Page 21 of Sweet Vengeance

“Go on.” Fuck, herscentright now. Lust and determination. Shewantedhim to drink her blood. He felt almost drunk with it. “Just … don’t take too much.”

Malachitookher hand, though he tried not to look desperate. He wouldn’t take too much; after the last time, when he’d first broken thePriest’s control and tried to gorge himself, it had had him feeling sick for days afterward. He wouldn’t make that mistake now. He would take a little, and this time, he would savour it.

His tongue unfurled, sliding out of his mouth.

He heard Joy’s heart thump. “H-Holy shit.” The scent of her arousal increased.

“Do you mind if I bite?” Malachi murmured, licking across the pad of her thumb, the slit at the forked end of his tongue parting around the digit.

“Jesus,” she rasped, looking like she was trying not to squirm. “No, I don’t mind. You can—”

Malachi sucked her thumb into his mouth, then gently pierced her flesh with one of his sharp teeth. Her scent went bright with pain, but was soon drowned out by the scent of pleasure.

Her blood ran down his throat, thick and hot and fucking delicious. Malachi moaned, sucking again. Vaguely, he could feel that he was hard, his dick straining between his legs. His tongue wrapped around her thumb, as if to keep her from pulling away.

She was panting and squirming now, staring with dark eyes at his mouth.

Another, Malachi told himself, as he sucked again.Just one more.His eyes rolled back, another groan escaping him as more of her blood poured into him. Fuck, it felt like her emotions affected the taste of her blood, too; the first pull had held the bitter tang of her pain from his bite; the second had been filled with a sudden rush of pleasure; and this pull was rich with the creamy sweetness of her arousal.

Malachi jerked her thumb out of his mouth with a lewd sound. He used the aether to seal the wound shut.

He wanted to come. Just shove his robes off and tug onhis dickuntil he spilled all over himself like last night.

“Oh my God.” Joy was trembling.

Malachi presseda kissgently against her knuckles, ignoring his desperate arousal.

“Thank you,” he husked, letting her hand go.

“You’re welcome,” she whispered, placing her hand primly in her lap.

Their eyes met and held. Malachi, for some odd reason, suddenly found his lungs struggling to function. Her gaze fell to his mouth. His own fell to hers. Neither of them moved, the tension between them sosharpit could have sawed through titanium.

Joy abruptly shot to her feet. “I should get ready.”

Malachi swallowed. “Right. Yes. Of course.”

He scrubbed his hands over his face when she disappeared into the bathroom. He didn’t touch himself, even though he could hear little, bitten-off moans—even though he could taste her pleasure and arousal in the air.

The combination of her taste in his mouth and her scent in the air was almost too much. His eyes rolled back, his hips lifting slightly off the seat when she finally came, the rich scent alone nearly enough to have him shooting untouched into his robes.

He’d calmed down somewhat when she finally exited the bathroom, dressed in her signaturered and white.

Malachi stood.

Joy smelled like satisfaction, but unlike last night, her desire still lingered underneath. She still wanted—

Malachi forced the thought aside. That scent was not an invitation.

“Ready, demon boy?” Her lips twitched.

“Whenever you are, little tiger.”

Joy’s finger still tingled. Despite her quickie in the bathroom, she still felt on fire with it. God, she didn’t think she’d ever wanted anyone this badly, not even when she’d wanted Iyore back in Secondary School—when sneaking around to fumble underneath each other’s clothes here and there had felt like being struck with lightning, everysingletime. The only thing keeping her from jumping Malachi’s bones right now was her still unfolding revenge.

This time, when her victim came out of the supermarket, he did so slowly, his eyes darting across the street. When he opened the door to his car, he glanced around the back seat first, before sliding into the driver’s seat.

Joy wondered, if she’d still had her old number or her social media accounts active, if he would have tried to contact her after seeing her ghost everywhere. Would he try to threaten her? Or would he pretend he wasn’t slowly losing his mind? The only part of her Before the Incident that she’d left up was her graphic design website. It was her main source of income, and she’d be damned if she shut that down because of him.

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