Passion of the Vampire King (Blood Fire Saga Book 5) by Bella Klaus (best motivational books txt) 📗

Valentine’s erection, Valentine’s fangs slicing through my skin. The way he would fill me with cold fluid as he—

I bolted upright, my eyes flying open.

I was suffering withdrawal from thrall.

“Bloody hell.” My throat dried, and I placed a hand over my chest, trying to catch my breath.

I hadn’t fully believed Valentine when he said I might become addicted because he had kept me topped up with a daily dose of vampire bites and sex—except for yesterday when I had insisted that we dealt with Jonathan.

“Shit.”

My core muscles clenched, and my folds became slick with moisture. I needed it. Needed him—anything he could offer, be it kisses or sex or thrall. Was this how Coral had felt when the vampire she’d moved on to after Lazarus had gotten her addicted? When she’d told me her story, I hadn’t understood what she’d meant about paying him for bites, but I would give Valentine anything for whatever he was willing to give.

I curled up into a ball, clutching my stomach, curling my fists, and squeezing my eyes shut. No amount of meditation or deep breathing could sand off the jagged edges of this withdrawal.

Time passed. It could have been hours or days or weeks. I couldn’t tell because my need for Valentine consumed everything. My head throbbed like a speaker box, wiping out thought and sending pain along every nerve ending. If I couldn’t get this under control, something inside me would rupture.

Without meaning to, I wrapped my trembling fingers around the diamond engagement ring and concentrated my thoughts on Valentine. The last time I used the call stone, it had taken me straight to his corpse. This time—

The door slammed open, and a loud roar shook my eardrums. “What the hell are you doing to me, woman?”

I jolted upright to find Hades standing at the foot of my chaise in a sweat-dampened robe looking as desperate as I felt.

Chapter Eighteen

Hades clapped his hands together, and Namara stepped into the bathroom looking like an imp. She hovered at the door as the Demon King stormed toward me, his eyes glowing amber with the fire of his fury.

His burgundy silk dressing gown gaped open, revealing the contours of his chest and abs. At any other time, my gaze might have wandered down to see if he was wearing burgundy boxers, but nausea spasmed through my insides, making me clutch my stomach and moan.

Hades doubled over, his hands over his middle. Namara hurried to his side, her amber eyes wide.

“You wanted to know what’s wrong with me?” He pointed a trembling finger between my eyes. “It’s this infernal creature who has the nerve to tremble in my presence after she’s infected my magnificent body.”

The imp glanced from Hades to me, her mouth forming a perfect O.

I clenched my teeth, trying to process a fresh surge of agony that made the Demon King stop halfway between the door and the end of my chaise and groan. Beads of sweat poured down my brow, and I wiped them away with the back of my hand.

“What’s wrong with you?” Hades staggered to my side and lowered himself on the end of the chaise. “Do you need a chamber pot and enema? I thought you were joking about the trapped wind—”

“I need Valentine,” I said with a moan.

Hades turned to Namara, his face twisted with anguish. “Send the girl to Koffie. It’s an establishment in Putney—”

“He’s not there,” I murmured.

“Where is he?” He clutched at the chaise’s golden frame. “For the entire night and half the bloody day, you’ve sent me an overwhelming desire to wrap my lips around some vampire’s purpling cock head.”

If I wasn’t already so feverish, heat would have risen to my cheeks and I might have dipped my head. Right now, I was in too much agony to care.

“How are you doing this?” He wrapped a large hand around my ankle and gave me a rough shake. “I wasn’t even touching you.”

“Water,” I rasped.

Namara clip-clopped across the room with a glass of clear liquid.

“Thanks.” I gulped down mouthful after cool mouthful, sighing as the fluid moistened my dry throat and washed the taste of bitter desperation from my tongue.

This was no ordinary tap water, and it probably wasn’t even anything you could get from the Human World. It tasted a little like diluted waterkiwi, one of the most refreshing beverages available in Logris. I pushed away thoughts of dehydration and electrolytes, and tried to drain the glass.

The more I drank, the lighter Hades’ breathing became until he pushed himself off the bed and loomed over me with his eyes flashing like an angry god. “Keep drinking.”

I pulled the glass away from my lips and frowned, noticing that it was still full. “What is this?”

“Something Namara ordered for my fever and didn’t work,” he said through clenched teeth. “When the Panacea water couldn’t heal me, I immediately thought about my little parasite.”

Every inch of skin bristled at the accusation, and I sat straighter on the chaise, baring my teeth. “Talk about ungrateful,” I snapped. “It’s not me who needed your blood to survive.”

Hades hissed and turned to Namara, snarling, “Breathe a word of this—”

“And you’ll chop me into pieces and feed them to the three-headed dog,” she said with a bright smile that said Hades had done this to someone else before and she had enjoyed the spectacle.

I exhaled a long sigh. The water had been great, but my stomach needed filling. Ignoring the other part of me that also needed filling, I turned to Hades. “May I have something to eat?”

“Will you be able to keep it down?”

My mouth fell open. Why would he ask a question like that unless he’d been having problems keeping down his food? I clamped my lips shut and nodded.

Hades shot me an annoyed glance before limping toward the exit with Namara at his heels. The imp placed a hand on his arm, but he shook her off. She slowed her steps and gave him space to continue