Relief crashed through me when Arys whispered his agreement. “Follow my lead.”
He gravitated closer to a group of three humping their brains out on the floor at the foot of the bed. There was a small ripple of power as he reached out to them. Almost immediately, one of the two men turned to look at us. His eyes were glazed and somewhat unfocused. He was in deep.
Without speaking, he reached for me, and Arys intercepted him. Gazing deep into the man’s vacant eyes, he said, “You’re going to bleed for us now. And you’re going to love it.”
Arys didn’t wait for a response. He bit into the man’s wrist and shoved it toward me before moving on to plunge fangs into his throat. Our victim groaned, and his knees buckled. We followed him down to the carpet, kneeling beside him.
I pressed my lips to the vampire bite and gasped when the scarlet nectar hit my tongue. Straight from the vein, warm and flavored with his sexual desire, it was exactly what I needed to get through the rest of this night. I pulled his sensual energy into me, devouring it as I sucked at the bloody wound.
The only thing that could have taken me to greater heights was if Arys had been buried inside me. Sensing my need, he stroked a hand through my hair, his fingers entangled in my blonde tresses. Feasting on the wildly erotic storm of energy was exhilarating. I’d never experienced anything quite like it. So many people, both human and vampire, each of them giving off a heady rush of desire, it was a high unlike any other I’d known thus far. I fell through the clouds, plummeting in a free fall, never to land. Freedom.
Our victim twitched between us, crying out. I felt the approach of his climax. Though we never touched him anywhere else, he was reacting to a touch that was deeper and a thousand times more intimate.
I dropped his wrist and sucked in a deep breath. My heart thundered in my ears so I had to strain to hear anything else. Shoving away from the bleeding, writhing man, I fell on my butt in my haste to put distance between us.
Power surged through me, seeking an outlet. I was all fangs and claws, unable to fight back the wolf while the vampire side of me ruled. The good news was that if things got ugly with Jenner later, I’d be primed and ready to blow.
My vision swam as I tried to focus. Jenner and Sloane were a blur along with the many bodies surrounding them. He had his face buried between her thighs while she sucked ferociously at their victim’s neck. I’d seen more than enough of Jenner’s sexcapades for one night. I watched with a combination of intrigue and apprehension when Arys lifted his head and his crazed blue eyes landed on me. Abandoning the man we’d just fed on, he crossed the short distance to where I sat on the floor, bewildered.
He hovered over me on hands and knees. I gazed up at him, trembling in anticipation. His kiss was electric, a passionate claiming of my mouth. I clung to him, excited when he grabbed my arm and bared the soft inside of my wrist.
Arys bit gently at my flesh, a small bite that left me wanting more. A sound that was both pain and pleasure spilled from me. I ached for him, needing so much more than I was receiving. This was not the place for that.
Unfortunately, this was exactly the place for that, just not for me. As I held tight to my dark vampire, soaring on clouds while he tasted my blood, I lost myself. The euphoria claimed me, and I fell hard. I had to enjoy it while I could. Eventually the rush would fade, and I’d have to come back down to earth where reality would bitch slap me as it so often did.
* * * *
We found Shaz and Jez seated at a back corner poker table in the casino upstairs. Both full and empty glasses and bottles littered the table. In the center sat a deck of cards with The Wicked Kiss logo on the back. They had certainly managed to keep busy in our absence.
Shaz stared straight ahead, his chin propped in one hand and a beer bottle in the other. Rolling wolf eyes my way, he said, “It didn’t take the two of you long to make yourselves at home.”
I opened my mouth to reply and found I had nothing to say to that. He was right. Instead of muttering a half-assed defense, I eyed up the drink selection.
“When you get the itch, you scratch.” Arys shrugged. “That’s just the way it is, pup.”
Shaz glared darkly in response but said nothing. He shoved a glass toward me, and I sat next to him, accepting the whiskey. The tension was thick.
I braced myself for rejection and reached out to touch Shaz’s arm. “I never would have led you into that if I’d known what we were walking into. I’m sorry.”
He sighed and shook his head dismissively. “It’s fine. Don’t apologize.” He set the beer down and grabbed my hand. His wolf was strong, raging beneath the surface, spoiling for a fight. It worried me.