Fang And Claw (Nocturne Academy 2)

Taking a deep breath, which brought Ari’s warm, spicy scent with it, I closed my eyes and sank my fangs into his wrist.

37

Ari

I can’t describe the feelings that flooded me when her little fangs pierced my flesh. The electrical tingle I felt when she touched me of her own volition for the first time seemed to grow into a full-fledged lightning bolt that zapped through me, carrying a charge of pure pleasure.

“Dios!” I groaned and threw back my head as my Drake roared within me. He felt the pleasure too—felt the incredible rightness of giving our blood and nourishing Kaitlyn this way.

The sensation grew and grew and spread throughout my entire body—most notably my crotch, I’m ashamed to say. I told myself this was inappropriate and wrong, but my body disagreed. The pleasure of her fangs in me intensified until I honestly thought I was going to shame myself or else burst.

Within me my Drake roared that she was ours…ours and we would never let her go! And still the pleasure grew until I thought I would be unable to contain it.

Dios, so good…too good, I thought, dazedly. If she doesn’t stop soon, I won’t be able to stand it! I’m going to explode!

I looked at Kaitlyn and saw that she was also feeling some intense emotions. When she finally withdrew her fangs, her eyes were wide and her breathing was short and breathy. She licked her lips and whispered,

“Wow.” Her voice was shaky.

“Well,” I said at last, my own voice hoarse and raspy. “That appears to answer the question as to whether you can drink from me or not.”

“Looked like an unequivocal yes from over here,” Avery murmured, a smile playing around the corners of his mouth. “So I guess that’s settled, then.”

“I…I guess so.” Kaitlyn looked at me. “If…do you really want to, uh, keep letting me drink from you, Ari?”

It was the first time she had said my name, and it gave me a warm feeling deep inside.

“Nothing would bring me more pleasure, Kaitlyn,” I told her softly. And I meant it—every word.

“Thank you.” She dropped her eyes shyly. “Um, I’d like to go clean up now and maybe get some rest. I was dunked in the lake and then I got all kinds of blood all over me.” She looked down at her stained blouse and made a face.

“Of course.” Though I wanted nothing more after the intense experience than to take her in my lap and hold her close, I recognized that this wasn’t possible right now—and might not be for some time. She still didn’t know me, after all—not really. And I would need to get to know her better as well.

Inside, my Drake pointed out that she was our fated-mate—what else did we need to know?

“You wouldn’t understand,” I told him. “It’s a human thing—they don’t understand instant attraction and devotion—they need more than that to feel comfortable with their fated-mate.”

Though of course Kaitlyn didn’t know she was my fated-mate yet, or that I was hers. That revelation would come in time.

For now, I would let her go, knowing that I would see her again soon. Very soon, I hoped.

38

Ari

But I didn’t see Kaitlyn again the whole rest of that weekend.

Though I came by her dormitory several times on both Saturday and Sunday, I was told by her Coven-mates that she was indisposed.

“Look, Ari—I appreciate that you want to help and it means more to us than you could possibly know,” Megan said, when she and Avery invited me to sit in their common area for a chat that Sunday night. “But you have to understand that Kaitlyn is really torn up right now.”

Avery nodded. “Megan’s right. Kaitlyn lost her first family in a terrible fire and now she’s lost her second family—the Breedloves—through no fault of her own.”

“She loved their little girl,” Megan went on. “Allegra was almost like a daughter to her—it’s killing her knowing she’ll never get to see her again.” She glared angrily. “Thanks to that idiotic Alastair Breedlove. What a jerk, cutting Kaitlyn off from Allegra that way!”

Avery sighed and shook his head.

“I don’t think you understand what a stigma it is in the Nocturne community to have turned a human into a Made Vampire. He’s right—it could ruin his daughter’s life if anyone found out.”

“But it wasn’t Kaitlyn’s fault and yet she’s getting punished for it,” Megan snapped. “He could at least have let her say goodbye!”

“I understand that Kaitlyn is grieving,” I said as patiently as I could, cutting into their conversation. “But it isn’t her emotional health I am most concerned about now but her physical well being. She has only just become a Nocturne—can she really afford to fast for days at a time like this? She hasn’t fed from me since Friday—isn’t she hungry? Or thirsty?”