Chapter Twelve
KYELLA
I knew if I was going to get Dakath out of the room with me, without drawing suspicion to us, I would need a really good reason.
My gaze flicked around the room, trying to formulate a plan on the fly.
As the conversation droned on, I couldn’t think of anything other than my worry for him. Was he sick?
My nails tapped absentmindedly against the glass of my goblet, and out of nowhere, the sound inspired an idea.
Grabbing the slim stem, I raised it to my lips and drained the remainder of Elijah’s blood.
No one would think anything of me asking to take Dakath from the room to fill my glass once more.
I sipped the last of the blood from my goblet, licking the drop that remained on my lip as I lowered it.
I fought the urge to smirk when I noticed Dakath’s gaze tracking the movement of my tongue.
Holding my cup up in a silent question to him, I inclined my head and jerked it, hoping he would understand what I was asking.
With a succinct nod, we both pushed our chairs back and stood. Elijah’s and Kolvar’s attention snapped to us as I grabbed my glass. “Refill,” I whispered, hoping I wasn’t offending anyone by refusing to drink the blood they provided and instead leaving the dinner to procure my own.
The men nodded their understanding and returned their focus to the conversation at hand. Myrin seemed preoccupied talking to the elderly man on her left, so I took the moment to rush to the door with Dakath, grabbing his offered hand as we left.
“Here,” he said as he closed the doors behind us, guiding me into a room just off the main room.
As he held the door open for me to pass through, dropping my hand as he did, I wondered what a space this small could be used for.
The room was much darker than anything I’d seen in the castle.
My brows furrowed as I ran my fingertips along the wall, marveling over the soft, dark texture.
“Velvet,” he supplied from behind me, his words skating over my exposed neck just moments before his lips pressed down.
“They’re lovely, but why is this room so small and dark? What is the intended use of it?” I questioned just as his fangs scraped lightly against me, reminding me of the pretense of why we’d come here to begin with.
Whirling around in his grip, I placed a hand on his chest and pushed him back a few steps. Spying a small table to drop my glass onto, I deposited it before placing my hands on my hips in what I hoped was with no-nonsense posture. “Why aren’t you drinking any blood? Are you okay?”
A sigh came from him as he reached up to rub the back of his head, his lips tilting up. “So you noticed, huh?”
My head reared back a bit, incredulous. “Of course I did. You’ve seemed a bit quieter than usual, and now you aren’t drinking your blood? Tell me what’s going on.”
Closing the distance between us, his hands swooped around my waist to settle on the small of my back, tracing soothing circles on it. “It’s simple, Ky. I don’t want to drink anyone’s blood other than yours. You’re mine, and I’m yours. It feels wrong for me to do anything else. I’ve tried.”
My lashes fluttered as I stared up at him, my brain struggling to find the proper words to respond.
Why did him abstaining from another’s blood feel like such a romantic gesture? I was seriously a little screwed up in the head.
Placing my hands on his chest, I asked, “Why didn’t you say something before? I would have let you drink from me.”
His fingers circling my back stilled, and his lighthearted expression fell. “Because it felt wrong to drink from you after everything you went through yesterday. I wanted you to focus on drinking as much blood as possible, so you could heal properly.”
These men. I loved the way they put me first, but I found it frustrating that they were willing to put me on a pedestal above their own health and happiness. They made me feel so cherished and protected, but I wanted to provide the same to them.
Letting loose a heavy sigh, I let the words flow.
“I am fine. Please do not treat me like I’m some fragile item that’s going to break with one wrong motion.
Our relationship goes two ways, and I want to ensure that you get what you need as well.
However, I can’t do that unless you’re honest with me. ”
I hoped he wouldn’t argue with me on this, giving in easily unlike Elijah when I tried to convince him to touch me last night. Turns out these stubborn men were very similar.
One of his hands moved to grip my chin lightly as he muttered, “Ky, the thing is that you wear your heart on your sleeve. Even if you weren’t okay, I know you wouldn’t deny me if I said I needed to feed from you. Tell me I’m wrong.”
My lips thinned, hating that he wasn’t.
“I…I would, of course, if you absolutely needed it,” I defended. “It’s because I lo—.” I quickly cut myself off when I realized what was about to come out of my mouth. My heart hammered in my chest. Holy shit…I almost told him I loved him.
Did I love him?
Swallowing that near-admission back down, I glared at his cheeky expression as I tried again. “I care about the three of you, so of course I would allow you to feed from me anytime. But I promise, I’m completely fine now, and I want you to drink from me.”
Tipping my head to the side, I offered my neck to him.
Part of me came alive at the thought of him drinking from me.
The euphoria that accompanied them sipping from my veins was intimate, forging a bond between us that couldn’t be broken.
My core tightened at the memory of Elijah drinking from my inner thigh last night.
“I won’t argue with you if you say you are okay, but I need you to promise me that you’ll tap my shoulder or tell me to stop if you feel the slightest drain, okay?”
Glancing up at him, I offered a smile. “I promise.”
As I hummed to myself in anticipation, I closed my eyes and waited for the bliss to wash over me. I squealed when suddenly he swept me off my feet, startling me as my hands fastened around his neck. A moment later, we laid on a large, velvet chaise.
Feeling slightly uncomfortable leaning sideways on him with my shoulder rammed into his hard chest, I quickly pushed up and situated myself to straddle him. The chaise offered a slight curve upward just below his knees, making it feel like I was perfectly nestled in his lap.
“Now where were we,” he murmured as his hands landed on my hips and squeezed.
The erection grinding against me made it apparent that he was in need of more than just blood.
My own need roared to life within me. These men made me want to enjoy every minute that we had together, never taking for granted that tomorrow wasn’t promised.
With these men at my side, I vowed to live for today.
Leaning forward, I reached down to the waistband of his pants as I rested my lips against the shell of his ear. “I’ll give you what you want if I get what I want.”
His voice dropped an octave, growing huskier as his hands moved from my hips to my ass. “What did you have in mind?”
“This,” I stated, using one hand to pull the bottom of my dress up and out of the way as I pulled his cock from his pants with the other. I had to be decisive and quick—there wasn’t time to waste if I wanted to keep the others from coming to look for us.
His tongue trailed along my neck before kissing it and murmuring, “You know you’re going to have to be quiet. Otherwise they’ll hear you next door.”
I hadn’t considered that at all, which was stupid of me. We all had heightened hearing, and the distance between the rooms wasn’t very far. Was I a complete degenerate for the way my pussy became slick with the thought of Kolvar and Elijah hearing us?
“Mhm,” I murmured, pressing my neck more insistently against his mouth, making it clear what I wanted him to do.
With my dress out of the way, I moved my underwear to the side as I lined the tip of him up with me, sinking down inch by inch. He wasted no time biting into my neck, lighting up all the nerves in my body.
“Hell,” I hissed as I pressed down with my hips until I’d taken all of him in.
He groaned in response and thrusted his hips up, pulling a light moan from me. My eyes widened as I remembered the others and clamped my mouth shut. Fuck, it would be near impossible to stay quiet.
A deep chuckle vibrated from his chest, as if he knew exactly what was going through my head.
He thrusted his hips once more, and my eyes rolled back as I bit down on my lip to stay quiet.
The sensation was both mind and body consuming.
It was like the gates of euphoria opened and my body was on fire, being stoked higher with each pull on my neck and thrust of his cock.
Finding a rhythm that matched his thrusts, I met him with each downward roll of my hips.
We increased our pace, and I gripped the back of the chaise for support, digging my fingers into the lush material.
The material ripped under my straining grasp, but I couldn’t bring myself to care.
Since I didn’t dare break my silence, I had to take my muted energy out somewhere else. Sorry, chaise.
Dakath pulled his head back, and I couldn’t help the soft whine that came from me.
He grinned up at me, mouth bloody as hell.
I was captivated as I watched him reach up to brush his thumb against his lips before snaking his hand between our bodies.
As his fingers brushed over my clit, I clamped my hand over my mouth to muffle the cry of pleasure coursing through me.
How had I forgotten about the enhanced pleasure that came from the use of blood?
Sinking his fangs back into my neck, all it took was a few more minutes of the heated, intense moment for me to shatter around him. My body sagged forward, and his arms wrapped around me as he thrusted one more time before stilling inside of me.
Our breathing was heavy, and he licked the wound on my neck before admitting, “I was not expecting that, Ky. You keep me on my toes.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. The last thing I would ever describe myself as was adventurous, or spontaneous, but being in this new home with these men…I was finding myself learning more and more about who I was with each passing day.
Pressing a quick kiss to his forehead, I murmured, “We need to clean up and get back. I’m sure they’ll come looking for us soon if we don’t.”
Jerking his head back, he said, “There should be some small cloths and a basin back there.”
Pushing off of him, I moved to where he indicated to find a little station, stocked and waiting in a corner. “What type of room is this?”
I glanced back at him as he tucked himself away and straightened his outfit, quirking an eyebrow when he finally answered nonchalantly.
“A feeding room for vampyres and humans when they want to drink straight from the source. Feeding is a completely consensual act here, and the room allows privacy for guests if they aren’t staying long but still need to feed. ”
It made sense, but I found myself distracted with the thought of my men.
Now that Dakath mentioned only wanting to drink from me, I couldn’t deny that a part of me existed that wanted Kolvar and Elijah to do the same.
I wanted them to myself, and the thought of them in this room at any point with anyone other than me made my blood burn with jealousy.
I was becoming just territorial and protective of them as they were of me. I’d almost said I’d love him, which left me feeling somewhat uneasy. Unless I was willing to be woman enough to face my feelings and accept them, my life had officially just become a hell of a lot more complicated.
After we cleaned up and headed back to the main room, Myrin sent me a knowing smirk as she asked, “Forgot your cup, dear. Still thirsty?”
Shit, I’d left the goblet in the feeding room. Leave it to her to notice such a minor detail despite having been in conversation when I’d given my explanation and left. I supposed an Empress was always watching and listening, even when it seemed like she wasn’t.
I had a hell of a lot to learn from her.