He tried to assess the need that bled from his darkness to him for her blood. It was unusual. The desire was not there to feed on negative emotions. The triumph he had felt when she had licked and sucked his blood was savage and overwhelming. He kissed her shoulders and a wry smile twisted his lips. Never had he thought it would be possible for him to be so enthralled by another.
He could not relinquish her…nor could he claim her.
He snapped his teeth as the dual need warred inside. Drac gently brushed his mouth against hers as thoughts of letting her go against keeping her swirled through his mind.
***
Saieke sighed. Her limbs refused to move as she lay sprawled on top of Drac in wanton exhaustion. She did not know how long had passed but she could only guess that it was morning.
There was an unfamiliar, sweet coppery taste on her tongue. Blood. The blissful afterglow vanished. Kings’ teeth. She had irrevocably loss all sense of herself. Then she remembered what had led her to…this. She was no longer a viable candidate to marry into a royal line. Triumph filled her, then unease. A growl echoed in her mind, pushing away all sense of contentment. “What was that?”
“Why are you not at ease?”
Saieke pushed herself up on her elbows. “I heard a snarl inside my head, Drac.”
You are ours to protect.
She recoiled from him, tumbling from the bed with the covers twisting at her ankles. “I did not imagine that,” she yelped. “You spoke in my mind.”
Yes
“That’s it? Yes?” She cried as insidious pressure probed at her mind. Her breath caught in her throat. Her heart pounded and fear clouded her mind.
“Why do you fear?”
“I can see you,” she breathed in sheer fright. Her eyes remained glued to him, she saw as he shifted from the bed.
See me how?
Saieke whimpered. “You spoke in my mind again.”
Her vision clouded as if she was looking through a mirror, and she was afraid to look anywhere but at him.
Ours
A declaration of ownership and possession, which had her heart jack hammering and pervasive fear, cramped her stomach. “Drac, please, I…I—”
“You can see and hear me?”
Saieke nodded slowly as she lifted her hands and caressed the black mark on his cheek. She could see him in the dark. “What is happening, Drac?”
“I am unsure.”
Ours
She let out a strangled laugh at the contradictions. “I must have lost more blood that I thought,” she said, slightly hysterical. She held the coverlet to her body in a death grip, and tried to move away from the hand that held her so tightly.
“Be still!” his voice lashed as he observed her with an inscrutable expression.
Saieke stilled and glared at him. Darkness swept across her mind.
Let me in
She swallowed audibly. He displayed no expression, but she could feel the tension and the confusion that held him rigid.
How do I let you in? She tentatively whispered.
Saieke quailed as dark triumph invaded her mind. Rage and power flooded her mind in torrents as she felt the chakra of his beast on a deeper connection. “Drac what is happening?” she groaned, sweat beading her skin at the power and malevolence.