Page 44 of The Awakening
“No,” I say, literally holding in laughter. “I find you captivating.Anddelicious. Whoever told you that you tasted bad was an idiot.”
“Thanks…” He sighs and drops his head back, adjusting his spine as I lazily stroke his thigh in my lap. There’s a moment of comfortable pause before he says, “So… am I to always be the bottom when we have sex? Can we talk about this?”
Now, I laugh. “You don’talwayshave to do anything, Jae.” There’s an awkward pause before Jae lifts his head again.
“Tosser. That sounds like, ‘You can go and sleep with someone else and be on top if you like.’”
We both laugh now. Confession: I’ve had sex in a vast multitude of ways and with many, many people, but I’ve never been the bottom when sleeping with a male. I didn’t think I had a complex about it, but maybe I do. Asao would say it’s because I have serious trust issues… He might be right.
I caress my hand higher up his thigh until I’m sliding my palm against his cock. He moans, breathy, and spreads his thighs a little wider. I love how comfortable he is right now—relaxed and speaking his mind. It’s like all the walls are down and I’m finally getting to the core of him. “Do you think I’m treating you like a keyhole?”
“No. But it would be nice to usemykey sometimes. Since I’ve got one.”
I laugh again. This creature. “I’ll think about it,” I say, squeezing him.
Jae groans, but in a kind of chuckle. He’s smiling and writhing underneath my palm. “He’llthinkabout it. The function and use of my cock are up for deliberation. The jury is out.”
I keep laughing, and all the tension from earlier has melted. I adjust my seating position to face him directly so that I can reach up with my free hand and caress my fingertips against his jawline. “Feisty, delicious man…”
He surprises me when he snaps his head to the side and catches my two fingers in his mouth. He scrunches his nose at me, defiant as he reaches up and holds my wrist so he can suck and lick my fingers.
God,he makes me nervous.
Twenty-One
Junichi
Monday evening, I’m sitting in the formal tearoom of the Miyoshi Clan estate in Hiroshima. I’m on an elaborate cushion with my legs folded underneath me and I’m alone. I feel like a sacrificial offering. I check my watch. 7:15 p.m. He’s made me wait fifteen minutes like this.
The harpy is challenging me. Daring me to leave.
I could. After feeding from Jae yesterday, I still feel energized and satiated. But I’m also nervous. He tastes like a ranked vampire but doesn’t drink blood and swears he isn’t one. I feel like a test subject for a new energy drink that seems fine at first, but three days later I might burst into flames. That’s why I’m staying. To get some proven, surefire purebred blood in my godforsaken system in case Jae’s blood has some unknown ill effects.
Ren Miyoshi as my source is my father’s doing. Even after his death, my father is still ruining my life.
Ren is purebred. He’s the unofficial realm leader of Hiroshima prefecture. Haruka is the official realm leader of all Chugoku. But it’s a huge region,andhe has Kansai. Being how he is (unbothered, procrastinating and selectively lazy), he lets the Miyoshi Clan manage Hiroshima and Shimane prefectures, while Haruka primarily handles Okayama and Tottori.
My father formally offered me to Ren’s family as his source when both he and I were still kids. Technically, as part of the arrangement, we should be bonded by now. When we turned twenty-one, we were supposed to seal the deal. We tried for years, but it didn’t work. Probably because I genuinely dislike him.
I’ve been feeding from Ren off and on since we were both sixteen. When I first saw him, I thought he was gorgeous. His eyes are like butterscotch, which is rare for a vampire of Japanese descent, and he has these long dark eyelashes that practically sweep against his cheeks when he closes his eyes. He wears his jet-black hair down to his waist, like we’re in the damn feudal era. He did when we were young, too. He’s always had an affinity for flowing robes with elaborate patterns, and they suit him perfectly.
The first time I fed from him, my eyes burned like fire in my head from the taste of him. I thought he was delicious. When he pulled back and saw me though, he smacked the shit out of me and told me I was being “unchaste.” Called me a heathen or some other old-fashioned term. Savage? I can’t remember. My eyes haven’t alighted since. They’re broken.
I don’t want to feed from him, but my body is conditioned to him. I can feed from another first-gen or maybe a second-gen, but it isn’t the same. Not nearly as satisfying. That’s Ren’s power over me—that my first feeding source was purebred. For years and during the pivotal, developmental phase of my vampiric biology, I was conditioned to this rich, clean vampiric blood. It’s what my body is accustomed to. Even when I desperately want to stay away from him—and believe me, I’ve tried—eventually I come back. I always will and he knows it.
Purebred vampires don’t just easily offer up their blood. They might feed from others freely, but they rarely ever give of themselves, because they’re considered the lifeblood of our race. A purebred vampire might offer themselves twice in their entire lifetime. Max. So it’s not as if I can just find another purebred to feed from. If I do, it means there’s an arrangement to bond with them. Which I don’t want to do either.
So I’m stuck with the harpy.
“Hello, Violet.”
I’m staring straight ahead. I can see him leaning on the doorframe from the corner of my eye, wearing some silken deep purple and flowy robe that’s gaped open at his chest. He knows I don’t like it when he calls me that. I ignore him because if you reward children with your attention, they’ll keep repeating the undesired behavior.
He strides across the tatami until he’s standing directly in front of me. Over me. Then he flops down onto his knees in front of me so Ihaveto look at him. His hair is perfectly glossy, swept and flowing over his left shoulder. His vivid eyes are full of mischief. He smirks. “Sorry for making you wait.”
I scoff. “You are not.”
“I’m not.” He smiles, sweet malice, lifting his eyebrow. “You makemewait, so why shouldn’t I make you?”
