Page 54 of Blood Feast

“What look?” He stalked toward her.

A little breath hitched in her throat. “Like I’m your goddess.”

“You are, and now I shall kneel and worship you.”

At Lio’s words, Cassiarealized her immortal knees could still go weak.

“Do you think you’re ready for this?” he asked.

They had explored her new body in many ways so far, but this was a pleasure she had yet to know. With her heightened sense of touch, she hadn’t felt prepared for the intensity of his mouth on her most sensitive places.

But she wanted that now, even if it overwhelmed her. Her body hummed with a Craving whetted by their sacred drink from the avowal chalice. She wanted him to inundate her.

“Yes,” she said. “Let us make this a night to remember.”

He went down on his knees in front of her. “This is a very important part of Hesperine avowal tradition. It’s the Redblood’s duty to make the Whiteblood scream.”

She braced her hands on his shoulders. “No one mentioned that during avowal rehearsals.”

“I declare it our private tradition, as of now.”

He placed a tender, languid kiss on her stomach, his mouth and tongue warm through the cool silk. Her muscles twitched against his lips in anticipation. Slowly, he traced a path across her belly and over her hipbone.

She tangled her hands in his hair, cradling him closer, urging him on. He cupped her buttocks, and she eased her legs fartherapart for him. The heat of his kisses trailed along the inside of her thighs, and she quivered.

How I’ve been looking forward to this,he said in her mind, his mouth busy in the groove of her hip and thigh.I cannot wait to find out what you taste like now.

Framing her apex with his hands, he smoothed out the silk that covered her. She realized he was not going to undress her.

Yet, he said.If it becomes too much, tell me to stop.

He pressed his mouth to her krana. A shock, even through fabric already warm and damp from her desire. She bit down hard on her lower lip, her own fangs pricking her.

Deepening his kiss, he gave her gentle pressure. A moan slid out of her, and on reflex, she arched against his mouth. His hands closed tighter around her buttocks, steadying.

When he laved her bud, the slide of his tongue against the smooth silk sent heat shimmering through all her senses. She melted in his hold, no longer breathing.

At her response, he licked her kalux again and again. Impossible pleasure sparked deep into her core and along her skin and to the tips of her toes. Shuddering in his hold, she could scarcely believe this part of her body was real.

You are a dream.His hands flexed on her.And yet here you are, real in my hold. My immortal firstgrace.

Her jaw dropped, her fangs throbbing with the sensations that pounded through her with every firm stroke of his tongue. She wrapped her arms closer around him for support. Their Grace Union bloomed, their intimate physical act spinning their thoughts and emotions deeper into each other.

The arcane paths inside her flooded with him. Her body sang, caught on the sharpest edge. At last she gasped a breath so she could speak, but all she managed was a desperate cry. She was either about to levitate right out of his hands or collapse.

Her knees buckled. His mouth left her on the cusp of release, and he caught her swiftly in his arm. The room spun, her senses full of stars, and then he was laying her down in the soft pile of the bedclothes.

He knelt between her knees. On reflex, she squeezed her thighs together against the delicious torture in her core.

“Too much?” he asked.

“Yes,” she moaned.

“Ready for more?”

“Yes. I need you to—Goddess help me, I need—”

He parted her legs, and she nodded, giving up on speech. He swept his hands up her thighs, pushing the silk out of his way now. She dug her heels into the bed to brace herself.

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