Page 11 of Fallen Heirs

But I suspected there’d been more to it than that.

Tal reporting my state to him, for instance.

He was doing it to calm me down more so than anything else.

And to sober me up a little.

His blood was certainly doing both. It packed a hell of a punch, cutting through my intoxication incredibly quickly. But it was also calming me this time.

Maybe it was because I had my magic back, but it felt more soothing than usual as I ingested every additional drop of his potent blood.

Or—wait. Had he—no, he wouldn’t. Would he?

I eased my fangs free, licking up the blood dripping from them and my lips, before looking out at him, his eyes slightly glazed from the feed.

“Did you spell your blood to calm me down?”

“No.”

“It sure as hell feels like it, Orpheus. It’s like ingesting a tranquilizer.”

“I spelledmyself.”

“What?”

He lifted a shoulder. “I needed to calm myself a little.”

“Spelling yourself, though? That’s extreme. Especially for you. You don’t like that sort of thing. You hate things impacting your mind.”

“I made an exception this time.”

“You really had a fight with Alena then?”

“I told you I did.”

“I thought that was a ruse so you could hide my drunken state from my dad and the rest of the guests here.”

He tugged at my belt. “Finish your feed. I can’t keep myself under control where that’s concerned much longer. I already had to turn Alena down when she came onto me in the Hall of Honor earlier. Even I can only take so many tests to my control. The sedative I spelled myself with might be assisting a little, but not to this degree.”

“Alena came onto you? Here? At her mother’s memorial?”

“Sure did.”

“Hell, her sexual appetite has been insane lately.”

“Part of her dealing with her grief—or not dealing with it, as it were.”

“We need to have a talk with her.”

“The way things are, it seems we all need talking to. We all sustained damage during this war and with a moment now to breathe, it’s all coming out. Like you’re demonstrating today, like she did earlier too.”

Damnation,that was the last thing I wanted to talk about.

So I dug my nails into his shoulder and sank my fangs into his throat again.

His sexy groan rolled through me and he threw his head back, giving me even better access, and fisting his hands in my shirt.

“Motherfuck, X,” he rasped. “You’re making it far too erotic with the slow draw.”

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