Chapter 32 #2
His tongue swiped over the clear droplets of saliva as he came nearer. His hair dragged like raw silk on my calves. I opened my knees wider, giving him room to slip closer. I reached down to stroke my fingers through his hair. “May I ask—”
His head snapped up. “Yes, please, my queen. I’m eager to serve. I’ll do anything.”
“I just thought you might want to remove your clothes first to avoid getting blood everywhere. Plus I want to feel your skin against mine.”
He flashed a wide, toothy smile and hopped lightly off the bed. Though the sudden absence of his weight made the tray rattle and shift. Rik narrowed a hard glare on him as he gave me another bite of soup.
“Sorry, alpha.” Though his smile didn’t slip as he quickly unbuttoned the shirt and removed his pants.
Rik grunted an acknowledgement, not really angry at all. “Rookie mistake, especially when our queen’s breeding. If I call you to us, remove your clothes before you get on the bed so she doesn’t have to wait a single moment. Unless the other queen is here. Then keep at least your pants on.”
Standing naked, waiting a moment so he didn’t jostle my next bite, Vore nodded. “I noted the others dressing at least partially before leaving but I didn’t know why.”
Which gave me a nice, long look at my newest Blood.
Don’t get me wrong, I loved every bulging muscle on Rik’s gigantic body, but I also loved a trim, sculpted physique as well.
Even in his human form, Vore’s shoulders and chest were just as broad as Rik’s, still ripped but lean.
His waist looked damned near tiny in comparison.
His abs and thighs wrapped in rock hard sheets of muscle.
His hair swept about his shoulders, not quite as long as Nevarre’s, but thicker and heavier.
Almost like a pelt of sleek, shiny hair.
“Our queen loves to look at us.” Rik’s voice thrummed my spine, oozing with supreme confidence and a touch of smug amusement.
Evidently, I was the one drooling now, because he wiped at my mouth with the napkin before he gave me another bite of soup.
“She does not love other queens to look at what’s hers. ”
Vore moved ever so slightly, his hair fluttering gently about him. And then he was in my space, inches away, that long, heavy hair slipping over my groin. “I see. I assume that’s also why the other Blood carry clothing when we travel, in case they must shift.”
“Exactly. Either take spares or prepare to remain as your beast until we’re back inside the nest.”
I didn’t realize my eyes had closed in bliss, until the metal spoon lightly touched my lips.
Opening my eyes and my mouth for the next bite, I ran my fingers through his luxurious hair.
My heartbeat quickened, anticipating the stroke of his tongue on my skin.
Not even in my pussy. It didn’t have to be in an intimate place. Not yet.
I just wanted to feel him against my skin.
Immediately, he dropped flat on his stomach between my thighs. His arms looped over my hips. His skin searingly hot against mine. He rubbed his face against my inner thigh, and his entire body shuddered.
“Your Majesty,” he breathed out, lifting his head to look up at me. Blood smeared on his cheeks. Eyes blazing with heat. “How can I ever thank you enough for accepting me into your Blood?”
“You already have.”
VORE
You already have.
No. Nowhere close. Maybe she didn’t know how rare it was for a queen to welcome all of her Blood to her bed. Especially ones deemed disfigured or dangerously unstable.
Let alone when she was breeding.
All this blood. I couldn’t even comprehend how Rik endured allowing any of us close to her, let alone taste the magical flow meant to honor the Mother.
A holy offering, a reminder of all the ways She sacrifices for this world, birthing not just Aima but humans and animals and all the various creatures in between.
Any queen would sacrifice her entire House to be able to breed like this. I would have sacrificed myself a dozen times over if it meant Nuri could have an heir for House Kijin.
So many queens couldn’t even come into season any longer. Yet I got the impression this was a regular occurrence for my new queen.
One drop of menstruation blood on my tongue… and power surged through me. Chaotic, raw life energy, the purest, most powerful magic of all.
Not just a drop or two, but a heavy, steady flow.
Magic pulsed in the air, making my hair crackle with static.
Goosebumps raced down my spine, and the ushi-oni bellowed.
Head back, swinging horns side to side, wallowing in the rising firestorm.
Sparks burned through me, painfully intense.
My heart stuttered, my breath catching in my throat on a ragged groan.
I licked every bloody rivulet streaming down her thighs. Every crevice. Trembling with strain. Not to be gentle. Not to contain my monster. But to simply hold so much energy inside this body and not fly apart into a million pieces.
“That’s enough, Vore. You don’t have to—”
:I want. I need.:
“But it’s hurting you. Your capacity is full. Your bond feels like it’s going to explode, and not in a good way.”
Despite her worry, her hips rolled up against my mouth, letting more blood spill from her center. I sealed my mouth over the flow and drank. :Fill me, my queen. Blast me apart. I don’t care.:
The blazing hum of magic in the air intensified, rising higher to a shrill pitch beyond my hearing.
Beyond anything I had ever known or felt in this lifetime.
She poured into me. All her love. All her blood.
All her power. A blaze of light and love that sheared through me, blinding me to everything but her.
Red. Hot. Blast. The world turned to blood and heat. But most of all. Love.
“Vore? Come back to me. Please.”
Fingers in my hair, stroking my face. Anchoring me back in my body.
My ears still rang like I’d been standing too close to a detonation, and the world moved too slowly.
In a haze, I nuzzled my face against her stomach.
She’d pulled me up higher so I lay sprawled half on top of her. My arms around her waist.
“I’m fine,” I finally managed to mumble despite numb lips and empty brain.
Rik’s bond gave me a mental shove that cleared some of the lingering fog. “You worried her. When she tells you enough is enough, listen, or by goddess, I’ll kick your ass out of this bed and never let you come back.”
“Sorry. Alpha.” I lifted my head but I couldn’t make my face look serious or contrite. Not with all the endorphins still pumping through my veins. In fact, I grinned like an idiot. “My queen.”
Her lips quirked. “What was that, anyway?” Her head tipped slightly, her eyes unfocusing as she replayed what had happened. “For a moment, I could almost see Nuri hovering nearby. I smelled her perfume, something sweet and delicate.”
“Sakura,” I whispered, eyes widening. “Cherry blossoms.”
Shara nodded. “Yes, that’s it. Can you check in with her and make sure she’s alright?”
“I don’t have a bond with her, my queen. I never dared feed on anyone in House Kijin for fear I’d simply devour them.”
“I thought maybe the overflow went down all your bonds with other siblings.”
“I would never steal such power from your House, my queen.” My mouth sagged open with horror. Though I had been thinking of my sister. Of sacrificing myself. So she could have an heir. “At least not deliberately.”
“I wouldn’t have minded,” she chided, tugging lightly on my hair. “Not for Nuri. I often send excess energy down my closer sibling bonds. I thought maybe you were sending some to her.”
“Just like electronic circuits, our magical currents can be burnt out,” Rik said. “Queens for sure, but Blood are vulnerable too. At least that’s what I was told. Maybe one of the older Blood can confirm.”
:It’s true,: the knight said in our bonds. :Any Aima can burn themselves out. I’ve even seen one unlucky fool literally burst into flames.:
Hard emphasis on fool in my direction. I was still too pleasurably buzzed to mind.
Shara wrapped her arms around my neck, hugging me close. “I’m glad you’re okay, and if Nuri did get a little overflow, she’s welcome to it.”
I was supposed to be the one taking care of my queen, but I didn’t want to lift my head from the glory wrapped around me. Peace filled me. The blessed quiet my queen had been able to give me, silencing the howling, furious monster chained in darkness for so long.
Slipping into darkness, I smiled against her stomach, my words slurred. “Maybe she can have an heir too.”
“I hope so.” Shara’s fingers stroked over me, sending me deeper into bliss. “I would love that. Someday.”