Chapter 5 #2
“Good rule.” Emmy ran the backs of her knuckles along his jawline. “If this gets to the point where I can make rules for you, it’ll be one of mine too.”
His breath caught. “I hope we get there,” he said, voice rough with emotion and want. “God, Emmy, I really hope we get there.”
She smiled and kissed him again — quick and sweet this time, a promise rather than a claiming. “I love your honesty, and the way you offer it.”
Reluctantly, she put a few inches of distance between them, and then ran her fingers through his hair, trying to smooth it down, but nothing helped.
“You look as if you’ve been ravished in the stairwell,” she told him with a smile.
“Good.” He grinned back at her. “My scent probably says the same thing, right? They may as well match.”
The two laughed, and Emmy took him by the hand and led him up the steps even though she wanted to kiss him all over again. Wanted to climb on him and ravish him for real, until neither of them remembered their own names.
But she led him back into the magic of the ballroom and walked him to Zander, who gave them a huge smile and mussed Spence’s hair even worse before pulling them both into an intense hug.
“Let’s walk Emerald to a table and sit with her,” Zander told Spence.
“No,” Emmy said. “The two of you should…” She waved at a couple fucking nearby. “I don’t want to spoil your chance to frolic under the northern lights.”
“Tonight,” Zander said, “I’d rather sit with you under the northern lights and play the part of the voyeur.”
Servers brought more food, and when Emmy asked Zander if he was telepathing to have it brought, he merely said, “One should always make sure dragons and wolves stay well-fed.”
“Master vampires, too,” Spence said with a grin. “It isn’t wise to make them go hungry, either.”
Later, someone stood in the center of the room with a large Tibetan bowl and made it sing so the sound resonated through the dome — deep and haunting, a sustained note that Emmy felt vibrate through her sternum and into her soul.
The tone seemed to shimmer like the aurora itself, endless and otherworldly.
Around them, the energy shifted. Vampires changed focus and the air thickened with anticipation as vampire hungers shifted from fucking to feeding.
Spence was suddenly in Zander’s lap, moving with the fluid certainty of long practice. Zander’s hand cradled the back of his head with devastating tenderness, and then his fangs sank into Spence’s throat.
And Emmy could only watch the beauty of it. Spence’s eyes fluttered closed, his body going boneless in Zander’s arms. Complete surrender. Total trust. He gave himself over to it — to the taking, the draining, the intimacy of being fed upon.
Of nourishing Zander with his very essence.
Zander drank deeply, his throat working, and Emmy watched the way his free hand splayed possessive across Spence’s lower back. Claiming and cherishing in the same gesture.
The beauty of it stole her breath. It was so much more than merely sexual, though there was heat there, but it went miles deeper. Spence giving of himself and Zander taking what was offered with a reverence that made Emmy understand why Spence had given him everything. Why he’d chosen this life.
She wanted to be part of this. Wanted to hold them both and be held in return. Wanted to learn the language of their intimacy and add her own voice to it.
Soon, she promised herself.
When Zander finally withdrew, licking the wounds closed with careful attention, Spence slumped against him with a blissed-out smile. His scent was warm, sated, layered with contentment and belonging.
Zander’s gaze found Emmy’s across the small distance between them. His eyes were bright, and the look he gave her was pure possessive satisfaction. Mine, that look said. Both of you.
Emmy shivered and didn’t look away.
The feeding and fucking was going full force all around them, but Emmy’s energy bottomed out all at once.
The adrenaline that had carried her through dancing, kisses, and emotional revelations had burned away, leaving her hollowed out.
Zander noticed immediately, of course.
“You need a bed.” His tone brooked no argument, and he looked from her down to Spence and smiled affectionately. “Both of you.”
Emmy wanted to protest, but he was right, so she didn’t bother.
“Together?” Spence asked, his voice still more than a little dreamy.
“Of course.”
A server appeared with two glasses of orange juice. Zander handed one to Spence, and told Emmy. “Drink, little dragon. Knowing you, you’re going to insist on taking the pole down, so let’s give you a boost of energy.”
Again, she wanted to push back and refuse, but the juice was exactly what she needed. The pole made sense. It was a big burst of energy, but it meant there were only a few flights at the bottom, rather than all fifteen flights.
Five minutes later, Zander kissed them both on the forehead and ordered them to bed, assuring Spence the clean-up would happen just fine without him.
“You aren’t exhausted,” Emmy told Spence when she landed at the base of the pole and stepped away from it. “You’d normally oversee everything being put away after the ball. You feed him all the time without needing to go to sleep.”
“It’s been a long day, and I’m happy to go to bed, but no, feeding him didn’t drain me.”
Spence helped her get the dress off, his fingers gentle on the laces of her bodice, loosening them with practiced efficiency. The gown pooled at her feet, and she stepped out of it wearing only her underwear.
She walked to the drawer with her things and put an oversized shirt on.
Spence hung his tux and tossed the shirt into the dirty clothes. “Zander’s people decide what needs dry cleaning versus spot cleaning,” he told her when he saw her watching.
Before long, he was climbing into bed beside her, and Emmy curled into his side with a contentment that surprised her. Spence’s arm came around her automatically, tucking her close.
“This okay?” he asked, his voice soft.
“Perfect.” Emmy inhaled deeply, breathing him in. Wolf, submission, confidence, and Spence. “Thank you for tonight. For letting me kiss you.”
“Thank you for wanting to, and for taking control.” His hand stroked her hair, gentle and soothing. “I’ve wanted that for a while.”
“Me too.”
They lay in comfortable silence, exhaustion pulling Emmy toward sleep. But before she went under completely, she felt Spence press a kiss to the top of her head.
“Sleep, Emmy. I’ve got you.”
And surrounded by his warmth, his scent, the lingering magic of the aurora still dancing behind her eyelids, Emmy let sleep overtake her.