the cats, the two in the worst shape, were in the darkest corner, as if hiding from everyone. Blue prowled around, checking everything.
“Get some sleep,” Isai commanded. “It has been a long night and we have more enemies.” More than anything, they needed to recover the book and find a way to destroy it.
He gathered Julija into his arms. She gave a drowsy murmur of protest and nuzzled his chest. “That is right, little mage, you need to feed. You are so pale you look like a ghost.” His shirt was gone, leaving his chest bare to make it easy for her.
Isai closed his eyes at the first touch of her lips on his skin. Featherlight. Barely there. Yet he felt that touch like a lightning strike through his entire body. Her tongue slid over his skin, and then her teeth sank deep, an erotic bite that flashed fire through his bloodstream and woke every nerve ending.
She connected them together with her teeth, drawing his life’s blood into her. He cradled her in his arms, looking down at her face. Her eyes were closed, those long lashes like two dark fans lying against her cheeks. Dark hair tumbled around her face. He felt the push of her breasts against his bare chest and had to resist the urge to cup the soft weight in his palm. She was exhausted and as much as he wanted her, as her lifemate, he would always put her needs first.
When he was certain she had taken enough for an exchange, he gently pressed around her mouth so she would stop. Her tongue licked at the twin holes to stop the flow of blood and seal the wounds. She turned her face up to him.
“Your taste is addictive, Isai. I could have fed forever. I imagine the cats feel the same way. You can’t possibly supply all of us without growing weak.”
He kissed his way down the side of her face, from her temple to her ear and farther, finding the pulse beating steadily in the side of her neck. She didn’t fear him or his taking of her blood. She hadn’t liked it when her family had done so, and he wanted to teach her that there was a very big difference between them and her lifemate.
He let his teeth scrape gently over her pulse. Once. Twice. He kissed her there. Back up to her ear. His tongue did a little foray. “You will help me with the cats when you feel as though you can.” He didn’t make it an order. He would never want her to do anything that made her uncomfortable. They all needed time to grow together as a family.
He kissed his way back down to her neck, to that little pulse beating there that drew him. Again, he used his lips, his tongue and finally his teeth to tease her. Her breathing changed. Her breasts grew heavy against him. He bit down, and her body shuddered with the pain and pleasure of the erotic bite. He gathered her closer to him and indulged himself, taking the blood that was the best he’d ever had in all the centuries he’d been feeding.
She was born for him. He for her. Her taste was designed to appeal to him. The essence of her poured into him, turning his body harder than a rock, his cock full with urgent demand. He let that sensation fill him as well. He savored the way he wanted her. It was an exhilarating feeling to hunger for his woman. Holding her the way he could. Feeding on her. He would never take any of it for granted, no matter how many centuries they would have together. He had been too long without.
It actually took effort to pull back. He made certain he took enough for a full exchange, although perhaps more than was actually needed. She was already Carpathian. Dragonseeker. The lineage was legendary in the world of the Carpathians. He used the healing agents in his tongue to close the twin holes in her neck and then pressed a kiss over the spot.
He sat on the bed, no clothes, back to the headboard, her head on his thighs as he rubbed the pad of his thumb over the snake intertwined with the scorpion.
“Do you hate that I’m mage?”
Isai frowned. “Julija, why in the world would you think such a thing?”
“Xavier tried to wipe out your entire species. My father would very much like to carry on