Page 107 of Amethyst and Iron
The other had spiky blue hair and seemed about a decade younger. He had the sleeves of an open-collared pink shirt rolled up and revealing a whole lot of ink covering both arms. He wasn’t as big as the other guy, but he was built like a boxer. He slapped his hand to the hip of his black jeans as he regarded me. “Matthew,” he told me simply. “Nice meeting you, Lazriel.”
“You too,” I said, my gaze flicking between him, my dad, and the other guy.
“This is Eric. My feeder,” he told me, as Matthew walked over to one of the armchairs and settled down comfortably.
I started. “You feed from men? I thought—”
“Fresh blood is fresh blood, is it not?”
I smiled. He was doing this for me. But he was also clearly not wanting to make a big thing out of it, wanting to normalize it for me instead.Shit,this was such a far cry from the repressed pack environment I’d grown up in.
“Besides,” he said, as his feeder settled onto one of the chairs a couple over from Matthew, “Eric, here, is one of my favorite feeders. He enjoys my bite and his blood is delectably potent.”
“So I’ve heard,” Eric said, grinning out at me.
He wasn’t just a thing to him, even to an Ancient Vampire of my dad’s caliber. He was a person, one clearly respected. These feeders were protected, rewarded and even revered. This arrangement down here was nothing like I’d worried it would be.
It was actually… really nice.
Comforting, really.
My dad came to me and grasped my shoulder.
“Now, be mindful that Matthew is human. When you feed from Cassius, he can withstand a great deal due to his Immortal durability. That will not be the case for Matthew. You must stop and withdraw your fangs the moment you feel his pulse start to slow.”
“Got it,” I said, swallowing hard as the stakes slammed into me.
But they didn’t outweigh the desire flooding through me to actually do this. It wasn’t sexual at all in nature, it was pure bloodlust and vampiric need. To feed, to be sustained, in a way I’d avoided before. In a fully empowering way, not tampered down by processed blood bags that couldn’t compare as I’d come to realize from drinking fresh blood from glasses lately since I’d been down here.
As my dad headed over to Eric, I settled onto an ornate-looking gold-leaf stool to the side of Matthew, his eyes gleaming at me with anticipation.
At the same time, I looked over at Remnant again, watching as he dropped his fangs and cradled Eric’s head as he sank them deep. Eric jolted at the initial penetration, but then sank further into the comfy chair and let out a groan.
The scent of fresh blood permeated the air.
I breathed it in and dropped my fangs.
I gestured at the right side of Matthew’s neck. I mean, he was tilting it toward me and he’d even eased the collar of his pink shirt aside too, but I wanted to be extra sure. “Here is all right?”
His lip curled. “Wherever you like, honestly. I figured this would be best. Remnant mentioned you’re new to feeding from humans.”
“Sure am.”
“Take your time, whatever you need.”
“And you like this?”
“Fucking love it. It’s thrilling from an adrenaline junkie standpoint. But it’s also thrilling to be able to give somebody something they need so vitally, and to feel that need as they feed. The sensation is out of this world. And being around the supernatural of it all… it’s mythic. A real heady thing.”
Wow.
Shifting my weight on the ornate stall, I leaned in, pressing my hand to his shoulder for both of our stability, then I leaned in and slicked my tongue over his throat.
I caught my dad’s eye as I did and his lips lifted, while he continued feeding.
I knew it was because that was how newbie vamps fed in their early days.
While I wasn’t technically a newbie, I was when it came to feeding from the vein. Especially from humans.
