Blood Mercy (Blood Grace Book 1)

by Vela Roth

  “When all you know is bartering, it is hard to believe someone would keep giving to you at no cost.”

  “But I do believe. I may not put much stock in the gods, but there are things I hold sacred. I would never use you. Not you, Lio.”

  Of all the things he might have expected her to say, he would never have imagined those words. He was so unprepared, he had no reply. He could only stand and feel he would rather be on his knees here in the shrine it seemed Cassia had just reconsecrated.

  “Nor do I wish to use myself, least of all because of him.” She looked away, but only for a moment. “However, I cannot deny that is what I have done. He regards me as a tool. I resigned myself to that and even shaped myself to it. To use myself, even against him, is to become…” Her lip twisted. “…nothing more than what he commands me to be. That is not who and what I am. I am better than that.” She held Lio’s gaze. “Tell me what my thoughts are shouting now. You will not hear spite or a thirst for revenge. Only rebellion. What, pray, is wrong with that? Why shouldn’t I rebel? Why shouldn’t I, for just a few moments, get to feel free?” Her voice rose. “The blood in my veins is mine. No one shall decide what becomes of it but me. And I want to share it with you.”

  Lio’s fangs unsheathed on reflex, and warmth gripped his groin. “Cassia.”

  “I’ve brought a gift. It’s for you. And for myself.”

  Twin desires flared to life inside Lio. His raged through his blood. Hers unfurled, fragile and strong, new and hungry. He listened to her give voice to it for the first time.

  “I thought such feelings weren’t a part of me. But they are, Lio. I want to, with you. I want.”

  His heart began to pound, summoned by those two long-awaited words. He should think, but no, he didn’t need to. Those two words were all he needed to hear.

  He reached for her. She came into his arms.

  He drew her close, and the dampness in her clothes soaked into his robes. He could feel her pulse in her whole body, living and throbbing under her skin. Tonight he would taste her pulse. His heart would beat to it.

  He took a few steps back, drawing them deeper into the room. “It will be just as you said. Nothing indiscreet. No imprudent activities.”

  “I don’t doubt you.”

  That was the closest she had ever come to saying aloud that she trusted him.

  He kept going until his back came up against a pillar. The intact support of the rearmost wall, which had stood for centuries. That wouldn’t fall down around them, no matter how eager they became.

  Lio let her go.

  She stood there, poised against him from shoulder to knee, her hands balled into fists on his chest. She gazed up at him with wide eyes.

  He held up his hands for her to see. “One to support your head. One to support your waist. Aside from that, I will only touch your neck.”

  Her throat moved as she swallowed. She nodded.

  At her agreement, Lio caressed her head, then slid his hand under the damp tangle of her hair. At his touch, she shivered again. Her head eased into his palm. Yes, just a little more. There. She rested her head completely in his hand. He placed his other at her waist, a light touch above her hip.

  “I’m not holding you,” he said. “If at any point you want to stop, or what I’m doing makes you uncomfortable, you’re free to step away, you see?”

  “Yes.”

  “And Cassia.” He waited for her to meet his gaze again. “You can tell me what you don’t want. Or what you do want. I will heed you.”

  She licked her lips as if her mouth had gone dry, surely unaware how powerfully sensual the little gesture was. “Very well.”

  He smiled at her. She would become well acquainted with his teeth presently, so he showed her all of them.

  Her gaze riveted on his mouth. Her lips parted.

  How he wanted to begin with her neglected lips. He had never imagined she would allow him an intimate Drink before they had even kissed. But she had set down her terms. He would abide by them. And they would mean her blood in his mouth tonight.

  His gums throbbed, and his fangs unsheathed further with each passing moment, readying for her. But she did not look away. Brave Cassia. A fresh rush of saliva filled his mouth, and he swallowed hard.

  He lowered his head slowly, so as not to startle her. Even so, he felt her tense against him.

  “Relax,” he whispered.

  “Very well.” Her fingers curled into tighter fists.

  He let out a soft breath upon her skin where her neck and shoulder met. A little of the rigidity in her body gave way to another shiver. “Relax,” he soothed. “You need not doubt me, Cassia.”

  And he refused to doubt himself. She had come to him at last. She wanted this. He would show her how good the Drink could be.

  Bracing himself, he let his lips brush her skin. Oh, how satisfying to touch his mouth to her freckles for the first time. He ran his lips lightly over that spot again, savoring the texture of her skin.

  “Lio—”

  He froze.

  “You said there would be nothing like a kiss.”

  He swallowed a chuckle. “I’m afraid the deed does require my mouth to be involved. There’s nothing for it. You’ll have to put up with my lips on your neck. That doesn’t count as a kiss, does it?”

  She was silent for a moment, but she did not draw away. “How much more of that are you going to do before you drink?”

  He lifted his mouth to her ear and whispered there. “As much as I need to, to help you grow accustomed to the feeling of my mouth on you.”

  Another measure of tension drained out of her. Her hands seemed to melt upon his chest and his upon her waist. He could feel her heart pounding against his breast. He could only hope it would not alarm her when his response to her became more and more obvious where they pressed their bodies together.

  But he must let her feel it. She would come to understand.

  He wavered between hope and doubt. Surely she would recognize her response to him for what it was. She would come to realize what she felt was desire for him, just as he desired her. How could they—the two of them—share the Drink, and she remain unmoved?

  “Very well,” she whispered.

  He lowered his head and kissed her neck again.

  Patience, patience, he instructed himself. For a few moments, he allowed himself nothing more than gentle teases of his lips in that one little place between her neck and shoulder. He waited, and he was soon satisfied she would not tense up again. He let his tongue dart out.

  At that mere taste of her skin, he sucked in a gasp. She did not utter a sound, nor even draw breath, but a little jolt moved through her body. He reassured her with a touch of his hand under her hair, and his other hand caressed her waist compulsively. At the next touch of his tongue, she held steady.

  Proud Cassia. She was no docile doe. She came to no one’s hand. Lio would consider nothing a greater gift than if he could win her to him not with magic, but with his words and mouth and hands. Not with manipulation, but with openness and honesty.

  Her skin tasted even better than she smelled. The storm had washed away the odor of tallow soap and bathed her in the scents and flavors of the forest. There was the warm sweetness of clean skin, flushed from a recent scrub. He tasted the salty tang of sweat and the savory musk of excitement. There was no mistaking the flavor of a female’s body responding to something that pleased her. He did please her.

  With a sense of relief, Lio parted his lips wider and laved her skin with his tongue. He let himself explore a little, mouthing up to just below her ear, then down again, all the way to the shoulder of her gown. Blessed Goddess, she was so good. And he hadn’t even yet tasted what awaited under her skin.

  He let his tongue taste her, warm her, preparing the way for what would come next. Her skin heated, and the flavor of her excitement grew stronger. He steadied his hand on her waist, forcing his fingers not to tighten. When he tangled his hand deeper in her hair, she br
ought her face closer to him. Her mouth came to rest near his ear, and he listened to her breaths. He opened his lips wider and sucked gently on her neck. Her breathing quickened. He eased her head farther back, baring her neck to him.

  His teeth strained in his gums, and another ache answered below his waist. So close. Patience, patience.

  He opened his mouth wider still and did nothing more than rest the tips of his fangs on her skin.

  She stilled. Lio stopped breathing, forcing himself not to move. The temptation of her skin on the tips of teeth…everything in him wanted to bite down, close over her, bury him in her at last.

  But he would not do that with her frozen in his arms, panting, as if she were prey.

  He nipped gently at her, and sensation fired from his teeth, into his mouth and through the rest of his body. Her gasp pressed her closer. He held back a groan.

  He alternated little nips and licks with long, suckling strokes of his tongue. And as he persevered, his reward was that she lifted her chin, pressing her head into his hand. She stretched her back, lengthening her torso against him. Did she realize what that did to him? She clutched at the front of his robe, tangling her fingers in the silk.

  Without breaking the rhythm of his kisses, without giving her time to brace herself, he bit down.

  She jerked in his hold, and they took a harsh breath together. Her skin gave and broke, and his teeth sank into soft, moist flesh. Oh, yes. Nothing had ever felt like this, having his mouth full of her, feeling her pulse against his teeth.

  He flared his nostrils. He wanted to taste everything. They were past the hard part now, and he could show her what it really felt like. At last, he gave into his instinct to suck.

  Now it was he who jerked against her. A rumble in his throat…had he cried out? He didn’t know, couldn’t think.

  Cassia flooded his mouth and every part of him. A feast in a single swallow. He flexed his throat, downing the banquet only for another to fill his mouth and veins, to consume his senses. She was all he had smelled and felt and seen and wanted. But so much more.

  Nothing…no one…tasted like this. This was what it should taste like. Feel like. Her.

  He was working his mouth on her, puncturing and suckling, pulling more of her into him. He recalled he had begun this with a plan, some notion to be patient. But all that mattered now was getting her into him, and him deeper inside of her. Yes, that was right, for she was throwing her head back even now, pushing herself up onto his teeth until another layer of her flesh gave, and his fangs penetrated deeper.

  Pleasure

  There was something wrong with her. This was not supposed to happen. It didn’t hurt. No, it had at first, but even that pain had felt…so good…it felt so good even now, and not just on her neck. All over her body.

  Cassia squeezed her legs together, tucking her arms against herself. She realized she was pulling him closer. She tried to stand still, but it was so difficult. Her whole body felt so tense that she wanted to move. But this tension was not like anything she had felt before. It made her anxious, but it was not anxiety. No, it was a powerful heat, an anticipation, like holding her breath and waiting for something to happen…something to change…

  She had to contain herself. These wild feelings threatened her mastery of her own body. But the sharp digging of his teeth, their pressure at her throat urged her to move.

  She could feel him drawing warmth and liquid out of her, suckling it into his mouth, and it felt as if he sucked it from somewhere much deeper within her than her throat. That same liquid heat seemed to gather low in her belly.

  Her pulse throbbed, pumping her lifeblood into Lio’s mouth, and she felt that throbbing pulse everywhere. In her head, in her chest. Between her legs.

  He had said it wasn’t always so. Drinking didn’t always mean lusting. But she felt the firm ridge pressing into her belly, growing harder with every moment. This drink, her blood, made Lio lust.

  How could the touch of his mouth cause her to take leave of her senses like this? How could her body ache deep within, as if his teeth in her neck meant the same thing as having the rest of him between her legs?

  She flattened her hands on his chest, ready to push away. But just then he released his grip on her neck, only to bite down anew. A rush of sensation flooded her to the tips of her breasts and the bottoms of her feet, hot and rousing. She felt more awake, more alive than she ever had.

  She panted for breath, and her breasts felt heavy. Her nipples had hardened as if she were freezing, although she felt hot from top to toe. The firm tips pressed into his chest painfully, making her want to shift her hips. Oh, she had to hold still.

  But that tightness inside her coiled, unbearable, from below her navel…down deep…right into the emptiness inside her that marked her as a woman. Nothing and no one had ever touched her there. She had never felt sensation there. How could nothing but his two careful hands and his mouth at her neck do this? How could it feel…so good…

  Her body thwarted her. Sensation thwarted her. She could no longer control the effect it had on her, this strange and powerful feeling. It had a name. Pleasure.

  Her knees buckled, and his arm came around her just in time. He held her tight against him, and she squirmed in his hold, moving the parts of her the sensations would not leave alone. But shifting her hips back and forth this way did not relieve the pleasure. It only increased it. And it rubbed her over and over against the evidence of Lio’s lust. Nothing but thin layers of cloth separated his body from hers, which seemed so primed to receive him.

  He would not…he had promised he would not…he would do nothing more than drink from her. She could withstand nothing else, for this alone was making her come undone. And yet it went on. The pleasure could not possibly get any stronger, but it did.

  His teeth slipped out of her, sending rivulets of sensation through her and trickles of warm moisture down her neck. “Cassia.” His voice had never sounded like this, a low purr in his throat. “I swear, I will give you as much pleasure from this as you are giving me.” He shifted his hold on her, lifting her higher in his embrace. An inch lower, and his hand would wrap around her buttock. “Let me touch you.”

  She could only shake her head. The motion woke an ache in her throat, just like the one inside her. She moaned.

  In one long stroke from her collarbone to her throat, he licked up a hot trail of her blood. “Please let me touch you. I promise you’ll enjoy it. It will feel even better than this.”

  More than this? She couldn’t take any more. She shook her head again, and the room spun.

  “I’ll just have to do my best as we are, then,” he breathed.

  Before she realized what he was doing, he shifted her head to bring the other side of her neck to his mouth and drove his teeth into her again.

  Pleasure-pain speared her throat and her womanhood. Her body bowed in his hold, and her hips moved again and again. She could not stop. In an instant the motion was no longer something she did, but her body did of its own accord. Her back arched, serving her up to him, and her hips began to writhe. Then the writhing moved within.

  She tossed her head back, mouth open to gasp for breath. She could only breathe and feel.

  To the deepest core of her body, all was feeling. Motion and sensation, grasp and release, burst after burst of something beyond pleasure. In the sensate haze, she felt his teeth and lips clamp onto her as if they were a part of her own body.

  The tide over her senses gave way to gentle ripples and a wave of warm lethargy. She went limp in his hold, gulping at the air. He wrapped both arms around her and held her close.

  Slowly he eased his teeth out of her, and every part of her shivered with an echo of pleasure. He lapped at her neck, first one side, then the other, where she felt the lingering trickle of her blood. The ache in her neck eased. But the sensations between her legs quivered to life again. Her body was not done with her. It might begin again any moment, given its way.

  The realiz
ation sent a pall of shock and excitement through her, and her heart began to pound again. His lust was still unsatisfied compared to his thirst. And here she was, her thighs parted and her hips tilted against him, trembling inside. Although the wetness of her blood on her neck was gone, she could feel the moisture between her legs. Oh, he would have an easy entry indeed.

  The image came to her unbidden of him turning her and pushing her back against the stone. His hands hiking her skirts around her waist. Her legs…parting for him…wrapping around him…while he took her body the way he had taken her blood.

  She found the floor with her feet and stumbled backward. He steadied her, but did not hold her. Dizziness assailed her, but she stepped out of his reach and leaned against the wall, narrowly missing a vine of thorns. She had to leave. As soon as she could walk.

  The spell light had gone out and left them both in shadow. Lio’s eyes shone at her through the darkness, catching all the moonlight that reached them through the storm. “Cassia. You are magnificent.”

  It took a moment for his words to sink into her muddled thoughts. She wasn’t sure what she had imagined would be the first words out of his mouth afterward. But she certainly hadn’t expected praise. In his voice, the most genuine one she knew.

  Her face heated even more. “Thank you.”

  His glowing eyes narrowed, a sign he was smiling. “I hope you don’t feel it was a one-sided exchange.”

  After a lifetime of surviving on her wits and words, Cassia had nothing. No ready response for such an occasion as this. Her mother might have. Other women whose bodies were their tools surely had an arsenal of things to say after such an encounter to produce just the desired result.