Page 96 of Vervain

Wounds?

He closes the door behind us, settles me on the closed toilet lid, opens the mirror cabinet and grabs some bandages. I reach over and flick the light on, blinking until my eyes adjust.

“Am I wounded, nightwalker?”

Serun’s eyes narrow into slits. “Yes. I smell blood.”

Blood?

Brushing a thigh, my eye twitches at the throb of pain. The fabric must have rubbed me raw. I stand and slide down my tights, then touch the redness with a hiss. “What did you have in mind?”

His focus lingers on my thighs. “Biting you would be best. The venom can heal your wounds and stop the bleeding.” He lifts his intense gaze to my face. “If you permit me. I will be gentle.”

Heat flushes across my cheeks. “It’s not the bite I am worried about. The last time, I ended up drunk on venom—high on it. I’m not sure how I would act now that I am this frustratingly attracted to you.”

Serun takes a cautious step towards me, his voice low and soft. “I can give you pleasure if you want it. Or…I can keep you at arm’s length when I bite you.”

“Like you tried last time?”

A smirk settles on his face. “I wasn’t exactly expecting you to kiss me.”

Fluttering my lashes, I dig my fingernails into my flesh. “I want you, Serun. I’m just not entirely sure I want you in a rundown fuel station.”

He chuckles deeply and takes another step towards me, closing the gap between us. “Thigh bites only, darling.”

I nod, the only action I can muster, but it’s enough for him to kneel and lift my leg, placing it over his shoulder. My breath hitches, and my heart cracks against my ribcage when his mouth presses against my thigh with a tender kiss.

“Serun,” I pant.

“I’ve barely done anything,” he murmurs against my skin.

Before I can bite back with words, he sinks his fangs into my skin. I gasp—sharp and ragged—at the sudden euphoria I had desperately missed since meeting him.

I tip my head back against the tiles, and my hands run through his hair as he suckles on my thigh, tongue against flesh, drinking me in adoration. I don’t want him to stop. The ache. The thrill. The divine suffering, as my skin glows and pulsates with power.

Shadows shudder, and like the first time he drank from me, the moon and the night dance together, surrendering to our yearning.

This is real. It wasn’t a dream.

Serun grabs my other leg, positioning both over his shoulders and pinning me back against the wall. His tense hands brace the tiles, his veins thickening. “Fuck,” he says hoarsely before dragging his tongue over where he bit me. “Your blood is decadent.”

A whimper escapes me when our eyes lock. Blood trickles down the corner of his mouth, and there is a shimmer in his eyes as they lower between my legs. I squirm, knowing where his mind is, and I want it too.

“This is frustrating,” he says, his lips grazing the wet fabric of my panties.

We stay like this for a moment. I’m high on the bite, and Serun is high on my blood. We both battle demons. His head rests against me, his mouth so close to my aching slit, while his taut arms push against the tiles.

“Serun?”

He exhales a cool breath against my pussy, leans in, and nips the fabric, sending a shudder straight to my clit. But before he can do more, he closes his mouth over my other wounded thigh, sinking his fangs into my flesh.

I involuntarily thrust my hips forward, and my hand grips his hair tightly as I struggle to keep myself from coming undone.

Why is it more intense this time?

“Because you want me,” Serun murmurs against my flushed skin. His tongue travels up healing wounds. “And I want to claim you. Devour every part of you until I know your soul.”

My pierced nipples ache, shivers of excitement pulsing every time they rub the fabric of my shirt as I breathe. His mouth moves up my inner thigh, nipping at my flesh with little love bites until he is back to where he seems most frustrated.