Chapter 18 Ivy #2
“—No, please, we were expecting you.” Killian’s voice was velvety, eliciting a shiver from Ivy.
Killian released his hold on Ivy and shifted to sit beside her, blocking her chance of escape. She worked to get her breathing back under control as the female continued into the room, closing the door behind her.
“Am I to serve both of you?”
“No—"
“—Yes.” Killian overrode Ivy this time, and her gaze snapped over to him fearfully. The look on his face was salacious and challenging, and Ivy blew out a shaky breath at the sight of it.
The female stood between them, and Ivy was immediately conflicted—she was eager to shift away from Killian to accommodate her but knew that the choice to do so opened a door to the unknown. She slowly scooted across the couch, opting for distance, irrespective of the dangers it invited.
The female settled in and looked between the two Vampires. She appeared unafraid and completely oblivious to the true nature of the scenario unfolding around her.
She asked them, “Have you taken Lacuna?”
At least she’s not totally ignorant to the dangers.
Ivy reached into the bodice of her dress for Finare’s case of Lacuna. She felt Killian watching her movements with interest, but she kept her eyes averted. She opened the case and removed two pills—one for herself, and one that she reached across the girl to offer to Killian.
Ivy looked at him and forced herself not to shiver under the intensity of his stare. He reached up and trailed his fingers over her hand before taking the pill and placing it in his mouth. She was surprised that he did so without challenge, and it felt like a small victory.
With her safety confirmed, the female lifted her arms and offered Ivy and Killian a wrist each. Killian took the proffered wrist in his hand and slowly brought it to his mouth.
With his lips hovering over the girl’s skin, he urged, “Come on, pet. Drink up.” Leseldh’s pet. His tone was affectionate despite the obvious taunt. Ivy choked on the tension filling the air, but the female between them was unaffected.
Ivy slowly brought the female’s wrist to her lips. She punctured the skin and felt her lifeblood spill onto her waiting tongue. She tasted like sour berries, and Ivy let out an involuntary moan against her skin.
Ivy felt Killian watching her, and she was compelled to look at him as she fed.
Killian’s eyes were a mess of misty black over brilliant red, and she was mesmerised by the way those mists swirled as his eyes bore into her soul.
The two Vampires drank simultaneously with their gazes locked on one another.
Killian pulled away first after what felt like mere seconds. Ivy, caught up in the moment, pulled away a second later and snapped her eyes to the female. Ivy’s panic rose as she saw her closed eyes, but they eventually fluttered open. She was pale, but alive. Ivy sighed in relief.
The female withdrew to exit the room without a word. Ivy knew she would wait outside until she received payment for her services.
Ivy looked back to Killian, whose eyes were still upon her. The smile on his face was roguish in a way that made Ivy’s toes curl in her shoes. He closed the distance between them and her breath hitched.
“That was fun. I’ll take care of payment.
You’d better run along before your Broodmates come looking for you.
” Killian reached up and ran his thumb along her bottom lip, sweeping up the Human’s blood that lingered there.
He held her gaze as he brought the thumb to his mouth and sucked the remnants of blood from it.
She slithered out from beneath him and fled from the room on shaky legs. She hurried past the female without making eye contact and made her way back downstairs.
By the time she made it back to the table, she’d gained a semblance of control, and she addressed her Broodmates with a calmness that she didn’t feel.
“I don’t know about you, but I need another fucking drink.”
Ivy didn’t see Killian again for the remainder of the night. Whatever his purpose for being in Lunarian tonight was, it wasn’t to End her. She wasn’t sure if what happened in the private room was any better.
The encounter left her reeling—she’d never fed in tandem with anyone before, even Leseldh.
It was one of the most terrifying, yet strangely erotic moments she’d ever experienced.
It felt simultaneously right and wrong, and the duality of it only served to confuse her.
And no matter how loud the music, or how many drinks she consumed, she couldn’t kick Killian out of her mind.
After a few more rounds of drinks and dancing, the Idthrakis returned to Veldmoor.
Upon entering the mansion, Ivy searched for Leseldh, and tonight was a rare occasion where she found him in his bedroom.
He was standing by the window with Phaedra on his shoulder.
She pushed into the room, and he turned to face her as she approached.
Phaedra took flight to leave when Ivy was just a few steps away.
She wrapped her arms around Leseldh’s waist and peered up at him.
“I need you.” Her words were a breathy plea that inspired immediate action from Leseldh. His eyes flashed with gold, and his lips crashed into hers.
She kissed him hungrily, desperately. She was burning with an incessant need that formed during her feed and refused to dissipate. She clutched Leseldh’s shirt and dragged him to the bed. She clawed at his clothes, desperate to feel his skin against hers.
Leseldh didn’t question her voraciousness, instead he matched it enthusiastically. They were a clash of lips and tongues, and within moments their clothes were strewn about the floor.
Leseldh’s hands and lips roamed Ivy’s body, eliciting moans of pleasure from her.
She closed her eyes and focused on the sensations he created, but against her will, her mind began to wander.
She couldn’t shake the image of Killian’s red eyes, filled with swirling black clouds, staring into her soul.
Ivy shuddered at the unwelcome image, but Leseldh didn’t seem to notice—he probably assumed it was a pleasurable response to his actions.
Ivy tried to return to the moment, but the dam wall was broken, and there was no holding back the flood of images from tonight’s encounter. Not sure how to explain away a sudden change of heart, she had no choice but to continue down this path with Leseldh.
In her mind, the hands that roved her flesh were larger, rougher, and littered with scars. The body pressed against hers was broader, stronger. And the name threatening to spill from her lips on a breathy moan was not Leseldh’s.
She curled into Leseldh’s chest afterward, panting and slick with sweat.
The sticky feeling of guilt seeped into her pores as she realised that although she’d just had one of the more pleasurable experiences with Leseldh, it may have only been because she was imagining it was at the hands of someone else.