Page 10 of Queen Takes King
But I couldn’t stop myself from lifting my bloody hand to mymouth.
I heard a groan and a heavy thud, as if Rik had punched the new Blood in the gut, but I was afraid to look. Afraid I’d bury my face in the stranger’s stomach like a lioness settling down over her kill, desperate to get more of his blood. Hunger swirled in me like a hurricane, tearing at my control, eroding my senses. It hurt so fuckingbad.
But I didn’t want them to pity me. I didn’t want them to have to help me do something so… basic. How could I be a vampire queen if I couldn’t even bite and feedmyself?
“She’s not feeding enough,” the stranger said, his voice hoarse. “You must take better care of her,alpha.”
“She refuses,” Rik answered, his voice even. But I heard his worry and frustration aching in the bond. “She’s not fully Aima and doesn’t havefangs.”
“The fuck she’s not full Aima,” he rasped. “You don’t feel her power? No fuckingway.”
The new Blood sounded… rough. Like he was sick. Or hurt. Surely I hadn’t wounded him that badly. We were Aima. We healed easily. Quickly. But he did have a lot of scars and with his gray hair, he must be old, even for Aima. What did that mean—a few centuries? More? One pale, jagged scar down his forehead, another around his neck, and his hands looked… misshapen, almost. Like too many bends in hisfingers.
I dared a quick peek over my shoulder. Shocked, I turned aroundfully.
He lay on the floor, gasping, his face as gray as his hair. He clutched the wound in his stomach and blood pooled through his fingers and ran down his side. Rik had gone down to one knee and supported his upperbody.
“What’s wrong withhim?”
“He hasn’t fed in… awhile.” Rik offered his forearm to the man. “Our queen needs you hale andstrong.”
“Thank you, but no,” Guillaume said, his voice weak. “I can’t drink from any but queens. It’s my curse and mystrength.”
Blood. It called me. Sang a sweet melody. Crooning to my power, stroking my hunger to a fevered pitch. I didn’t want to feed if I didn’t have fangs. I’d sworn I wouldn’t. But I found myself crawling across the floor towardthem.
“When did you last feed?” Rik asked him. “Which queen did youserve?”
“I haven’t served in over a hundredyears.”
I jerked to a halt, surprise shaking me out of stupor I’d fallen into. My cheeks flushed. I was on the floor. On my hands and knees. Leaning down to lap at a dying man’s stomach. A man who’d only walked in five minutesago.
But neither Blood looked at me with any accusation or condemnation. In fact, Rik looked downright relieved to see blood smeared on myface.
“Feed, my queen,” Guillaume whispered, even though his head lolled to the side. “I offer my blood freely to you though I have little power remaining. Take what youneed.”
I tugged his shirt up enough to see the puncture wound. It wasn’t an ugly or big cut, so I still didn’t completely understand why such a small injury had literally flooredhim.
That crazy melody started in my head again. Like if I just listened hard enough, I’d hear the most beautiful song ever to be played on this earth. All I needed to do was to tastehim.
I pressed my lips to the puncture and his blood filled my mouth. Sweeter than the other two men’s, almost like a glass of dessert wine with a chocolate chaser. The symphony rose in me, a rising flurry of drums and strings and horns that made me lock my mouth hard to his side and drink myfill.
Even if it killedhim.
It suddenly dawned on me that he was dying.Literally.
The flow from his side had slowed to a trickle and his skin was clammy against my mouth. I raised my head, alarmed to see how ill he looked. His cheeks were sunken and hollowed out, though his eyes still blazed with darkfire.
He would lie here and die if I did nothing to save him, and his only thought would be relief that I’d at least feasted once on hisblood.
How could I not trust someone willing to make that kind ofsacrifice?
I offered him my wrist. He lifted his hand to draw me close, but his arm flopped down weakly to the floor. I pressed my wrist to his mouth for him. Ever so gently, he pierced me. It was almost sweet the careful way he bit into my skin. With a few swallows of my blood, his color returned. He managed to sit up on his own, his fingers wrapping around mywrist.
In a vise. Harder. His eyes blazed and he gulped faster, his mouth like a hot branding iron on myarm.
“Shara…” Rikgrowled.
“It’s all right,” I said, waving him off. “He needs a lot. I can takeit.”
