Page 26 of Lifeblood

“There’s no need to panic,” Mordred said as he moved us through a doorway. Another tendril of shadow floated up to eye level and pulled the door behind us shut—and then locked it. “I merely mean to secure the first taste, and to do so privately.”

“Superiority complex, much?” I managed to quip despite my words being muffled by Mordred’s shadow tendril. Its touch was like a gentle caress across my lips.

He withdrew it in that moment. “I wanted you first.”

That wasn’t true. Gareth had found and wanted me first—to have, to hold, to kill. Whichever he was currently feeling, I was sure. But I didn’t voice this to Mordred.

I cocked my hip and crossed my arms. “This isn’t a game. I’m not a prize to be won.”

Mordred closed what distance remained between us. Although he wasn’t particularly broad-shouldered or the tallest king, the way the shadows in the room grew around him made his entire presence seem larger. More intimidating. I had a bone-deep sense that I was safe with him, and yet a shiver of excitement—of powerlessness—coursed through me anyway.

Mordred lifted a hand and came within an inch of touching the side of my face, but he didn’t actually do it. “No. You are our mate, and I am in charge. So I will taste you first.”

My heartbeat throbbed in my ears. All the conditions regarding “having me” but not “claiming me” the men had set minutes before flew out the window. Mordred’s dark, intent eyes, his shadowy presence, the locked door… “What are you going to do? They’re right outside.”

Mordred dipped his head without breaking eye contact. The motion sent heat straight to my core to dance with the excited shivers. “Nothing untoward. We agreed on rules.”

I bit my lip as I considered him. They’d made those rules largely without my input, and yet, for my benefit. At base, they’d each get a sip of my lifeblood blood, a bit of power, a staying chance at immortality. But the rest of this—the mate bond, any further physical connections—would be at my pace.

I hadn’t a reason to be this flustered about it. The kingswererespecting me, and much more than maybe they ought to in their position. I had to trust that Mordred, and the others, would keep that respect behind closed doors.

But Mordred’s entire presence was like a welcoming darkness, tempting and obscuring and cool. The longer he held me captive in his intense gaze, and the longer I stood within the embrace of his shadows, the more I realized that flustered feeling was straight-up attraction. Lust, even.

He—all four of the demon kings—were devastatingly handsome. Powerful. Hot. But Mordred was so in a quiet but no less intense way. You didn’t realize it until you were already in too deep, stuck close within his shadows and held tightly by them.

I swallowed thickly as Mordred held eye contact. It wasn’t awkward or demanding, but he was very clearly interested in my input on thistastingmatter. And given I’d spent my two hundred years believing I’d had no choice in my fate, only in how to postpone it, having a choice now was quite possibly the hottest thing imaginable.

“What is your idea, then?” I managed to ask in the silence. Because I suddenly had several ideas for how Mordred could “taste” me and only one wasn’t untoward. The pureneedthat stemmed from that train of thought slammed hard into me. I found myself breathless in front of Mordred, more aware and turned on than I’d been the other night when he’d held my pulse beneath his fingertips.

Mordred’s eyes lit up, and he slowly cupped my cheek in his hand. His fingers fit my face perfectly, as though he were made to hold me. His pinky finger trailed along my lower neck as though he were considering something.

“You’re attracted to me,” he said simply.

I nodded. No point in denying it now with my lips parted, breath shallow, pulsethrobbingall over my body. Surely, he could hear it. “Yes.”

His gaze slipped down my form, a quick study or cataloging of something in particular. He smiled softly. “Your body hums with need.”

“Yes.” There was no point in denying that, either. I knew the demon kings felt some measure of the same. Some of it came directly from the mate bond forcing it in each other’s orbit. Even now, Mordred’s very presence was triggering the fate-given parts of me that wanted him, wholly, without hesitation. To submit to him. To be his.

“Another time, little lifeblood.” His voice was low and firm, but I sensed a hint of regret within it. “We agreed on rules.”

Mordred reached behind him with his free hand. A shifting sounded.He drew a small knife between us, withdrawn from a hidden sheath on his waist. He then leaned over toward a nearby table filled with glasses and grabbed the rim of one glass between his fingertips.

My eyes widened. He meant to literally drink my blood. “Mordred—”

His dark gaze returned to me. “Do you trust me?”

Given our positions and everything that had happened over the last two days, the answer should have been a resoundingno.And yet…

I found Ididtrust him. That despite being unsure of his actions, I felt peace in him acting. Like I knew I’d be safe no matter what he suggested.

I was starting to feel that peace with all of the demon kings.

Except maybe Gareth. I still wasn’t sure where we stood or what his hot-headed reactions would lead him to do.

But the others, yes.

I nodded and put my hand around his so we were both holding the knife. “Yes.”

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