smile that sent ice through my veins. A moment later, his hand slid up, taking my jaw, and he jerked my head to the side—then he struck.
I screamed—and my inner muscles clamped down, clutching wildly, repeatedly at nothing while his big body pinned my smaller naked one to the wall. His cool lips pressed against my skin while his hot tongue worked my vein, massaging it so I’d bleed faster for him. It felt so incredibly good, and tension swirled low in my belly a second time.
I gripped his arms as he sealed his bite, then he lifted me higher, sliding me up the wall and pinning me there with his body. Yanking down the cups of my bra, he sucked my breast into his mouth, forcing a groan out of me before he struck again, sinking his fangs deep into my flesh, like the female I’d seen tonight. I arched against the wall and came again, flailing, crying out as he sucked and teased and fed.
He hadn’t even touched between my legs, but my thighs were slick, my desire sliding down them. I’d feel shame if it was possible to feel anything other than soul-shattering pleasure.
Sealing that bite as well, he pulled me off the wall. Next thing I knew, I was on a table, and he was sucking and licking my inner thigh. My head spun and I struggled to catch my breath—then his mouth was there , his hands holding me wide, licking and sucking the most private part of me.
And it was—wonderful.
Oh gods, I wanted more.
As if he could read my mind, he thrust two fingers inside me and slid his tongue higher, teasing a spot that had me reaching down to fist his hair and lifting my hips for more—
He struck again.
I shrieked, bowing against the table, and came a third time, but this time I felt a gush of something that wasn’t blood as I trembled and cried out, my body convulsing against the cool wooden surface.
Nero slowed, lapping at me more gently, savoring, and I whimpered, moaning helplessly as little shocks of pleasure pulsed through my body.
He finally straightened, and a moment later, I was dragged down the table so my spread legs were on either side of his hips. The flashing lights made this whole thing feel surreal, a dream. I watched as Nero, his image fragmented by the rapidly pulsing lights, yanked open the front of his trousers, wrapped his fist around his long, thick cock, and stroked so fast he was a blur. I couldn’t take my eyes off him. Then he grabbed one of my thighs, shoved it up and out, and angled his cock down.
I braced, expecting him to push it inside me. Instead something hot splashed over my swollen, needy flesh. Nero was focused between my thighs, and when he released his hard length, he rubbed his fingers in the liquid before shoving them back inside me. He leaned over me, his eyes locked on mine as he thrust his fingers deep and hard and fast.
He said nothing, and neither did I. I stared back, panting, as he brought me swiftly back to the edge of insanity. He didn’t bite me this time, though, no, he watched as I lost control all over again, gripping fiercely at his pumping fingers and calling out his name.
Finally, I collapsed back, panting, unable to move as he slid his fingers from me, and I watched as he did up his pants, then removed his shirt, revealing his muscled and tattooed chest for the first time. Sitting me up, like the doll he called me, he put my arms through the shirt sleeves and buttoned it up.
He lifted me then, carrying me through the empty club and up the stairs to his office. He hit a button, and the music and lights stopped. Then he carried me back along his private hall, down the stairs on the other side, and to my room.
Laying me on the bed, he tossed the covers over me. He was going to leave. He was going to leave me locked in here again.
“Don’t,” I choked out. “Don’t leave me in here by myself.”
He looked down at me dispassionately, swiping his thumb over my cheek. “It’s for your own good, Lalka.” Then he turned and walked out.
I picked up the book beside my bed and flung it at the door with a scream of rage.
This wasn’t over. He may think he’d won, but he hadn’t.
If he wanted to play games, fine.
But they had only just begun.