Promised in Blood: Chapter 4

“Your skin is softer than silk, little one.” Alexandros’s warm breath dusts over my stomach as he peels off my panties, making goosebumps break out all over my flesh. He presses a soft kiss on my abdomen before he stands tall and towers over me, his dark eyes ablaze with heat and desire.

My legs tremble with anticipation, and his mouth twitches with the hint of a smile. “I am not undressing you for any reason other than I do not allow the wearing of clothes in my bed, Ophelia.”

“Oh.” My bottom lip juts out before I can stop it. It felt so good to be close to him earlier in his office. Was incredible to be worshipped by him. Because that’s what it was—worship. At least that’s what it felt like. Yet I already feel his mind closed off to me. Not entirely, but much more than it was before. When he was biting me, when he was inside me, it was like he couldn’t stop our link even though I sensed he wanted to. He couldn’t keep me out. Having that kind of connection with him made me feel special.

He runs the pad of his thumb over my bottom lip, tugging it down and opening my mouth. “I do worship you. And I know how good it felt. But there will be plenty of time for all of that. Right now, you need to sleep.”

How did he know … “Can you read my mind?” I blurt out.

He nods. “Yes.”

Well, that’s terrifying. “But how? I thought it was only when I spoke to you.”

He dips his head and runs his nose over my jawline, inhaling deeply. “Your scent is intoxicating and addictive, Ophelia.” The low growl that comes out of him makes my head spin. How is this my life? “I told you earlier that my power is in my mind.”

I nod, recalling how Malachi and Xavier told me that the professor could read minds, I just didn’t think he was this good at it. “So will you always be able to do that? I mean, can I never have any privacy?”

He hums softly, his fingers trailing over my hipbones before he grabs me roughly and pulls me forward, pressing me flush against his chest. “You will learn to block me out, and I will not always want to be inside your head. But when you are naked and alone with me, yes, I will be inside there.”

“Oh.”

He arches an eyebrow. “And quite often, inside you.” He gives me a swat on the ass. “Now get into bed.”

I press my lips together to stop my giggle. He’s so stern and serious, and I haven’t figured out how to act around him yet. For some strange reason, I enjoy him telling me what to do, so I do as he asks. He watches me crawl beneath the covers and pull them up to my chin, then he unfastens a button on his shirt. And now it’s my turn to watch. The only part of his body I’ve seen are his forearms, his head, and obviously his huge … I cough as my cheeks flush with heat at the memory of seeing him in his office earlier.

He moves swiftly, making quick work of his clothes, and I take in every beautiful inch of his skin. His broad chest, peppered with a faint dusting of dark hair. The pale scars that snake around the left side of his torso, twisting and curling into a point beneath his ribs. I tilt my head and study the marks, wondering how he could have gotten them when vampires heal too quickly to scar.

“Silver can mark a vampire.”

Of course, the mind reading. “It can?”

He unbuckles his belt. “If used repeatedly, yes. It is why the ink in Malachi’s tattoos is laced with silver.”

“Or his body would simply heal and force out the ink?”

“You are a very quick study, Ophelia Hart.” He pulls off his belt, and the sound of the leather sliding against the fabric sends a shiver up my spine. An image of me bent over his desk with my panties halfway down my thighs sears itself into my brain. What the …?

He arches a dark eyebrow. “So you would like to be spanked? I am certain we can arrange that.”

“N-no. I don’t want to be spanked,” I protest, and another image of him punishing me with his belt while I moan loudly comes into focus. I clamp my thighs together because wow, that is hot.

He slides his pants down his thighs—his incredibly muscular, almost-wider-than-my-waist thighs. “It seems like you do.”

“I do not. I have no idea where that came from.”

He takes off the rest of his clothes along with his shoes and places them neatly on a chair at the foot of the bed. When he stands tall again, I stare at his naked body, mouth hanging open as I drink in the sight of him. He looks like he was carved from marble. His lips curve in the faintest hint of a smirk. “But you enjoyed the visuals, did you not?”

Now my mouth hangs open for a different reason. “You did that? You put those images in my head? How do you do that?”

He moves quickly, sliding beneath the covers before I’ve even finished speaking. “I can do a lot of things, agápi mou.” He pulls me close, nestling my body against his solid form, and without an ounce of resistance, I curl into him like this is the most natural thing in the world.

“I don’t like not being able to tell the difference between my own thoughts and the ones you put there,” I admit.

He smooths my hair back with his palm and cradles the back of my head. “Your thoughts are your own. I simply evoked an image that you were already considering in that beautiful mind of yours.”

“I wasn’t imagining you spanking me with your belt until you made me think of it.”

Placing his pointer finger beneath my chin, he tips my head back. “If you listened to your own body as closely as I do, Ophelia, you would know that is not true.”

He seriously thinks he knows my body better than I do? I roll my eyes, and he narrows his. “You gasped when I took off my belt. Your heart rate increased in that exact moment.” He brushes the pad of his thumb over my lip. “I was unable to see the sparkling blue of your eyes because your pupils were so dilated. You do know why your pupils dilate?”

Adrenaline. Fear. Desire. “Of course I do. And I’ll remind you that I was watching you undress at the time.”

He hums. “Even if I discount the rest of your body language, the increase of blood flow, right here.” He slips his hand between my thighs and presses on my clit, sending a shockwave of pleasure ricocheting through my body. “Had already betrayed you. Blood never lies.”

Damn! I guess there’s no denying that. “How am I ever going to win with you?”

He shakes his head, his eyes twinkling with amusement. “You cannot, little one. I suggest you make your peace with that now.”

“So unfair.” A wave of exhaustion washes over me, and I rest my head on his chest. “Wait until I figure out how to use these powers, and I might just win occasionally.”

“You will win in all the ways that matter, Ophelia.” The deep timbre of his voice is so soothing that my eyes flutter closed. Who is this man, and what has he done with Professor Drakos?

Sleep threatens to claim me, and then I remember … “Why didn’t you tell them about Lucian?” I ask in a whisper, not trusting that I’m capable yet of speaking through our bond in such a way that the boys won’t hear me.

His muscles tense, but he goes on gently stroking my hair. “You can speak through our bond. Focus on speaking to me, and the boys will not hear.”

Why? I ask again.

Because I did not know how to tell them of a betrayal so profound that it changed the essence of my being. A pain so unfathomable and agonizing that the only way to live through it is to bury it so deeply that it can never be found.

I feel his pain. His anger. His betrayal. It threatens to swallow me whole. I found it.

I know.

A tear leaks from the corner of my eye. Was I not supposed to?

His weary sigh ruffles my hair, but he bands his arms tightly around me and rests his lips on the top of my head. It makes me feel like I’m wrapped in a safe little cocoon where nobody can hurt me. Nobody can hurt us. I knew it was a risk, but no, you were not supposed to learn of Lucian. Very few people know of his existence.

I’m sorry. I couldn’t help it.

I know, agápi mou. Your powers are greater than I anticipated.

My powers? I don’t feel them right now. The lightning that raced through my body earlier seems to have all but dissipated. Perhaps it was a fluke? Perhaps I am not powerful at all.

It was no fluke, Ophelia. But you burned up a lot of energy. You need rest, that is all, he says.

I feel so conflicted. My insides are churning. So do I have to keep this secret from the boys? What if I can’t? I don’t want to lie to them, but I don’t want to betray your trust either.

You already kept it from them earlier. You did not reveal that I had a son, even though I heard you think about him. Whether that was intentional or not, you were able to not communicate that thought to them.

I don’t know if it was intentional or not either, I admit, feeling so out of my depth that I’m afraid I’ll never get a handle on any of this. I yawn loudly.

I would ask that you keep it to yourself for the time being. We will tell them when the time is right.

But what if I⁠—

He cuts me off with a kiss—the kind that has me forgetting what day of the week it is. If you reveal it unintentionally, Ophelia, then I will not hold you responsible. I know I ask a great deal of you.

I run my fingers through his thick hair. My brain is clouded with exhaustion, but my body is awakening, sizzling with electricity as his tongue explores my mouth. My limbs instinctively wrap around him. But much too soon, he pulls back and leaves me panting. Wanting more. “Rest now.”

I don’t have the mental energy to argue with him, so I lay my head on his chest once more and allow sleep to claim me. And I dream of monsters and faces cloaked in shadow that speak to me of fire and blood.