Page 43 of Sold to the Dark Vampire Prince

“You are an absolute delight.” His eyes sparkled. “Do continue. Feel free to add in rhyming verse or ravens if the mood strikes you.”

She rolled her eyes. “I was saying that if we went slowly, perhaps we could judge if Sera’s theory was having an effect for ourselves.”

After a moment he extended his hand. When she placed her fingers into his, he lifted her wrist to his lips.

“May I feed from you the same way I did before?” he asked softly. “I promise not to touch you anywhere else until you give your consent.”

In answer, she drew him over to her bed by the window. It was covered by the rumpled quilt that had once been her mother’s, patterned with silver and blue stars. Dani pushed the sleeve of her cardigan up. Her wrist was pale in the faint light given off by the single butter-yellow candle and the bit of moonlight from the open window. Alex knelt before her, dark hair spilling into his eyes, black hoodie getting lost in the shadows of the room, looking very much in that moment like a vampire.

Something dark and secretly delicious shivered up her spine. A feeling of wanting, of desires she’d never had the opportunity to explore. Terrified as she was of what the consequences might be, she wanted Alex to feed from her again. Wanted it in a way that she could only now, in the space of this dark room, with the two of them together and nothing but the flickering candlelight to bear witness, admit to herself aloud.

She wanted to feel that rush of vulnerability in the second that his fangs penetrated her skin and her pulse began to race, the strange intimacy of it, to know he was taking from her, and she was freely giving him the nourishment he needed, something he could get only from her body.

“Dani?”

She flushed, feeling heat tingle across her skin. She hadn’t realized he’d asked her a question.

“Sorry. I’m a little keyed up.”

“It’s okay. I’m feeling it, too, if I’m being honest.” He exhaled, stroking the veins of her wrist. “You know I’ve fed from sanguines, ever since I was a child.”

“Of course.” Something raw opened up inside her, and she was forced to look away. She knew this was how it worked, that it shouldn’t have stung. Alex wasn’t saying this to hurt her. It was the vulnerability of their newly formed connection toying with her emotions, and yet something twisted within her at the thought of him sharing this intimacy with someone else.

The room grew quiet, the candle flickering against the wall. Alex’s thumb stilled where it had been tracing her vein.

“Daniela,” he whispered, leaning in. “I didn’t mean—”

He lifted a hand as if to trace her face, then hesitated at the last second, clearly remembering his promise not to touch her. Taking his fingers, she pressed them to her cheek.

“I feel it, too,” Alex said in a rough voice, fingertips toying with strands of her hair. “Whatever this is happening between us, it isn’t just you.”

She leaned into his palm, inhaling the spicy scent of his skin and the warm waxy vanilla of the candle.

“It doesn’t matter what either of us feels.” Her breathing quickened and she forced her voice not to waver. “Whatever this is must remain here in this room after tonight. You will be required to marry Lara. And I need you to swear to me that if Sera is wrong, if I am lost to blood addiction like my stepmother, that you will make sure my sisters are taken care of.”

His brow furrowed. “Daniela—”

“Please.” She silenced him with a shake of her head. “I know the risks. I accept them. This is all that I ask, that you would not let them starve.”

“I would not abandon them, or you.”

“Then I’m ready.” She scooted to the edge of the bed, the panels of her cardigan falling open. She wore a thin white tank and black leggings beneath it, and if she wound up fainting as soon as Alex began to drink, well, at least she would be comfortable.

“I love the scent of your skin.” Alexander kissed the base of her hand. At the brush of his lips, Dani felt her knees begin to shake. “You’re absolutely decadent.”

His mouth moved to the crease of her wrist, and she could no longer deny the achy need at the juncture of her thighs. Alex stared up at her, slowly stroking his thumb over her vein, his eyes glowing faintly silver in the dark.

“You make me feel as if I might go mad, Your Highness,” she whispered. “And you have only touched my wrist.”

“Ah, but it is I who may go mad.” His eyes held hers. “Finally being able to taste your skin again.”

Dani felt her breathing quicken, her aching nub pulsing in response to the brush of his lips. She shifted on the bed, needing something, anything to relieve the pressure. And… oh, gods. He’d just gotten her wet.

While he was kneeling right between her knees, no less.

Alex said nothing, but his eyes immediately flared silver. She felt her cheeks flush, grateful it was so dark. Could he smell how aroused he was making her?

“May I?” he asked huskily. “I confess, I need to take from you rather badly now.”