Chapter 10 Valen
VALEN
She stiffens against me and I hear her little cry of pain. I should feel bad for hurting a female but I don’t—not much, anyway. I could have made it easier for her but I’m too fucking thirsty and besides, if she wants to see me as a beast, then that’s what I’ll fucking be for her.
I sink my fangs in deep and then I taste it—the rich, ruby blood pouring out to finally satiate my thirst.
It’s like no blood I’ve ever tasted before.
Rich…complex…it has so many notes and flavors. I’ve drunk from many, many women in my time—I’m a lone Drake and I have yet to find my mate. But I’ve never tasted anything like what pours from the vein of the pretty little human princess.
It doesn’t just taste amazing—I can feel it filling me with strength and power too. Usually when I drink from a woman, it takes time for her blood to affect me. With Princess Irena, the effect is immediate.
For the first time in almost a year I feel my Drake roaring within me. The other half of my nature is eager to fly—to take wing and leave this place of imprisonment behind!
But I can’t stop drinking yet—it tastes too good. Maybe it’s the magic in her blood that makes it taste so unusual—so special. Maybe that’s why I feel so much stronger already. Her blood imparts vitality that flows through me like a river of fire.
Dimly, I hear her moaning and panting as I suck eagerly from her pulsing vein. Am I hurting her that much? But no—her cries don’t sound like cries of pain and she’s practically writhing against me. It’s a damn good thing I have her pinned against the trunk of a tree or she might fall over!
Her scent is strong in my nose—the wet, warm fragrance of a female in heat. Does she like pain with her pleasure then? Or is she a Bite Lover—one of the rare women who feels sexual desire from the bite of my kind? I had only heard of them in legends—I didn’t believe they existed in real life…
“Coming!” she moans and at first I think she means that she’s coming just from me biting her—maybe she is a Bite Lover. But then she says, “The guards…I think they’re coming!”
Fuck.
I pull my fangs from her flesh and hastily lick the wounds I made to close them. I can see the bobbing lights of torches in the meadow beyond the copse of trees where we’re hiding.
Damn it—we’re out of time!
I push her leg off my shoulder and rise but she stumbles and falls to her knees. Fuck—now what? Did I take too much from her?
“Get up, Princess!” I hiss. Taking her by the arm, I drag her to her feet, only to find that she’s trembling and half-fainting. Fuck, I did take too much! Her blood was so sweet and I was so fucking thirsty, but I should have stopped earlier.
There’s only one thing to do and I fucking hate to do it. But the torches are getting closer and I can hear the guards calling to each other.
Lifting my hand to my mouth, I sink one of my fangs into the pad of my thumb and then press it to her mouth.
“Drink!” I hiss. “And make it fucking quick!”