Page 72 of The Lost Child

Kaida reached out a hand and laid it gently on top of mine, her eyes holding no judgment. “It’s OK. You didn’t know how to fix it. But to make it better, you need to tell me everything.”

I took a deep breath, closing my eyes. I opened them, feeling calmer.

I told her everything.

I told her how Nerissa had come to me and rubbed herself against me as I was chained to the ground, and how she tortured me in a new, exciting way that left me begging. How I hadn’t remembered being around any females until her, and how I immediately obsessed over her.

“Oh darling,” Kaida murmured, again with her sweet smile. “It wasn’t torture. It was pleasure. Do you understand the difference now?”

Her tone was no-nonsense. It wasn’t pitying or amused. It simply … was. That gave me the confidence to continue, and try to answer her question.

“Torture is for a purpose. Pleasure is a … kindness.” I offered, fairly confident I had the hang of it.

Nasi looked disturbed while Kaida clapped a hand over her mouth. She elbowed her mate, who smirked at her. “I suppose he’s right,” Nasi began. “It’s a kind of torture when I sink—”

“That’s enough of that,” Kaida cut in, chastising her mate with a look. She rubbed her brow with a finger, then turned her attention back to me.

“So you mated physically. You clearly bit her. Did she bite you? She needs to drink your blood to complete the exchange.”

I thought hard about our brief yet ecstatic time together, but it was difficult to do so without … well, getting hard. I shifted uncomfortably, and Nasi noticed.

“I think we can safely say she did not, otherwise we wouldn’t be in this situation,” he pointed out.

I nodded, miserable.

“Right. Should he bite her again just to make sure?” Kaida asked, staring at the healing wounds on Nerissa’s neck.

Nasi shook his head. “I don’t think so. He only needs to feed her some of his blood. That should work, and she will wake up. If not, we will know when she doesn’t.”

Nasi held his hand out over Nerissa’s body and looked to me. I put my hand in his, and he directed my wrist to hover just over Nerissa’s lips. “Slit your wrist lightly with your claws. If you cut too deep, I will have to feed and heal both of you. Don’t cut too deep.”

Nasi seemed like a draken fond of his own blood and clearly didn’t want to share it with anyone else. I didn’t blame him.

I cut across my wrist, and dark blue blood that was almost black dripped down into Nerissa’s mouth. Nerissa inhaled, then choked. Her brown eyes flew open, wide with panic. She coughed again, trying to jerk away. Nasi pinned her hands down to the floor while Kaida gently held her head.

“Now,” Nasi ordered.

“You must drink to heal,” I told her, hoping she would understand. “To finish mating. I found other drakens to help.”

Her eyes shot wildly to Nasi and Kaida, but she quit fighting us. Her body relaxed back onto her furs, and she swallowed. Her expression shifted as she laid there for a few moments, then launched herself at me, weak as she was. Nasi let her go as she grabbed my wrist and shoved it to her lips, sucking hard on the wound. I let her drink, intrigued by the entire thing.

It shouldn’t have been so erotic to watch her drink my blood, but soon I was painfully hard. She paused in her drinking and met my eyes, a blazing fire roaring within them.

Kaida stood, alarmed. “Nasi, I think we should—”

Nerissa grabbed my hair and tugged me down to her, smearing both of us with blood. I tripped and nearly fell on her, and Nasi hissed as his arm was caught between the two of us, sandwiched between our bodies. Nerissa was too gone to care. She kissed me frantically, her hips arching up to rub against mine. I kissed her back, both of us trying to maul the other into submission. I barely remembered the other two drakens at my side.

“Don’t even think of—” Nasi started, only to be cut off (as usual) by his mate. Our weight shifted and he yanked his arm free, backing away hurriedly.

“Don’t be a prude,” Kaida purred at him, her own scent changing in the air.

Nasi growled but it wasn’t at me, but I couldn’t give a flying fuck about either of them at the moment. My mate was beneath me, demanding my attention. My instincts pushed me toward her neck, and I licked her two puncture wounds again before I even realized what I was doing. The injury vanished before my eyes.

I glanced over to Nasi, who already had his mate bent over Alkdama’s spice table, her ass high in the air. I blinked, unsure if I was supposed to see my sister in such a position. Did I need to help her or … was that … was that pleasurable?

Kaida’s white hair fanned around her like fresh snow, and the look on face said that yes, … it was pleasurable. Pleasure versus pain. Kindness versus torture. Nasi was a proper draken mate. He wouldn’t do anything to hurt Kaida. It must be alright. It must be fine.

I was going to try it on Nerissa.

---