“Second,” the vampire continued, “I don’t go down on just anyone. That would be unbecoming of a prince.”
I stared at him. He’d licked me like I was the last meal on earth. With relish. Had that been a mistake? Should I feel awkward now?
“You, Max, are the exception. One day you’ll be my equal in every way.”
That was one of the nicest things anyone could say to me.
Nikolai saw me. Not the disguise, not the miner, not the warlock the cadets whispered about with hatred. He saw me as someone worthy of standing beside him. My throat tightened as a riot of emotions churned through me—warmth, disbelief, honor, and a terrifying hope—but I wrestled all of it behind a neutral expression.
I wasn’t the hard rock I’d pretended to be in the mine. The cracks were showing, yet my suspicious nature wouldn’t be silenced. Honeyed words were cheap currency, and men were known for spending them freely.
“I’m no saint,” Nikolai said, his tone matter-of-fact. “My donors have always been more than eager, and I obliged.”
I could see why, but I hadn’t expected to feel territorial.
I didn’t want to be one of his many. I wanted him to fucking stop drinking from others, to stop giving himself to those women. The thought surprised me with its ferocity, and I swallowed.
But being exclusive would mean I’d have to provide him with blood at all times; he was a vampire, a predator who needed blood to survive. And I’d put myself in danger if he became addicted. He could drain me dry. I had to protect myself. I had Missy to think about.
Before I knew it, I sat bolt upright and glared at Nikolai.
“As long as you let me have access to you,” he chuckled, “I don’t see any reason to take someone else’s blood. I won’t take too much from you each time, Max. I promise. Most of the time, I’ll drink from the stored stocks.”
“I could work with that,” I said.
I felt a pang of guilt about him changing his diet because of me. But I wasn’t going to promise more than I could deliver.
And he grinned at me like he thought he was winning big.
I lefthis penthouse and stepped into the night.
Pleasure still buzzed through my veins, and guilt gnawed at me as my thoughts drifted to Aelindor. The Fae prince hadn’t promised me anything. A high prince and a low miner shouldn’t mix. He wasn’t like Nikolai, who craved my blood. There was no bargain between us, no transaction, no excuse.
So why did I feel like I’d betrayed him?
And the worst part—I knew I wouldn’t be able to resist the vampire next time. Not unless I stopped going to his tower. Not unless I found somewhere else to shower. My next thought was already calculating how to keep this from the other heirs.
What a shitty person I was.
One more secret on top of a pile of lies.
I slid into the shadows between buildings, navigating the patrol routes I’d memorized, until I got into my barracks.
When I closed my eyes on my cot, the images of my little sister going hungry and cold while I’d had multiple orgasms in a vampire’s penthouse kept playing behind my eyelids.
You need to have fun sometimes, like any normal girl,thedemon yawned.A hunger strike and celibacy won’t help the little viper or your friends. If you insist on wallowing, be my guest. But remember this: no one deserves our secrets until they prove their worth.
Who was there to argue with?The demon wasn’t just morally gray; it was morally pitch-black.
Then it hit me—the creature had been absent while Nikolai gave me oral pleasure. It’d given me privacy when I desperately needed it.
For the first time, I was grudgingly grateful.
But I still wouldn’t trust it.
The day I trusted it, I’d lose myself for the demon to drag me to Hell.
23
