Free One Bite by Jennifer Blackstream

Kirill’s spies had consulted had spoken of her, knowing her by name. Apparently, the pale-skinned maiden often wandered through the woods, visiting with the various creatures of the kingdom and offering a song to the many weary souls she met along the way. One troll had hinted that Irina had sirin blood, while another claimed one of her ancestors was a firebird. Kirill inhaled deeply, drawing Irina’s scent to him. Perhaps if he could get another taste…
     
    “Don’t even think about biting me again.”
     
    “My lady, if I didn’t know better, I would swear you had a gift for reading minds.” He focused on her pulse, listening to the sound of it beating just under the skin of her throat. “Tell me, Irina, was my bite so unpleasant?”
     
    There. Her jaw tightened and her heartbeat grew frantic, pounding as if it would break free of her flesh and run from her body. Kirill nearly closed his eyes in bliss as the scent of her arousal filled his senses, all spiced with the delicious tang of fear. His fangs ached and he couldn’t resist the urge to lean forward, just a little.
     
    Irina’s brown eyes flashed and her entire body sang with tension as her muscles grew taut. Kirill froze, preparing to grab her if she tried to throw open the door and leap from the moving carriage. The second her body rose off the seat he lunged forward.
     
    Shock slammed into him as Irina leapt toward him instead of sideways toward the door. He grunted as he crashed back against the backrest of his seat, driven into it by Irina’s body half-flying into his arms. He stared at her, dumbfounded, as she fisted her skirts and pulled them up just enough so she could straddle his waist. He was still staring when she dropped her hands on his shoulders and leaned down to put her lips by his ear.
     
    “Is this what you want, Your Highness?” she said softly, her breath raising gooseflesh on his neck. “Do you want to sink your fangs into me again, drink my blood until I’m nothing but an empty husk lying in a pile on the floor of your royal carriage?”
     
    Kirill pulled himself together enough to be offended at her suggestion that he would have such poor control. Before he could object, she drew her tongue over the shell of his ear, nearly causing his eyes to roll back as pleasure shivered over his flesh.
     
    “Or perhaps you intend to ravish me on the way to King Risi’s celebration? Hmm? You could present me to his majesty with your fangmarks on my neck, my blood running down my dress, and my skin flushed with the betrayal of your erotic attentions? Wouldn’t that do wonders for my reputation in the eyes of the troll king?”
     
    The troll king be damned. Kirill tried to squash the wayward thought, but it took more effort than he liked to admit. Irina was so warm, so soft. Her luscious curves felt so achingly sweet against the hard planes of his body. Her voice soothed him in an almost hypnotic fashion, her decadent, taunting suggestions filling his mind with memories of how sumptuous her blood had tasted, how sweet her moans had sounded when he’d given into the wild urge to thrust against her, urged on by the passion in her blood and the breathless desire in her voice.
     
    He dug his fingers into her thighs, pulling her closer against him. Her breath hitched and the sound fueled the fire burning inside him, urging him to take her at her word and plunge himself into her body in every way a vampire could. So tempting…
     
    Scraping together every last shred of willpower he possessed, Kirill raised a hand and grabbed a handful of Irina’s black curls, dragging her head to where he could look her in the eyes.
     
    “Your wicked tongue will get you into trouble, Irina,” he ground out, fighting his body’s desire to jerk her closer and cover her mouth in a kiss. “I require your presence at the troll king’s celebration tonight—and you’re right, his opinion of you will drop if he thinks you are merely a woman who warms my