My Blood To Rise Read Free

don’t know how long I’ve been in search of you. Say you’ll be mine, Dara. Say you’ll be mine for all eternity.”
    She wrapped her arms around him. “Yes! I’ll be yours. I can’t stand another minute of this. Don’t torture me.”
    “Torture?” he asked. “You don’t know what torture is. You don’t know what it’s like to hunger for something just out of reach.”
    Dara pulled back and locked her eyes on him. “Whatever you hunger for, whatever it is you need, I will be the one to give it to you. You don’t have to suffer anymore. I’m here. Let me be the one to satisfy you. I’ll be yours. I’ll be yours for all eternity.”
    He stared down into the depths of her soul. “Do you mean it? Are you willing to give up everything to be my one true consort?”
    “I never meant anything so much in my life,” she told him. “I’ll give anything, I’ll sacrifice anything, I’ll be anything, if it means giving you what you need and what you want. Let me fill you up. Let me give you peace.”
    He kept his gaze locked on her one instant longer. Then he swooped her up into his arms and carried her to her room. How did he know which one was hers? She didn’t think to ask.
    He pulled her near the bed and then the door shut behind him. How did he shut it from across the room?
    She couldn’t see anything but his eyes. She couldn’t think about anything but the fulfillment they would both experience in one another.
    He pulled her into his embrace. His eyes kissed her soul. The ecstasy was overwhelming. She sank into the bottomless pool of his essence. Could she ever experience any rapture more blissful than this?
    But something more enchanting was to come, she knew. In moments, all her pent-up tension would shatter into a million droplets of dew.
    Andrei held her tight against his iron frame, and her body quivered in anticipation.
    “Dara,” he breathed, “are you sure you want to do this? Are you sure you want to give your life and future to me—only to me? Are you sure you’re ready to sacrifice everything you know to join me in the other world?”
    “Yes.” In that moment, she would have said yes to anything. “Yes. I’m ready.”
    He bent her over backward again and put his mouth against her throat. A low growl of desire rumbled from him, and her blood sang in answer. Her heart beat even stronger, and she gasped for breath.
    He lifted her up and laid her down on the bed. She danced in the deep pools of his eyes.
    With a gentle, electric motion, he brushed the hair back from her forehead. When he traced the graceful curve of her neck with his fingers, her skin felt like it was on fire.
    “Dara, my Dara,” he said.
    Andrei leaned over her. Why didn’t he get in bed with her? Was he waiting for her to tear his clothes off? If that’s what he wanted…
    But he was still leaning over her, nuzzling her, his tongue tasting her, his hands on her.
    Then, with a growl, he opened his mouth and bit her.
    She felt no pain when his sharp teeth pierced the skin of her neck. Her blood sprang from her body, and it was the most sensual sensation she’d ever experience.
    His lips closed over the wound, and he sucked blood from her in powerful gulps.
    As her life’s blood poured out through the holes in her throat, she realized what was happening.
    She tried to fight back, but she couldn’t move; he must have bound her with some kind of spell.
    Her pulse began to slow. Her blood didn’t spurt into Andrei’s mouth anymore; he had to suck it out. Soon, she wouldn’t have any left, and then she would die.
    No! She didn’t want to die.
    Anger welled up in her, and the trans he had put her in broke. She struggled against him, but he was far too powerful for her; his need overwhelmed her. Nothing in the world could fight against strength like that. He had her right where he wanted her. Once he sucked the last drop of blood from her veins, he would leave her corpse lying there on her bed for the landlady to find