Lovely, this was all his battered ego needed …
The heat of embarrassment stung his cheeks and made his injuries burn even more. Grabbing a cloth, he wiped at his swollen lips. “Fine.” He glanced at her. “You should be resting.”
“I wanted to check on you.” She swallowed hard. “I’m so sorry you were punished for saving us.”
He shrugged. “Yeah, well, I assumed my brothers could fend for themselves. They’re gigantic, belligerent assholes. And were armed, to boot. You and your children weren’t. Don’t know why my solren’s so pissed off when he’s the one who’s always said that if we can’t defend ourselves against a bunch of pathetic humans, then we deserve to die. He’s drilled us every day of our lives to protect ourselves and fight against them.”
“We were taught to live peacefully by their sides. That if we didn’t learn to fight, or carry weapons, they’d leave us alone and not cause us harm. We were farmers and shepherds. Not a warrior among us.”
“Aye, I know. Davyn’s father was furious when his sister went to live with her husband’s family. He told her it was a mistake. That the humans would never suffer them to live in their world … if you lie down with a wolf, expect to get eaten.”
“He was right.” She took the cloth from his hand and used it to wipe at his brow. “You need to feed in order to heal. Who nurses you?”
“I’m between donors.” It wasn’t exactly a lie. He just omitted the fact that there weren’t any living donors he fed from, but rather bladders in which his father collected the blood he forced his men to give up.
“Then I offer my blood to you.”
Stunned by that offer, Urian salivated at the mere thought, but he couldn’t do that to her. Not after everything she’d been through. “Xanthia—”
She placed her fingers over his lips to stop his protest. “It’s the least I can do after everything you’ve done for us. My God, Urian … for the first time in my life, I can see! Please, let me do this for you.”
Any thought of further protest vanished as she bared her neck to him. Maybe if he hadn’t been starving and emotionally raw he might have been able to find a shred of noble hero inside himself.
But right then and there, he was in too much pain to turn away from the comfort she offered.
He needed this. It was selfish, yet he didn’t care. Hurt and aching, he let the demon inside take control and sank his fangs into her flesh before he could find any shred of decency to stop it.
And the moment he did, he growled as an inexplicable pleasure ripped through him unlike anything he’d ever experienced before. Everything became sharper and clearer. He saw color more vibrantly. The scent of her hair awakened a deep-seated hunger that went straight to his groin. Holy gods …
No wonder Apollites and Daimons lost their minds. He understood that now.
Sucking his breath in sharply, he barely caught himself before he lifted the hem of her peplos and sought to satiate the beast inside him. But given what the humans had done to her, he refused to use her like that. It was enough that she fed his need for blood. He wouldn’t take more from her.
Not tonight.
Even he wasn’t that much of an animal.
Taking her blood was enough trespass. Still, he wanted more from her. She raked her hands through his hair, splaying them against his scalp as she cradled his head in her palms. Moaning deep in her throat, she wrapped her body around his, which really wasn’t helping him maintain his restraint.
Urian licked and teased her skin as he tasted the warm blood he needed. It was so much sweeter than the cold, lifeless shit his father had provided for him. And he was all too aware of her soft, sweet body pressed against his. Of the way she rubbed those curves against every inch of him until he was ready to die.
With a deep, starving growl, he pinned her against the wall and ground his hips against hers.
Xanthia gasped, then reached down between their bodies so that she could cup him in her hand.
The moment she touched his cock and began stroking him, he cried out as his body reacted against his will and he released himself into her palm. Mortified, he pulled back to meet her knowing gaze.
But it was too late.
She smiled up at him with a knowing gaze. “You’re a virgin?”
If his cheeks heated any more, his head would ignite. He glanced away, too embarrassed to admit the obvious truth.
Smiling, she kissed his lips, then nipped them so that his blood mingled with hers. “Anytime you’re hungry, Urian, I’ll be more than happy to feed you. Come and find me.”
Shocked and amazed, he watched as Xanthia washed her hands in his basin, before she left him alone in his room to try to sort through everything that had happened tonight.
Damn.
Shaken. Dazed, and more confused than he’d ever been about anything in his life, he had no real handle on any of it. But he wanted more of what she’d offered.
No, he needed more of this. The taste of her blood was still in his mouth. On his lips. Her scent still lingered in his nostrils and on his skin, making him even hungrier. His body began to stir back to hardness.
Until another thought intruded and took precedence.
He needed to check on one idiot brother and kick the ass of another.
So he washed and redressed quickly, then went to find Telamon, who wasn’t quite as near to death as his father had led him to believe. In fact, it looked more like a flesh wound from where Urian now waited at the end of the bastard’s bed.
With his legs spread wide, Urian stood, arms akimbo, glaring at Telamon, who lay there staring back at him. “I was expecting you to look more like a corpse, brother.”
Telamon grimaced at the sight of Urian’s abused face. “Please tell me that I’m not the reason you look like that.”
“Nay, Paris is. And when I leave here, he’s going to look a lot worse than I do.”
Telamon laughed, then groaned in agony. “Don’t ever turn your back on a human, Uri. They’re treacherous little bastards! Thanatotic bitch was so petrified that someone actually fought back, he dropped his sword and fell over. I thought him dead, so the minute my back was turned, he rose up and I was stabbed with a pitchfork. Couldn’t even scramble to get his own sword back. Ah! The indignity. Rather have been pissed on and set fire to.”
Urian laughed with his brother, grateful that Telamon wasn’t as close to death as his father had led him to believe. “Glad he missed your vitals.”
“As am I. Though to be honest, I’m more embarrassed that I owe my life to Archie. Gah! I’ll never hear the end of that.”
Shaking his head, Urian walked over and hugged him. “I’ll let you feed and rest. Really, I’m glad you’re all right. Hate you, but I’d miss you if you were gone. Wouldn’t have anyone to blame for my mistakes, then.”
“Aye. Hate you back, you motherless, goat-humping dog.”
Urian squeezed him hard, then yanked at his blond hair before he let him go. “Die in your sleep.”
“You, too.”
Natassa, Telamon’s wife, scowled at Urian as he pulled away from his brother. “I will never understand the bizarre relationship you boys have. You’re so mean to each other.”
Urian grinned. “It’s brotherly affection, little sister. End of the night, we know we’d die for one another.”
“Provided we don’t kill each other first.”
Urian nodded at Telly’s words. “Exactly.”
She shook her head. “My point. I’m so glad I have only sisters.”
Telamon snorted. “Shudder that.” Then he glanced back to Urian. “Good luck with Paris.”
“Don’t need it.” Urian closed the door and headed down the hallway to leave. In the front room he paused to watch his niece and nephew playing near the fire. Elias was a dead ringer for Telamon. Same golden-blond hair. Same dark brown eyes and chiseled cheeks. Meanwhile, Thesally was a much smaller version of Natassa. She was even dressed in a matching pale green peplos. And her blond hair was coiled around her small head in a similar fashion. Telamon was going to have fun guarding his daughter’s virtue in the near future.