Page 61 of A Heart Of Bitter Poison
“You looked at his dick?”
“I had no choice. He pissed and shit himself and I was not about to bring him back to you like that. So I rinsed him off and got him changed.” Ashen glares down at Alberto with a repulsed sneer and turns his gaze back to me. “Small. Hooks to the left.”
I smack the bed with my open palm. “I knew it.”
We grin at one another. Now that Alberto isn’t looking up at me with fat tears in his eyes, I let the blanket fall away from my chest. Ashen’s gaze drifts down to my breasts and his pupils spark into flame.
“Vampire,” Ashen purrs, his voice low and dangerous as he prowls toward me.
A slow smile spreads across my face as I take in the wicked gleam in his eyes. “Reaper.”
Ashen uncovers one of my ankles and runs his fingers up my calf, gripping it to pull me closer. “Go and eat your little bird so I can lick you clean.”
“You are terrible. And insatiable.” I squeal in a fit of giggles as Ashen leans down and nips a ticklish spot near my knee. He runs his nose along the inside of my thigh, climbing higher until he presses a kiss to the soft skin at the top of my leg. Alberto cries out louder from the floor in a desperate plea for help that will never come.
“Go,” Ashen whispers, wrapping his arm around my leg and tugging me down the bed. “I don’t want to listen to his whimpering. Only yours.” He pulls me to my feet and holds my robe open, waiting for me to slip my arms into the sleeves before tying the belt. When he’s done, he places a lingering kiss on my cheek and then turns away, climbing onto the bed and settling a book across his lap.
I watch him for a long moment. He quickly becomes absorbed in the text, and presses his fingers to his bottom lip as he loses himself in thought. I think he doesn’t notice me watching until I see a little smile lift the corners of his mouth. “Go, vampire. Before I think of a way to punish you for taking so long to come back to bed.”
He glances over the edge of his book, and when our eyes meet, his features soften with warmth in the dim light. There’s not just love and affection there, but a bit of pride. Like he did something worthwhile by heading into the night and bringing this gift back for me. I give him a fleeting smile and turn away before he can read too much from my skin.
I kneel down next to Alberto. My fangs descend at the sound of his quiet sobs. Sweet venom coats my tongue.
“Hush now, little bird,” I whisper into his ear. He whines and begs until I place a gentle palm across his mouth, but there’s no real fight left in him. He’s like a deer that’s been outrun. He knows he’ll die, even if he’s not quite ready. “If you find your way to the afterlife, just remember. The only thing that made you special was that he brought you here for me.”
Alberto’s final pleas for mercy vibrate against my palm as my fangs slide into his skin. I pierce his jugular and sigh as his blood rushes down my throat. I suck in long draws of his juicy sweet life. It doesn’t feel like Ashen’s blood, not even close. Nothing does. But my hunger fades and the burn in my throat recedes.
Alberto gradually goes quiet and soon slips from consciousness as his heart slows. The last beats pump his life into my mouth and I still hang on, sucking all the drops I can from his paling, cooling flesh. When I’m done, I pull the blade from his spine and wipe it on his shirt. I turn toward the bed and find Ashen watching me.
“Better?” Ashen says. I nod. His eyes track my every move as he closes his book and lays it on the side table.
I hold both Ashen’s blade and his gaze as I pull the tie from my robe and let it drift from my shoulders to fall to the floor. Ashen’s pupils turn bright with sparks as I climb onto the bed and stalk toward him. I crawl up his body until I’m straddling his stomach and his warm palms heat my thighs.
“You look a little nervous, Reaper,” I say through a wicked smile as I draw his blade up to his chest and edge the tip of it beneath one of the black buttons of his shirt. His gaze darts down and back up to my eyes again. When I raise the tip of the knife, the button snaps free of the fabric, pinging into the shadows.
“So I should be,” he replies.
I nick the next button and it hits the headboard before skittering across the floor. “I’m sure you’ll be more watchful this time,” I say as I strip another button from its threads. “I think I got you good in Cairo, but I’m pretty sure you let me and Ediye kill you before that.”
“I thought if I did that you would get some of your anger out of your system. I was hoping it would get old.”
“It never gets old.”
Another button flies into the shadows, then another, and another, until they’re all gone. I use the tip of Ashen’s blade to push the edges of his shirt open, raking it over his skin just enough to make him shiver but not enough to make him bleed. I draw the tip back across his chest and let the dagger hover over the tattooed lines of the jackal’s face. I can imagine pushing the blade between his bones and striking his heart. Life could change forever, if I went about it the right way. I could leave my mark and wear a scar of my own. He would be mine, for real. For immortal time. And I would be his.
I flip the knife and offer it to him by the handle.
Not tonight. Maybe not ever.
Ashen takes the blade but watches me closely. I see the most subtle brightening of flame in his eyes. Relief settles into my breath as he sets the dagger on the side table and runs his hands up my sides. But the engine has definitely sparked to life. He knows I was thinking of mating, if only for a moment. And he might leave it alone for now, but I doubt he’ll leave it for good.
So I guess I’ll just need to distract him.
I move down to Ashen’s legs and undo his belt, then the hook and zipper. He lifts his hips and I pull the last of his clothes off to drop them on the floor. Ashen’s breath hitches as I climb back up his legs and take the base of his erection in a firm grip. The silken tip glistens with precum and I glide my tongue across it, watching as he closes his eyes and tilts his head back.
I suck hard on the tip and slide him into my mouth, just enough to make him shudder. I roll my tongue over the crown as I start slowly working the base of his cock with my hand. I take him deeper with each stroke until he hits the back of my throat. He moans and threads his fingers through my hair, guiding my tempo. I swirl my tongue across the underside of his tip and then suck him in hard, over and over. Ashen’s grip tightens on my hair and my eyes water, but I love it, the feeling of my lips bruised and swollen around his length, the way I’m driving him into madness. I tease him, pushing him close to the edge and then slowing my rhythm when I feel him nearly ready to explode. When I rake my fingernails over his balls he growls and drives deeper into my throat.
“Vampire,” he hisses. “The things I am going to do to you.”
