Page 112 of Our Sins in Blood (Coven of Sin 1)

There it was again, another dark and decadent order that had me panting like an animal in heat.

This was exactly what I’d been aching for all night.

Him.

Every lean, luscious inch of him.

But now that we’d arrived at this point, the precipice of all the rising sexual tension, I froze. Here Sterling was, offering himself to me, andthiswas the fucking moment my human insecurities had to take over?

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t seem to smother the little voice in the back of my head, screaming, “What the hell am I doing?”

I was a sheltered twenty-three-year-old. I had lost my virginity not even twenty-four hours ago, and Eros had been the one in the driver’s seat. I had just laid back and enjoyed the ride. Sterling wasone thousandflipping years old. I didn’t even want to try and fathom how many girls had sucked him off. I didn’t want to stand out as the one who did it wrong. And how the hell was I supposed to do this without accidentally dropping my fangs? I doubted Sterling would tell anyone about our time together like this but still, I didn’t want to be known as the coven’s dick biter.

As if sensing my rising self-doubt, Sterling tucked himself back into his sweats. I was sad to see that part of him slip out of view, but I had a feeling he was about to say something serious by the pinched expression on his face.

Hooking a finger under my chin, he guided my gaze to his. Ghostly eyes peered down at me, looking straight through me, and just like before, I felt like he could see all of me.

“You’re frightened,” he murmured. His fingers brushed over my chest, making my breath hitch beneath them, as if he commanded the very air in my lungs. “Are you afraid I’ll hurt you?”

“No. That’s not it at all. I am scared,” I admitted on a shaky breath, “but not of you. I just… I have no idea what I’m doing. I don’t want you to feel like you have to teach me how to do this sort of thing.” I thought I’d be embarrassed admitting this to him. But the second the words left me, I felt a weight lift off my chest. And Sterling’s gentle smile—which was a bit weird seeing while coated in my blood—made all my self-doubt fizzle away.

“Your human side may not know what you’re doing, but your vampire instincts have chosen me as your mate. Let those same instincts guide you. If you trust in them, they will never fail you.”

I gave a tentative nod. “Can I ask you a personal question?”

His chest rumbled with a chuckle. “I’ve told you my darkest secrets. At this point, I’m an open book.”

Hearing those words out of his mouth was the most refreshing thing I’d heard from any of the princes. And I believed him. Transparency was one of Sterling’s sexiest qualities. If I had to rank them, I’d put it smack between his endowment—which was currently pressed against my thigh—and the way he held me, gentle and possessive. In his arms, I felt like one of his books. He was clearly protective of them if his reaction to when I had lobbed one at his head in the library was any indication. And I loved how he used every opportunity he could to touch me, like I was filled with all sorts of stories he could glean with the simple kiss of his fingertips.

“How long has it been since you’ve been with a woman?”

The prince swallowed, his Adam’s apple making a quick and delicious bob in his throat. “It’s almost embarrassing saying it out loud. About a century ago is when I’ve last been with a woman like this.”

“Ahundredyears?”

“I wish the saying ‘that’s not long for an immortal’ was applicable in this context, but unfortunately, when it comes to sex, a hundred years is a long time for anyone. Especially with our kind’s sexual drives.”

“Why so long?”

His eyes drifted shut, and his hold on me tightened slightly. “After what happened with Elizabeth—my human mate—I was too frightened to get close to anyone else with your father watching, waiting for any excuse to punish me on the grounds of disloyalty.” His eyelids flickered open, and he leaned down to kiss the place he’d bitten me, licking away any remaining blood. “But our kind craves vampire blood just as we do human blood. The longer we go without it, the more unruly our lust becomes. This was before Sharpe invented the sating pills. So your father inducted a half-succubus, half-vampire into the coven. Her blood sates us for longer.”

“A half-succubus? Is she like…er…” I faltered. “Well, you know.”

He straightened, his brows cocking. “She’s not a prostitute if that’s what you’re asking. But seeing as a vampire’s carnal lust can spike when feeding on another vampire, and given her nature, her services often lead to sexual intercourse. It was one such session that I decided to indulge in her advances. At that time, I hadn’t been with another woman since…” His voice was strained, and he sighed. “Since before we left for the new world. I knew I wasn’t risking your father’s wrath, considering Alexandra has slept with half the coven.”

My stomach flipped. “Wait.Lexi?She’s the coven’s blood whore?”

Suddenly it wasn’t so hard calling the half-succubus names now that I knew who we were talking about.

Sterling smirked. “Indeed. But take care not to call her that to her face. It won’t do to make an enemy of her.”

I snorted. Too freaking late. The ship had definitely left the dock on that one.

It was weird, knowing that Lexi was half-succubus. She didn’t look any different than the other coven’s vampires, but it made sense considering how tight she had Vincent wound around her finger. Seduction was literally her job.

“I thought she was Vincent’s girlfriend or something.”

Sterling scoffed. “She doesn’t give him anything she doesn’t offer the rest of the coven. He’s just her favorite, especially since she seems to be under the unfortunate impression that if she spreads her legs enough for him, he’ll make her queen.”

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