“What? Why?” Ty demanded, his dark brows drawing together in anger.
Ellina shook her head.
“Who knows? He got me to come to the pillar by the temple and he made a big show out of giving me a peck on the lips. Then he...” She bit her lip, remembering the shame of that awful moment. “Then he called out all the others, who had been hiding behind the other pillars. He said, ‘See? I told you I could do it. Told you I could kiss the freak!”
“Freak? Why would they call you that?” Ty asked, looking angrier than ever.
Ellina only shook her head. She didn’t want to explain the reasons to her handsome, perfect guard—didn’t want him to know the truth about her. Not yet. He would find out soon enough when she had to go to the Holy Mists and he accompanied her tomorrow.
“He ran away laughing,” she said in a low voice. “They all did. It’s…very hard for me to forget that, even now that I’m Potentate,” she added. “And hard for me to go among the nobles at banquets and court events, knowing what they really think of me.”
“They’re a pack of stuck-up, snobbish fools,” Ty said angrily. “You never should have been subjected to such cruelty!”
Ellina shrugged. “That’s just palace life. The nobles are all so rich they don’t really have to work so they spend their days on intrigue and gossip and hatching plots against each other.”
“And plots against you,” Ty reminded her grimly. “Which is why I need to give you my immunity, if I can.”
“I want that,” Ellina said earnestly. “Only…” She looked at him shyly. “Only I’m not sure quite…how to start.”
“Come here.” He motioned for her and when Ellina scooted closer, he put one long arm around her and swept her up against his big, warm body.
“Oh!” She gave a breathless little laugh, bracing both hands against his broad chest, and he loosened his hold a little.
“If at any time you want to stop or want me to stop, just tell me,” he said earnestly, looking into her eyes. “I would never want you to feel trapped or unhappy, Ellina.”
“I don’t think I could feel that way with you,” she said. “But I’ll tell you if I want to stop.”
Her body was doing that strange thing again, where she felt like the silky material of her nightdress was rubbing her in all the right places. It was stretched especially tight across her nipples which felt incredibly sensitive tonight.
She knelt beside the big Kindred and leaned against him so that their faces were level with each other. This close she could smell his warm, spicy scent—like leather and fire and masculine musk. It seemed to fill her senses and made her want to get even closer to him.
“Tell me,” she whispered. “Tell me what to do.”
“Take my mouth,” he murmured, his eyes half-lidded in the firelight. “Stroke my fangs with the tip of your tongue.”
Somewhat awkwardly, Ellina did as he suggested. She cupped his square jaw in her hand and felt the bristle of his short whiskers against her palm. Then she closed her eyes and pressed her lips to his, though she was uncertain about invading him just yet. For a moment, they simply shared breath, breathing into each other in a way that was both intimate and delicious.
She pulled back for a moment, looking him in the eyes uncertainly.
“Are you sure?” she whispered. “I mean, sure that it’s all right for me to do this?”
“It’s all right, my Lady.” His deep voice was slightly hoarse. “Take me. I want you to.”
Knowing that he wasn’t just permitting this to keep her safe but that he actually wanted to do it helped decide her and drove away the last of her uncertainty. Pressing her lips to his once more, Ellina slid the tip of her tongue into his mouth, searching for his fangs.
She found them almost at once, long and hard and sharp—dangerous but undeniably desirable. She stroked gently up and down their length with the tip of her tongue and tasted something hot and sweet and spicy in return for her efforts.
His essence—that must be his essence.
Ellina hadn’t expected it to taste so good—hadn’t expected it to have any taste at all, truth be told. But she found she liked it very much—almost as much as the act of getting it from him in the first place.
She moved to get closer to the big Kindred, throwing a leg over his lap and straddling him, though she hardly knew what she was doing. She just wanted to get closer…to deepen the kiss.
As she stroked his fangs some more, she was dimly aware of his big, warm hands coming up to cup her waist and then move lower to squeeze her hips. A low groan rose in his throat and then she felt something hot and hard pressing between her legs…rubbing against her almost as though it wanted to be inside her…
“Oh!” She drew back suddenly and looked down, ashamed to see that somehow she had gotten into his lap and was pressing against him. But what was even more worrisome was the way he was pressing against her.
Pulling back some, she saw a long, hard ridge in the crotch of his tight leather trousers and knew at once what it must be.
“That…is that your…your shaft?” she asked in a trembling voice as she looked at him.
“It is.” He cleared his throat. “Forgive me, little one. I can’t help how my body reacts to yours.”
“But you told me you didn’t want to breed me!” Fear rose in her throat as she pushed away from him. “You promised! I can’t do that—not yet.
