Chapter 15 Rowan #5
That knocked some clarity into me, and I swallowed hard. Well, tried to swallow. It was really just more choking. “Y-you don’t—” I shook my head, which turned out to be a bad idea. “No.”
“No? What do you mean, no? You need to feed, and I heal way faster than a human.”
How did I explain this when I couldn’t really articulate physically all that well?
“Feeding is… intimate.” At least to me it was.
I knew some vampires viewed humans as livestock and feeding as a right they were entitled to.
But the way I saw it, whoever I fed from was donating their life force for me to extend mine.
If that wasn’t something to be grateful for, to treat with reverence, then I didn’t know what was.
“Yeah, and guess what, I wanna be intimate with my boyfriend, who is in medical distress!”
“I don’t want you to agree under duress.”
She took my face in both of her hands, and I knew I was in trouble when her palms actually felt cool against my flesh.
“Rowan Solomon Vincent, I want to do this. I want to take care of you.” She stood on her tiptoes, bringing her neck that much closer to my aching, burning mouth.
“This is given freely, so drink deep. I promise I can take it.”
I could continue to argue with her, but if I truly trusted her like I was sure I did, I needed to take her at her word rather than badger her with what I thought her opinion should be. But I did need one last assurance.
“Are you certain?”
“I am.”
“Okay. B-but if you—” I hated that I had to pause and take another wheezing breath. It was like I was trying to inhale through a straw. But I had to get the words out, so I fought through it. “You need me to stop, you say so.”
“I will. I promise.”
What more could I ask for? And if I was being real with myself, I would have to admit that all my symptoms were going from uncomfortable and painful to downright terrifying. I pressed my lips to her neck and let my fangs slide into the spot I’d been eyeing for weeks.
Fuck.
Her blood poured over my tongue in a soothing balm, the itch receding instantly. It flowed down my throat and filled my belly like a fire of the good variety, reminding me what the comforting warmth of a good meal was supposed to feel like to my vampire digestion.
It was everything I’d imagined it would be and more.
Her scent inundated me from the inside, making my head spin with its headiness, and I could taste parts of her that weren’t even supposed to have a flavor.
Her tenacity. Her caring. Her wit. Her dreams. Her disappointments.
Her pain. It all blended together into a truly intoxicating bouquet that no bloodwine could ever compare to.
God, it was divine.
I fought to measure myself, to not gulp down eagerly and instead savor this gift from her, but that became more difficult when Naomi whimpered and gripped my sleeves tightly.
I hesitated, worried I’d crossed the line, but when I tried to pull away, one of her hands went to the back of my head and pulled me closer.
She really was too perfect.
I slowed considerably, laving at the tiny wound with my tongue. My saliva had a chemical in it that caused slight euphoria in whoever I fed on. Not enough to worry about her being inebriated, but enough that she wouldn’t be in any pain.
I could feel power flowing through my veins, vibrant and intense, and man, my fellow vampires were missing out by not feeding from shifters.
Then again, maybe my fellow vamps didn’t deserve to feel the benefits since so many of them looked down on shifters, especially wolves and bears for some reason.
Eventually, however, I knew I was nearing a point that would be too much even for a latent shifter, so I pulled away slightly, the iron of her still fresh on my tongue. She was panting, and I was practically vibrating with vitality I had never felt before.
All I could do was stare at her in complete and total unabashed wonder.
“Thank you,” I murmured, and my voice sounded so rich and syrupy, thick with desire and all the things that made vampires so alluring in the fictionalizations of us.
“You’re more than welcome,” Naomi said, eyes half-lidded and dreamy. “Oh.”
I wasn’t sure what that quiet, short, little breathless gasp was until I followed her gaze down to see that a third member had joined our embrace, hard and rigid between us.
“Would you look at that,” I murmured, amused, but also abruptly very cognizant of how aroused I was. The simmering energy within me had spread to all of me.
Naomi’s gaze returned to my face, and strangely enough, her expression reminded me of a hungry vampire. “Wanna do something about it?”
Vampire bites could be incredibly erotic; usually, a subject melted into a puddle of giddy euphoria, ready for their proper aftercare.
Yet another way Naomi was exemplary.
“Do you want to?” I asked, more than willing, but I needed to make sure she was okay first.
It turned out I had nothing to worry about because the next thing I knew, we were both on the floor, and she was straddling my waist. Not quite where I wanted her, but I wasn’t complaining.
“You fucking bet I do.”
I wasn’t sure what I’d gotten myself into, but I was definitely down for the ride.
Or to be ridden, it seemed.
God, I was a lucky man.