Page 164 of Filthy Rich Vampires: For Eternity

I resisted the urge to sigh. I could push him, but I wouldn’t. Not with him working so hard to check that primal instinct to protect and shield me and my child. Instead, I curled my lip. “Then maybe I will taste.”

He stared for a moment.

I planted a hand on my hips and tapped into that power I’d felt in the courtyard. “I’m not the innocent human you met in San Francisco. A blood orgy doesn’t scare me.”

Finally, he tilted his head and extended his arm. “Then lead the way.”

If I’d thought the propriety ended in the hall, the debauchery began in the ballroom. Julian gripped my hand as we entered it, and I immediately understood why. Sumptuous couches, chairs, and stools, all upholstered in deep velvet, dotted the room, and bodies covered every single one. Naked bodies. Writhing bodies. The only protection their masks. Vampires and familiars, some feeding, some...

“It’s really an orgy.” I blinked. I’d glimpsed some hedonism in San Francisco, but this...

People were still getting to know each other at the beginning of the season, Julian’s amused voice echoed in my mind.

I gulped and nodded. Well, they know each other now.

He snorted. Hardly. Some might, but the mask gives most of them a free pass to do as they please.

Don’t you mean who they please? Flesh was everywhere I looked, and it wasn’t merely coupling going on. I heated as I stared at a group of five creatures entangled in a mass of limbs and sweat. One shifted to reveal a sixth party. I squeaked and turned against Julian’s shoulder when I saw the male’s face.

I see Thoren let Sebastian find the blood orgy. Julian gripped my waist and steered us away from his brother’s private party.

I did not need to see that.

I’ve been telling him the same thing for centuries. It would be nice if he ever listened.

I laughed, smothering the sound with my hand so we didn’t interrupt anyone around us.

You’re very polite.

As we wandered through the room, the warmth inside me built. I wasn’t embarrassed, but I was not quite turned on either. Why is this The Rite?

Julian tilted his head, continuing our silent conversation. This isn’t. It’s just a natural byproduct of giving a bunch of supernatural creatures a mask to hide behind.

But they did this in San Francisco.

Some did. Many abstained or didn’t come at all. Tonight, even the most reserved among us might dabble in things they’d never considered.

I see that.

As for why the mask is The Rite, I think it strips away the pretenses we hide behind. I told you before that vampires marry for life. At this point, some of us have made matches. If you’re lying to your potential partner about who you are...

The mask revealed the truth.

Do you like what the mask revealed to you about me? The question spilled from me.

He stopped and turned, lifting my masked face to his. There is nothing the mask could reveal, that you could reveal, that would make me love you less. But it chose well. It suits you.

Yours suits you, too.

A beat. It doesn’t... scare you?

I traced the lines of his mask, shaking my head. You are the dark beast that guards my heart. I’ve felt you there and now I can see you. You are beautiful.

His head bowed, and I stepped closer.

Do you want to leave?

He lifted his face to mine. If you want to stay, if you want to...

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