Page 40 of Blood Ties

“The bite caused the first rush. After that, the bond passed both our reactions. I felt where the pleasure moved through you, and you felt what drinking from you did to me.”

“Did it make me want you?”

“No. It made touch more intense and lowered the pain. It didn’t create attraction. What happened between us was already there.”

I looked at his mouth. Blood no longer marked it, but I remembered the red shine on his lower lip.

“You wanted to kiss me,” he said.

“And you waited.”

His expression became serious. “You were dizzy, I was hungry, and the court was taking part of everything you gave me. I wanted the kiss. Waiting was still right.”

“You’re still thinking about pulling me into your lap.”

“Yes. I’m also thinking about the locked gate, Adrian and how much blood you lost earlier.”

There was no joke in the heat that followed. His gaze dropped to my mouth, then returned to my eyes.

I could have kissed him.

The urge was strong enough to move me closer. His hand at my waist tightened, but he didn’t close the remaining distance.

I stopped with my lips a breath from his.

Stellan waited.

The feeding had given us enough for one night. I wasn’t ready to find out what a kiss would turn into while he was chained and I was still learning which desires belonged entirely to me.

I eased back.

His hand opened at once.

The lack of pressure made leaving his arms harder, not easier.

I climbed down from the dais. My knees felt loose when I stood, but the room stayed level.

“Water,” Stellan said. “Then food.”

I collected the cup I’d left near the service doorway and drank half of it. When I turned back, he was watching me with an expression that managed to be hungry and satisfied at the same time.

“Better?” he asked.

“Yes.” I checked the marks on my wrist. “The bite is almost gone.”

“It’ll be healed by morning.”

“And you?”

He flexed his free hand. Colour had returned to his mouth, and the shadows under his eyes had eased. “Lucid, stronger and still chained. What you gave me will last for hours, even if Harrowmere takes another share.”

“Could you feed from someone else if the gate opened?”

“Yes. Ordinary blood would keep me alive, and I’d choose it over asking you whenever possible. It won’t loosen the chains because the court recognises only yours. Feeding from you feels stronger while the Claiming holds, but it isn’t the only way I stay sane.”

“So you need my blood for the chains, not for every meal.”

“Exactly. Adrian benefits if you believe otherwise.”