Thrall of the Vampire King (Blood Fire Saga Book 4) by Bella Klaus (elon musk reading list .txt) 📕

His warm, wet tongue lapped at my blood, sending shivers of pleasure down my arm and into my heart chakra.

My nipples tightened, and my breaths turned shallow. He continued licking my hand, delving his tongue between my digits and into the deep creases of my palm. My eyes fluttered shut.

It felt like—I squeezed my thighs together. Valentine licked my blood with the same enthusiasm he used when he pleasured me between my legs.

My pulse quickened, and my heart beat hard enough that I felt its reverberations in my clit.

“Valentine,” I said, my voice breathy.

“You betrayed me.”

I shook my head from side to side.

He gripped my face between his fingers. “Do not lie to your master.”

My shoulders tightened, and I froze in place. How on earth could I answer the question without inciting his wrath? Of course, I betrayed Kresnik, but he was never my anything except for the monster who stole my power and kept the man I loved under his control.

“I don’t want to lie, but I also don’t want anyone to get into trouble,” I whispered.

Valentine’s cold and harsh laugh made me flinch, and a whimper reverberated in the back of my throat. His red eyes bore into mine, searching my memories for recent events. I blanked my mind, focussing on the time I knelt between his legs beneath the glass table, but his magic skirted around those memories and reached the truth.

Perhaps all those explicit images were something Valentine installed to keep Kresnik out of my mind. Because I was completely powerless against Valentine’s plundering.

I slumped back against the door, unable to fight back as Valentine browsed through my mind. It wasn’t the painful or intrusive pressure of Kresnik but the same gentleness he used the day in the hospital when he searched my memories. My breaths slowed and my muscles went limp with defeat. Perhaps the power he’d left there before he died had opened a doorway for him to return.

“Valentine,” I whispered. “I didn’t mean to—”

“Silence.” He brought his knee between my thighs, bringing our bodies even closer.

Warmth radiated from Valentine’s denim-clad chest, indicating that he’d already fed, but as a preternatural, his appetites were limitless. He continued licking and sucking at the cut on my hand as though I was his snack, while watching the rest of today like I was his evening’s entertainment.

As he got to the part where Macavity retrieved the last jar, he made another harsh laugh. It was another indication that I had betrayed Kresnik by trying to revive Hades. Hades, who had enslaved Valentine. Valentine would be horrified by the extent of my betrayal.

Regret wound through my insides, forming knots of worry that I couldn’t unravel. That’s what Valentine had tried to do this entire time… Protect me. By leaving me so deeply under the influence of thrall that I couldn’t function, I was unable to go on dangerous missions or use any of my magic.

I only realized this now. Now that I’d had days to replenish my power yet still could only generate the barest of sparks. Thrall dampened a blood cow’s magic, so she couldn’t escape her master.

It was only a pity that the maniac had overused the phoenix power he had stolen from me, otherwise he would never have known that it wasn’t something so easily transferred from one being to another.

Valentine drew even closer, his woodsmoke and musk scent curling around my senses. He rubbed the tip of his nose along the column of my neck, sending shivers up and down my spine.

“You disobeyed me.” His deep voice reverberated through my ears, making my pulse pound even harder.

“I—” My mouth clamped shut. Whatever I would say next would be a lie. “Please, don’t bite me.”

“Our Lord wishes to speak with you about your friend.”

“He wants to crack me open and take my phoenix,” I murmured. “Valentine, please—”

Still pinning my wrist to the wall, he grabbed the back of my head and held me in place. His mouth crashed onto mine in a kiss forceful enough to steal my breath. His tongue parted my lips and delved into my mouth, devouring me with the same enthusiasm he used to lap my blood.

Valentine tasted of spiced wine, of mint and decadence, but mostly of danger. I still didn’t know what he intended to do with me after he had taken whatever he wanted.

I kissed back, desperate for a connection. If this was our last time, I wanted this memory of Valentine to sear into my soul.

“Open your cloak,” he said in a voice of steel.

The fingers of my free hand jumped to the clasp. “No.”

“Do it.” He leaned into me, his thick hardness pressing against my belly.

The muscles of my core tightened, needing Valentine to fill the void. Without thinking about it, I unclasped the cloak, letting it fall open.

His dark eyes landed on my jacket. “Take it off.”

“Let go of me first,” I whispered.

Valentine’s fingers tightened around my wrist. With a happy rumble, he swiped the tip of his tongue up my palm, settling it between the join of my index and middle finger. I felt the sensations up the entire length of my slit.

“Now take off your jacket,” he said, much slower this time.

A full-body tremor seized my body and settled between my legs. I was powerless to do anything but obey this dark and dangerous creature who had me at his mercy.

Valentine didn’t release my bleeding hand, nor did he stop pressing himself between my legs or back away to give me space. Squeezing my hand between our bodies, I unfastened each button of my denim jacket with fingers that wouldn’t stop trembling. Somehow I managed to get the garment open.

“And the jeans,” he said.

“Please, let me go.”

I fumbled with the jeans’ button fly. As I struggled to open it, he released the hand cupped around my head and pushed my hand away from my pants.

“Who do you belong to?” His fingers lingered over the waistband of my knickers.

I squirmed under his touch, trying