Page 97 of The Serpent's Bride
Then hepulled.
And a moan escaped her lips.
He drank from her and shefeltit. Gods below, she could feel it happening. She could feel her heartbeat begin to thud in time with his rumbling.
It had no right to feel like such total and utter bliss.
Another pull, and she thought she might lose her mind. No wonder she fainted the first time. If he was going to kill her—let it be like this. Please, let her die like this. Instinctually, she ground her hips against his, needing to feel more of him.
But his purr was beginning to change into a growl. His bite was beginning to deepen—become harsh. His arm at her back cinched tighter. But there was nothing she could do to stop him; she was caught in his web.
This was how she died. Right here. In his arms. Drained dry.
But thepull.With each draw from her, a wave of ecstasy rolled through her, sending her deeper and deeper into the warmth of it all.
Just when she thought it was over, he ripped his head away from her. She heard his jaws snap shut, heard him mutter a curse to himself under his breath. He shuddered beneath her, his hands still clutching her tight.
Gasping, she placed a hand to her head. “Shit?—”
“You are fine. It feels like I took more than I did.” Raziel leaned his head back on the sofa, his hands sliding to her hips. He pressed his own up into her. It was clear that she wasn’t the only one who found the bite sexual. “Oh, my little killer…you are a dangerous addiction. Oh, I wish we had time to go another round.”
“We don’t?”
“Mmh. Dinner will be spoiled if we wait much longer, I fear.” He laughed in a strange way. Did her blood make him high? He sounded a little loopy. Giddy, almost. The idea that she wasaccidentally drugging him was funny enough that she had to keep from laughing.
She rubbed her throat again. It was sore but didn’t sting. And her lightheadedness had cleared fairly quickly. “That was…wow.”
“How do you think Lana has so many pet humans?” Sitting up, he nudged her hand from her throat and kissed the wound before rolling his tongue along the bite marks. She shivered at how sensitive it was.
He patted her ass. “Can you stand?” He was clearly still a little loopy. So was she.
Standing was a wobbly affair, and she had to lean on the sofa for a moment to do it, but she managed. He was right—at first, it felt like he’d taken a lot more than he had. But now that she could take a second to breathe, her head was starting to clear.
“Dinner is on the back patio.”
Raziel led her through a large set of doors that must once have been beautiful to an enormous stone patio overlooking the ocean.
Nadi froze.
A table was set for two in front of her. White linen was laid out, with plates under silver cloches.
But there were three chairs.
Only two of them were empty.
In the third position was a woman. Wrists tied to the wooden arms of her chair. Ankles tied to the legs. More bindings around her waist. A gag muffling her whimpering cries.
Nadi was staring into the terrified eyes of Monica Valan.
The real Monica Valan.
A click from behind her. The sound of a pistol’s safety.
Nadi felt the weapon being pressed to the back of her head.
Raziel’s voice was as cold as ice. “Do sit down. I think it’s time that we become properly acquainted. Don’t you?”
TWENTY-SEVEN
