Total pages in book: 105
Estimated words: 97188 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 486(@200wpm)___ 389(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97188 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 486(@200wpm)___ 389(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
On and on it goes, one orgasm bleeding into another and another. Finally, I’m able to wrench my mouth from her skin, but not before her blood colors the water around us. Too much. Far too much. The cleaning spell can’t keep up with it.
What have I done?
“Maeve.” Her head lolls as I gather her into my arms. There’s a smile on her face, but what the fuck does that mean? “Maeve. Maeve, talk to me.”
“Too loud,” she murmurs, her voice fading fast. “I’m fine. Everything is fine.”
I don’t believe her for a minute.
chapter 21
Maeve
I’m having a hard time keeping my eyes open. My body is heavy and there’s a faint throbbing in my throat. I can feel Lizzie’s distress, and the fact that she’s not even trying to hide it indicates how bad this situation is. Worry barely penetrates the lethargy permeating my limbs. “I’m fine.” Did I say that already? I’m not certain.
“Godsdamn it,” Lizzie mutters under her breath as she sweeps me into her arms and lifts me out of the tub with no apparent effort whatsoever. Vampire strength truly is nothing to underestimate.
She carries me to the bed and lays me down on the newly cleaned sheets. “Maeve. Talk to me.”
My neck aches in time with the slow thud of my heart. I’m aware of what went wrong. I knew what was happening while she was biting me, and I didn’t care. I didn’t want the pleasure to stop. Not mine. Not hers. But last time she bit me, I don’t think she took more than a mouthful or two. This time was different. My pleasure went on and on, cresting repeatedly as she took my throat. “Just give me a few minutes. I just need to close my eyes—”
“Maeve.” The snap in her voice forces my lids open despite the exhaustion weighing them down. She crouches next to me, naked and glorious and absolutely perfect. If not for the panic flaring in her dark eyes.
Another time, I might be delighted by the fact that she’s actually emoting. Right now, I can’t quite bring myself to enjoy it. “Lizzie.” My voice is too faint. Distantly, I’m aware that Lizzie might have cause for panic. I heal faster than a human, but only marginally. I can absolutely succumb to blood loss. And she wasn’t careful this time. She was too busy coming on my fingers.
“Under no circumstances are you to go to sleep. Do you understand me?”
I study her beautiful face, taking in the tense line of her mouth and the tightness around her eyes. “Are you worried about me?”
She snaps her teeth, which draws my attention to the fact that there’s still blood dried on the edge of her mouth. My blood. A tremor works through me, and I couldn’t begin to say if it’s the echoes of pleasure or concern. The concern isn’t for me. I feel too good to worry about the consequences of our actions. No, it’s all for Lizzie, who’s unraveling before my eyes.
I knew better than to escalate things when she was feeling so off-center. She needed comfort, not a distraction. Her control never would’ve wavered otherwise. And yet . . . there’s a small, secret part of me that delights in the fact that I caused her to lose control. Me. Maeve.
Not anyone else. Sure as fuck not Evelyn.
“This ship has to have a fucking medic. Don’t you dare go to sleep. Keep your eyes open. I will be right back.”
“Lizzie.” I brush her arm with a listless hand. “You’re naked.”
She snarls at me, the sound more animalistic than anything I can make, even in my seal form. And then she’s gone, only the banging of the door against the wall an indication of her passage. I hear her yelling on deck for a medic. I don’t know how to tell her that I don’t think this ship has one. Or if they do, it’s unlikely the person will be anywhere as skilled in healing as what we’d find on a Cŵn Annwn ship.
I’ll be fine. Probably. I’ve never felt this woozy from blood loss, but I’ve never lost this much blood before. I tend to keep it inside my body. Bodies are good for that.
My thoughts’ strange spiral should worry me, but it feels like too much effort to dredge up any amount of concern.
Sometime later, whether seconds or minutes or even an hour, Lizzie returns, dragging Rin behind her. Ze looks terrified; zir skin is a mottled yellow that edges onto white. The color gets even paler when ze looks at me. “I told you. We don’t have a medic. We just do the best we can in between ports.”
Lizzie flings zir at me. “I don’t give a fuck. Fix her.”
“You’re the vampire. Dealing with blood loss is something that you’ve experienced more than I have,” Rin snaps. “If she hasn’t died already, she probably just needs rest and fluids. Which you can give her. You don’t need me for it.”