Amour éternel

chapter 27

Anaïs woke up around 3 in the morning with an incredible thirst. Ryder was fast asleep; his breathing gentle and body in full repose. Anaïs slipped out of his hold as slowly as possible and tiptoed into the kitchen. She knew there were bags of blood in the fridge, she had brought them with her so they were fresh, but she really hated cold blood. Of course, she could put them in the microwave for a minute or two, but the microwave was an old thing that made so much noise it would disturb Ryder and she didn’t want to do that so she would manage with the cold blood. 

Anaïs was bending over at the hips, her head almost fully inside the fridge as she read the labels, when a pair of hands reached underneath the oversized t-shirt she’d quickly pulled on and ran over her butt. 

The contact startled her; causing her to stand up suddenly, hitting the back of her head against the fridge and letting out a most unladylike curse. 

Then, before she had fully recovered, the hands tightened on her hips and pulled her back against a warm, bare chest. 

“Who said you could leave the bed?” a voice husky from sleep grumbled into her ear as one of the aforementioned hands traveled up her torso and shamelessly cupped a breast.

The thumb immediately stroked her nipple and the touch itself was enough to leave her breathless. 

Anaïs thought she had been sneaky… obviously not. 

Ryder was kissing her throat; the bloodlust begged for more. She didn’t want to mix her thirst with sex again, though, she had already taken blood from him. 

“Ryder,” she said, meaning to sound stern but instead only managed to moan. 

“I want you in bed, now,” he grumbled in answer. 

“No I-”

“No?” he asked, spinning her and using one hand to handcuff her hands behind her back while the other went to the back of her neck. 

Anaïs had never seen him so… there weren’t any words for it but it was positively turning her on. She was forced to lick her lips, which had become dry from thirst, before she could answer.

“I need blood,” she started, “and I can’t-”

“Take some of mine.”

“I already did, I don’t want to take too much.”

“I have a lot,” Ryder chuckled, and cupped her cheek. 

Anaïs looked at his throat, her fangs extending at the thought of piercing warm skin. She knew she had taken a lot already but… he wasn’t pale, he looked healthy, it couldn’t hurt to take a few gulps. 

“You sure?” she asked.

As an answer, Ryder urged her forward and tilted his head to the side so her lips could latch onto his pulse point. Anaïs nearly purred when she felt the soft vibration caused by the flow of blood beneath the skin. She pierced the skin slowly, purposefully torturing herself as the first drop of blood that emerged trickled right onto her tongue.