Born of Blood and Ash

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

Thoughts of seeing his paintings vanished as those four words elicited a sudden throbbing in my upper jaw. Until that moment, I hadn’t felt like I needed to feed.

My gaze dropped to his throat, and the ache moved to my chest and then my stomach, reminding me of hunger pains. Muscles tensed, and I could’ve sworn I saw his pulse beating beneath his flesh. My throat dried with the sudden need to feed. I started to lean forward, but my thoughts decided to go in an unwanted direction.

An image of Veses flashed in my mind—her at Ash’s throat, taking from him as she straddled him. Used him.

I drew back, my heart thumping unsteadily. I didn’t want to do that to him. “I feel fine,” I said.

“I know you do.” He cupped my cheek. “But we don’t know how much essence you used against the kynakos. And even if you hadn’t been in that fight, you would still need to feed every couple of days for a bit as your body continues to adapt to the Ascension,” he reminded me as he smoothed his thumb across my cheekbone. “If you don’t, you’ll feel as exhausted as you did while in your Culling.” His eyes met mine as he fixed my shirt. “I don’t want to risk that.”

“You’re right. I remember. It’s the whole baby-Primal thing.”

His eyes searched mine. “Then why do you hesitate?”

“I…I guess I’m not used to it. I don’t find it repulsive or anything,” I quickly added. “It’s just…”

“Different.” He moved on to the vest, his fingers as nimble and quick as they had been when he unhooked the clasps. “That’s understandable. It’s not yet natural to you.”

“But it will be,” I murmured, ru

Ash watched me, his eyes halfway closed. “I enjoyed it when you fed from me before. Thoroughly.”

I stopped messing with my fangs.

“And when you were at my vein, it was only you I thought of.”

I went completely still.

“I knew it was your fangs piercing my skin. Your mouth that moved against my throat,” he continued. “I knew it was you I willingly gave my blood to. Not her.”

A tremor ran through me. Gods, how had he known? I didn’t think sensing what I felt could’ve filled in the gaps like that. A mix of emotions swirled through me. I was relieved that he hadn’t thought about her when I fed from him and was clearly far better at dealing with certain things than I was. But that relief carried the bitter edge of guilt.

Eather pulsed brightly in his eyes. “Sera.”

I squeezed my eyes shut. “I didn’t want to, you know, make you feel like I’m using you.”

“I would never think that, Sera.”

“I hate that I even caused you to think of her,” I whispered. “That’s not what I wanted.”

“I know.” His lips brushed my forehead. “But I’m glad you did.”

My eyes flew open. “You sure about that?”

“Yes.” He drew back. “Because now I can make sure you know that when you feed from me, I’m not thinking of her.” His fingers slid into the hair above my loosened braid. “When I’m with you, she doesn’t even exist. That’s what you do for me. And that is an exquisite gift. Let me do this for you.”

I knew he spoke the truth, so when he guided my mouth to his exposed throat, I didn’t resist.

I’d just come out of stasis the last time I fed from him. I’d been acting on pure instinct fueled by hunger. But nature did take over as soon as my lips brushed the steady beat of his pulse. My body knew what it was doing even though my mind wasn’t exactly sure.

My head tipped, and my lips peeled back. My eyes fell closed once more, and instinct took over. I struck. His body jerked as I pierced his vein, and then mine did the same as the first drop of his blood rolled over my tongue.

Gods, the taste of him… The flavor of his blood filled my mouth and coursed down my throat. I swallowed, and it was like every cell in my body woke up and stretched in response. I took more of him into me.

“Liessa,” he said roughly. “Release your fangs.”

I obeyed, pulling them from his skin.

“That’s my Queen.” Ash’s hand fisted my hair. “Keep drinking.”

I did.

My mouth sealed hungrily over the wound I’d created. Maybe I really had needed to feed. I drank deeply, my fingers pressing into the taut flesh of his waist. Gods, there was nothing like his smoky flavor and how the awe-inspiring power of his blood felt like a jolt to every sense, strengthening me. Empowering me.

But his blood was doing even more than that.

Each draw on his vein created a languid, thick heat. I pressed against him, skin tingling all over as I moaned. My fingers dug into his shirt. My blood hummed as it pounded through me. Heightened desire pooled between my thighs, and my body reacted. I strained to get closer to him, needing him.

“I know,” Ash groaned, the arm around my waist tightening as he lifted me. “Don’t stop feeding.”

I drank, vaguely aware of him moving us to the settee. As he sat, I pushed on his shoulders, forcing him onto his back. A thick, husky chuckle stirred the hair at my temple and then ended in a moan as his rigid length parted my flesh.

I had no idea how we’d gotten turned around on the settee or when he’d ended up flat on his back. All I could concentrate on was the feel of his cock filling me as the power of his blood did the same. The combination drove me wild. I ground against him, keeping him deeply seated in me.

“That’s it.” His voice was a sensual snarl as one hand cradled the back of my head and the other fell to my hip. His fingers pressed into the flesh there. “Ride me.”

His demand fa

Bloodlust.

Though it wasn’t easy, I forced myself to lift my head. When I did, Ash wrenched my mouth to his. Our lips and fangs crashed together as I came, and he followed with a thrust of his hips.

“Do you need more?” he asked after a few moments, his voice richer.

“No.” A fine sheen of sweat dampened my brow as I drew back and opened my eyes. Two small, angry red marks marred his flesh. Instinct took over once more. I nicked my tongue with a fang and then licked the wounds. Ash shuddered as I sealed the punctures.

My grip on his shoulders relaxed as I wiggled down, resting my cheek on his chest. “Thank you.”

“I feel like I need to be the one thanking you,” he replied.

A tired smile pulled at my lips as a faint quiver danced from muscle to muscle.

“I want you to make me a promise,” he said after a moment. “That you won’t run off and start searching every inch of the palace for my paintings the first moment you get.”

“I wasn’t pla

“Liessa,” he murmured, his voice heavy with knowing amusement.

“Whatever,” I muttered. “I won’t go searching for them.”

“Thank you.” He tucked a strand of hair behind my ear. “I want to be with you when you see them.”

The quiet way he said that and the fact that he wanted to be there when I saw them eased my impatience a whole lot. I smiled up at him. “I love you,” I told him. “Even though I’m thoroughly jealous of this hidden talent of yours.”

He laughed softly. “I’m sure I can help you improve.”

“I wouldn’t be so certain of that.”

“Trust me,” he murmured, smoothing his fingers over my hair. “I will have you drawing straight lines in no time.”

Smiling, I turned my head and dropped a kiss onto his chest—his cold chest.

Concern sliced through the pleasant fog in my brain. I sat up. His eyes were open, and the glow of eather was bright behind his pupils. He looked the same. The hollows of his cheeks weren’t stark. His features weren’t drawn, but…

“Do you need to feed?” The moment the question left my lips, a messy mix of emotions swept through me once again. There was blade-sharp anticipation, partly due to the sensuality of the act itself but also because I wanted to give him what he’d given me. Power. Life. But there was something else beneath the longing. Something oppressive and choking.

Fear.

And it was so godsdamn ridiculous. I had no reason to feel it. Ash had taken my blood at my lake. He hadn’t hurt me. He never had. And I hadn’t thought about my time in Dalos then or what had been done to me. There was no reason to assume I would now.

Ash smoothed his hand up my back. “No, liessa.”

I swallowed, barely tasting him anymore. “I took a lot of blood from you when I awakened. And this wasn’t a little bit either.”

“My body will quickly make up for it,” he told me.

I stared at him, uncertain. I knew that as long as he wasn’t injured, consumed food, and rested, he would replenish what was lost. But I also knew that his body was still playing catch-up—and I knew that because I’d seen it before when Veses fed on him. I just hadn’t known the cause then.

“Are you sure?” I asked.

“Yes, liessa.”

I didn’t move as a different kind of need filled me and urged me to prove that I was being silly. That I wasn’t afraid. That my time in Dalos wouldn’t have any lasting effects on me.

That I was right.

Nothing had really happened to me.

My mouth felt dry. “Ash?”

“Mmm?” His eyes were closed.

My heart thundered as I touched his chin. “I want to do for you what you did for me.”

“I know, liessa.” He tilted his head and kissed the tip of the finger that had been on his chin. “But if I drink from you, I’m going to fuck you again.”

Desire fisted deep inside me. “Sounds like a good plan to me.”

A deep rumble radiated from him as he hooked his arm around me and pulled me back down to his chest. “If that happens, we’ll end up breaking this couch, and I’d hate to have to explain how that happened.”

Well, that would be awkward.

“We could always move to our bedchamber, where there is a very nice large bed,” I suggested, unwilling to give in quite yet. “And maybe you could, you know, control yourself.”

“Like you just did?”

“Touché,” I murmured. “Sorry about that.”

He chuckled. “Don’t apologize, liessa. I love that greedy pussy of yours.”

I choked on a laugh.

One side of his lips curled. “Plus, if I feed, we’ll never make it to the Thyia Plains.”

I nodded. “You’re right.

“Always.”

I laughed, but I didn’t feel it as my stomach churned with the guilt that flared to life the moment I felt relief at Ash’s refusal to feed.