“Yes, you did.” Chain’s slow smile grew. “You were afraid I was going to lift the cloak and expose your sweet little pussy so I could give you a tongue bath.” His eyes were hungry as he spoke. “I will if you want me to, your know. In fact, it would be my very great pleasure to taste your honey until you come for me—come all over my face.”
“What? I…I never said…never asked you to…” God, she couldn’t even finish her thought. Why was she stammering like a schoolgirl around him? Maybe because this was something she’d always wanted and had never been able to get.
Not that I’m about to get it now, she told herself firmly. Despite her earlier hope of “getting some” for Valentine’s night, she now felt shy and uncertain. What if he didn’t like the way she looked or tasted or smelled? No, it was better to leave this particular act on the shelf of unrequited desire—at least for now, she decided.
“You never asked me to taste you in words,” Chain said, still giving her that hot, half-lidded smile again. “But the ripe scent of your pussy is calling out to me, Victoria. Your body is hungry for pleasure—I can tell. In fact, I could tell it from the first moment I met you at the Last Call bar.”
“Well, you’re very kind to offer but not right now,” Vicky said quickly, trying to catch her breath. “For right now, please just stick to healing me.”
Chain shrugged, his broad shoulders rolling.
“As you wish. But remember my vow to you. As well as protecting you, I will be pleased to pleasure you thoroughly and deeply any time you want me to—and in any way you wish.”
“Um…thank you.” Vicky felt her heart speed up again. God, how could he offer to taste her so casually—like it was no big deal? But no—not quite no big deal, she thought, looking down at him. He actually wanted to do this. Again the rumors she’d heard about Kindred males flashed through her mind. Some women whispered that they actually needed to taste their mates—that it was a regular occurrence and one of the ways they bound their females to them.
She pushed the tempting but embarrassing thought away. Maybe later she would regain her nerve and take the big Kindred up on his offer. But for now, it was better to let him heal her so they could get out of here before she lost her nerve.
“I suppose I’d better see to your other injury?” Chain raised his eyebrows at her, as though waiting for her permission.
Vicky wondered why and then remembered that the other place she’d been cut had been on her breast—right beside her nipple, in fact.
“Oh…um. Yes…yes, I guess so,” she muttered, fumbling with the cloak. She wasn’t sure exactly how much to show. He’d already seen her entire naked body, but she wasn’t anxious to be that exposed again. Should she try to just show the area of the cut or should she bare her whole breast? How would he react if she did? Should she…?
“Stop.” Chain put a hand on hers, which were trembling and looked into her eyes. “Victoria,” he said quietly. “You only have to expose as much of your flesh as you feel comfortable with. But I want you to know, I won’t do anything you don’t want me to. I can control myself, no matter how luscious I find your curvy body.”
His words and the quiet tone they were spoken in seemed to calm Vicky’s racing heart. He was letting her know she could trust him—that he would only go as far as she wanted him to. That was very comforting.
“All right,” she said and opened the cloak to bare her entire right breast and the wound, which was right beside the nipple.
Chain didn’t comment on her bare breast—he didn’t have to because his face said it all. His midnight-blue eyes went half-lidded again and a soft growl of desire rose from deep in his throat. But all he said was,
“Shall I heal you now, beautiful Victoria?”
“S-sure.” Vicky cleared her throat and tried again. “Yes, please.”
This cut wasn’t as deep as the one in her thigh had been, but it was in a very tender area—just on the wide pink band of her areola. Chain rose from his place on the floor and joined her on the bed, leaning over her in a way that put his big body extremely close to hers.
But though he was looming over her, he was extremely careful and delicate when he healed her. Putting out just the tip of his tongue, he laved the shallow cut, being sure not to touch anything else, even though her nipple was barely a centimeter from his tongue.
Vicky’s heart pounded and she remembered all over again how very naked she was under the long red cloak she wore. He was so close she could smell that spicy fragrance of his again—it seemed to fill her senses and made her almost dizzy with lust. Maybe that was what made her say what she heard herself say next.
“It’s all right if you need to…to suck the whole nipple into your mouth to heal me,” she told Chain. “I mean…I might heal better that way—do you think?”
He gave her that sensual little half-grin she was beginning to know and like.
“I absolutely do. Then I have permission to suck your nipples?”
“Um…both of them?” Vicky asked, wondering if she’d heard him wrong. “I mean why would you need to—”
