Page 24 of Forever Touched

“Please,” I whimpered, trying to pull away, even as I dug my fingers into his shoulders.

Misunderstanding my plea, he stopped rubbing to slide a finger into my entrance. As he pulled it out, now wet with my arousal, Igasped. There was no denying it now. I was turned on.Majorlyturned on. My body had never reacted this way to a client before. Not once.

At the discovery of how wet I was, he bit out a curse and fumbled to undo his pants. My normal instinct to recoil didn’t come as he pulled out his hard erection and positioned himself at my entrance. In one smooth thrust, he was deep inside me. We both moaned at the same time, struggling to breathe as we adjusted to the intimate position. He filled me up completely, stretching my walls to capacity.

I usually hated the feeling. Hated knowing that something was invading my body against my wishes.

But this. This almost felt better than venom in my veins.

As he began to thrust in and out of me, though, I swiftly changed my mind. This wasbetterthan venom. I had no idea sex could feel like this. Like my very essence was being merged with another’s. It was terrifying. Utterly terrifying, yet thrilling. For once, I didn’t want to fight the feeling of being intimate with a stranger.

He didn’t feel like a stranger at all right now. He felt . . . he felt like a part of me. Like a missing piece of my identity.

I suddenly needed to know more. Know everything about him. It was essential. Life or death. I couldn’t go another second without knowing.

“Please,” I gasped, pulling his head down to my neck once more. “Bite me. Please bite me.”

He hissed, as if disgusted by my plea. But the hiss ended in a groan, one that sounded a lot like defeat. Still thrusting inside me, he gripped my hair and tilted my head to the perfect angle. He struck fast and true, burying his fangs deeply into my flesh.

I stiffened at the pain but was already anticipating the sweet rush of . . .

With a sigh, I melted like butter against him, the hit of venomturning my world to rapture. My mind blanked for an endless moment as the high spread throughout my system, leaving me wholly compliant in the vampire’s arms. But as I felt him begin to feed, I struggled to regain some sense. Somecontrol.

At the first taste of my blood, he blissfully groaned into my neck. I allowed him to fully swallow it, then made my move. It was only a suggestion, really. A faint thought. I didn’t push too hard, gently coaxing him into giving me what I wanted. Whispering into his mind the words that would be his undoing.

Reveal to me all that you are.

Your secrets are mine, willingly so.

What you have hidden shall now be unveiled.

Like a winding river, your secrets shall flow.

I cringed at my poor rhyming attempt, but the spell sank into the vampire’s consciousness all the same. Barely reacting to the spell, too fixated on consuming my blood, he unwittingly began to spill his secrets. Just as my thighs tensed, the need to orgasm whipping through me, he gave up his name.

Everett D’angelo.

The name didn’t register at first, but as pleasure exploded through me, a torrent of information flooded my system.

I rode the endorphin high, a victorious smirk stretching my lips.

Well, hello there, prince. Nice to meet you at long last.

7

EVERETT

“You were out late last night.”

The question was directed at me, as most of them were these days. I barely glanced up from the gold goblet I was toying with to answer, “I decided to stay until the club closed. See if I could learn anything new.”

My father was unfazed by my cryptic reply, pressing, “And did you?”

Supple olive skin flashed before me. The smell of lavender and incense. The feel of silky hair clenched in my fist. The cloying scent of arousal. The explosive taste of exotic floral blood.

Sudden hunger burned my throat, and I raised the cup of blood to my lips. Taking a sip, I nearly spat it out. Wrong. The taste was all wrong. I set the goblet on the table before replying, “Possibly. But I’m still working on it.”

The king leaned back in his velvet-cushioned chair, placing both elbows on the wood armrests to steeple his fingers. I knew that pose well. My evasive responses had only made him more curious.

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