Chapter 43 - Drink Me*

"Now, hurry up and drink," Luna said, unafraid, as she tilted her head and gathered her hair to the side.

It was hard to be scared of anything when she had faced an Archdemon before, and she didn't die from the encounter.

She was used to courting death so much that she couldn't be bothered to jest with the Vampire King or some immortal creature from Hell.

Luna glanced up into the Blood Beast's face with determination, jutting her chin in a challenge. Later, she noted that the Blood Beast had the same features as the Vampire King, but his hair appeared darker than before, pale-skinned and too beautiful for his own good.

The Blood Beast shook his head in refusal of her offer. "I want a bed."

She frowned.

Luna didn't think she heard that correctly.

Was the Blood Beast serious? 

Did he want a bed than doing their business in one of the castle's dark hallways?

"I thought you were hungry." Luna noticed how his gaze fell to her mouth, and his pupils dilated, taking over his golden eyes until only the outer ring remained. 

He appeared intoxicated by the way his gaze locked on the vein fluttering around the column of her neck.

"I am." He said simply as he pushed her to the wall by taking hold of her hips and inserting his thigh between her legs.

She was trapped in his arms for the second time, his muscled thigh rubbing her clit through her dress in delicious friction, and she curbed her moans from escaping her throat.

Luna pressed her lips together. To moan would have invited more pleasure, but at the same time, she considered it a punishment to be a High Priestess.

She swallowed hard as she struggled to find reasonable excuses, biting back a moan as she gripped his broad shoulders. " You can't drink blood in the bed. It will get messy."

The Blood Beast's provocative motion as he ground his cock against her soft mound made her rake her sharp fingernails in his thick biceps.

He growled low, and that husky voice was arrogant. "You like what I'm doing?" 

Twin pink circles painted his cheekbones, and his pulse kicked up another notch as both adrenaline rushed through his veins. His sweet, addictive scent wafting from him infiltrated her nostrils, and she breathed that in. It increased the moisture of her mouth, and the thought of drinking from his blood was a heady combination. When her palm rested on his chest, she could tell that the Blood Beast's heartbeat was strong, his energy levels high. 

"Please." Luna whimpered when it hit that particular spot. She was practically mindless with lust. Again. She can't think straight. Her last coherent thoughts flew out the window.

The Blood Beast lifted a hand to her throat, his fingers moving back and forth at her nape.

The Blood Beast brought his lips closer to her ear as he murmured. "I want to touch you. Not this kind of touching. This isn't enough for me. I want our bodies together, skin-to skin."

As the Blood Beast's sharp, spicy musk mixed with the scent of pine and sky lingered through her sensitive nose, Luna became hungry and weak, and she needed to feed.

Soon. The bile had threatened to spill over as she thought about what she had to do.

Luna's mouth had watered, her teeth sharpening.

She took a deep breath and exhaled. The way the Blood Beast smelled tantalized her, and she hated him for that... for sending her into a downward spiral, not being in control of her own body. With shaking hands, she fought her thirst and compulsion.

Sucking in a breath, she prepared her vampire voice voodoo so that she could compel him to listen to her reason.

She needed to gain the upper hand, and she can't do that if her brain was muddled with blood and lust. "As your mate, Blood Beast, I want you to stop whatever you are doing because it's annoying me. I do not need your… lustful attention. I'm good."

The Blood Beast growled in reproach and regarded her for a long moment. He didn't like what she said, but he did stop turning her on.

Luna closed her eyes so that she could effectively avoid temptation, even for a little while. As she opened her eyes after finally regaining her composure, she gave him a quick and cool assessing glance as she tugged him forward.

"Do you want me to chain you again to the bed as you did me? You had steel shackles remaining in your wrist." Her smaller height placed her gaze right at the steady pulse in his neck, and her mouth once again watered. "Do you want me to tie your feet this time?"

She needed to prove to him that she wasn't affected by his seduction at all.

The Blood Beast leaned down as if he intended to share a secret with her. "I'll just have to tie your hands and feet down before you do me, Amare."

Amare?

Luna's mate, the Blood Beast, just called her love.

Was this the end of the world?

Concentrate. Luna raised her chin and forced herself to look him in the eye. "No, just drink from me until you're full, and let's call it a day."

She attempted to move away from him, but he blocked her so quickly.

He cupped her cheeks as those golden orbs stared deep into her eyes, his thumbs caressing that sensitive patch of skin behind her ears. "If you want to do it while standing then I can accommodate you."

Anxiety pounded through her, and the burning in her chest increased. Doing it by standing? "What do you mean?"

The next thing she knew, the Vampire King had bitten her, gulping back every drop of crimson nectar.

There was a sting, then only warm pleasure.

Luna could hear him swallowing, purring as her flavor met his tongue.

His grip tightened, and he didn't release his hold on her.

Spots of color began to cloud Luna's vision.