Page 30 of Ashvale: The Vampire's Kiss

“You have excellent timing,” I drawled and the buzz that passed through me when Leonora’s eyes dropped to the low slant of my jeans was intoxicating. I stretched and smirked when she watched the movement with an intense focus, her body completely still, like if she allowed herself any movement at all she might lose control. “Like what you see, love?”

Electricity flashed in her eyes, the words snapping her restraint as she took a step forward and looked me up and down coldly. “No.” The word was blunt and I chuckled, feeling the shield in her mind pulse as if to reinforce its protection around her thoughts.

She was lying. We both knew it. Even if I couldn’t read her exact thoughts right then, our bond still gave me a glimpse of what she was feeling. Lust. Anger. And, strangely, betrayal.

I prowled closer and she tilted her chin defiantly even as she licked her lips. “That’s a shame,” I said casually, leaning in to whisper in her ear and letting my breath tickle the sensitive skin of her throat. “Because even just the scent of you in this room has me hard as a rock.”

The sound of her swallow was loud and I bit my lip on the grin that threatened to break free. I shifted back and knew my jeans had moved lower by the way her eyes dropped and lust made her body tremble. Maybe it was only the bond, but I liked to think that most of our chemistry was just us. “See something you like?” I repeated, but this time the words were husky, a growl lacing the consonants as I leaned against the bedpost and silently dared her to come closer. The air felt heavy, like a spark could ignite it and burn us all to ash and still the taut longing between us wouldn’t be satiated.

Her figure became a blur and my groan of relief sounded like a prayer at the first touch of her hand on my skin. It dragged down the hard muscles of my abdomen, nails digging in lightly as she yanked the jeans down and found me already hard for her, as promised.

“Nora,” I panted. “Look what you do to me.” My spine arched as her hand closed around my cock, pumping me none-too-gently, and the glint of her fangs made my blood sing before she took me in her mouth. My hips pushed automatically, pressing in deep and revelling in the silky feeling of her mouth and her tongue as she curled it around the tip of me.

A hand fisted in her hair, dragging her closer until her lips were nearly touching my navel. She took me easily, so well, and I muttered the nonsense words to her as I came close to the edge. She drew back, leaving me glistening and wild with desire as I took in the red, swollen puffiness of her lips. Before I could say a word, she licked the length of me, looking up from her position on the ground, the green of her eyes burning brighter as she tightened one hand around me and plunged her fangs into the crook of my thigh.

Every pull from her mouth was like ecstasy, her hand moving smoothly, never faltering even as I twitched in her palm. “Nora,” I warned and I felt the curve of her lips against my leg as she pulled hard, the blood leaving me in a rush that redoubled through my cock, the pleasure so intense I couldn’t hold back any longer. I throbbed, cum hitting my stomach as she continued to stroke me through the orgasm while my head spun. Hand slick, Leonora pulled back and ran her tongue over the puncture wounds she’d left behind before doing the same thing to the sticky mess she’d got all over her hand.

Without another word, she stood and sashayed over to the door, pulling it closed behind her as she left. I stood staring at the hardwood for several minutes before realising she wasn’t coming back, and then I moved to clean myself up.

What had she come in here for? Surely not to just see me? Or maybe it was for the blood? Nobody else’s would fulfil her in the same way as mine, thanks to our blood bond, and from what Cal had told me, she’d used a lot of magick today.

A smile pulled at my mouth as I climbed into her bed, clean and exhausted from the blood loss. Whatever the reason she’d come to me, it was a start.

“What are you doing?”

I pushed off of the door and raised an eyebrow at Nora’s frown. I’d been up for a few hours, waiting for her to make an appearance. “Good morning to you too, love.”

Her eyes rolled and I hid my smile as she turned away and began striding up the corridor, her black jeans were ripped at the knees and she had some kind of red corset-top on that pressed her breasts up and together until they looked like they might fall out of the bust with one wrong move. If she’d truly wanted to outpace me, she could easily have done so. I was taking it as a good sign that she was mostly by my side and, while I was here, I was happy to enjoy the view.

“You know I can see you ogling me, right?”

“Appreciating,” I corrected and then smirked when she shot me a glare. I understood why she was angry with me—or perhaps hurt was a more apt description. I’d lied and I’d hid who I was from her. We were going to be tied together for eternity—or until we died, it was shitty of me to kick off that kind of relationship by lying to her face. And yet—as pissed as she was, I couldn’t say I’d ever been happier. Things were out in the open, there weren’t any more secrets between us, and, eventually, she would forgive me.

The air in the corridors felt stale, recycled, and I wondered not for the first time, what it might have been like at court while my parents were still there. In truth, I remembered very little about them, so there was no way of knowing whether life at court was any better under their thumb.

“How’re the girls?”

Leonora softened ever so slightly, her shoulders easing and the muscle in her jaw smoothing. “They’re okay. It’s been a lot of change.”

“Has Novalie shown any signs of…?”

Nora shook her head. “No. But I guess there’s no way of knowing what might happen now that she’s part of my House. I just want to get out of here before anything else goes wrong,” she muttered. I nodded as I listened, searching her face for any signs of exhaustion.

“And you? Supporting the both of them hasn’t been too taxing?” I wasn’t sure where she’d got to in her lessons at Ashvale, so there was a chance she didn’t know why it could be dangerous for young vampires to build their houses too early. Though Nora had more power than most, so it was likely that any drain that had come from connecting herself to Novalie and Emerson was minimal.

Leonora shook her head. “It’s fine. I can feel them with me,” she said, rubbing a hand against her chest. “It’s like a live-wire, sparking and pulling, but it’s kind of… nice. Like they’re with me no matter where I go.”

We fell quiet as we rounded a bend in the corridor and the halls became a little more crowded. I understood what she meant, though. It was the way I imagined our bond might feel if she stopped running long enough to accept it. Instead, it roared and writhed and tried to eat us up from the inside the longer we went without being by each other’s side. Even now, the faint scent of her was distracting, but the bond at least seemed placated by our proximity if nothing else.

“Does he know you’re coming?” We were attracting attention, probably thanks to my own antics in front of the council. Though, I noted as we continued past a gawking gaggle of vampires, Leonora was generating plenty of stares of her own. The few who seemed to be appreciating her much as I had quickly looked away when they found my eyes on them. If Adrian hadn’t known we were coming before, then he certainly would now.

As if echoing my thoughts, Leonora flashed her fangs at a blonde vampire that walked too close. “I’m sure he knows by now.”

“Well, at least if he kills us everyone will know who did it,” I muttered and Leonora laughed, making me glance up in surprise before she cut the sound short. As if to make-up for the brief moment of peace, Nora immediately went back to silence, no matter how much I teased and prodded at her during the last stretch of the corridor towards Adrian’s rooms. “You can’t be angry with me forever,” I said as we made our way through the main receiving chamber of Adrian’s suite and approached the door to his study where his attendant had directed us. “You’ll forgive me eventually,” I murmured, more to myself than to her, and was surprised when she replied.

“Don’t hold your breath. Or do.” Leonora smirked and my eyes dropped to her mouth. “I don’t care either way.” She raised her hand and knocked on the dark wood in front of us and I scarcely had time to blink before the door swung open and Adrian’s eyes met my own.

A twang sounded, thick in the air, and my gaze dropped down to the crossbow he held in his hands and the arrow Leonora had snagged from the air just before it could hit my chest. Despite what she’d said, she didn’t want me to die. Else she would have let the arrow hit me.

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