She caught Katie’s arm as she started to walk away. “I’d be honoured to drink from you.”

“What? Really?” Katie said.

“Yes.”

The door to the blood room opened as another vampire came in ready to feed. Alexis turned around and gave them a hard stare. “Leave.”

“Yes, Duca,” the vampire said quickly.

The last thing Katie needed was an audience for her first time. Alexis locked the door with the key. “So we won’t be disturbed.”

Katie started to undo the first few buttons on her blouse. Alexis walked up to her and stilled her hand. “You do know you have the choice of wrist or neck?”

“Yes, Duca.”

“The most important thing to remember is that in here, you are in charge. Don’t let any vampire influence you about where to feed, or whether to feed at all. You always have the right to change your mind, at any point.”

Katie nodded.

“And if any vampire in our clan does not respect your rights, or tries to influence you, report it to me, or your mother and father, understand?”

“Yes, I do.”

Alexis felt the corners of her mouth rise into a smile. That was out of character. “Good.” She walked around to Katie’s back. “And you want to give me your neck?”

She saw Katie shiver and the pulse point in her neck pound. Alexis’s teeth broke through her gums at the sight, and her mouth watered. The hunger she had felt in her gut was even more demanding.

This wasn’t normal for her. She never needed someone like this—well, never since she had fed from the only woman she’d ever loved. That thought was ridiculous.

Just feed from her and get out of here.

Alexis took a step closer and pulled Katie’s blouse around her shoulders. She inhaled sharply when her fingers touched Katie’s skin and felt Katie shiver. This encounter was making her feel, and it scared her, but she couldn’t turn back.

Just do it.

She moved closer so that her lips were next to Katie’s ear. She closed her eyes and inhaled Katie’s sweet perfume. It was intoxicating to her.

“Do you consent?”

“Yes, Duca,” Katie said in such a breathy, wanting voice.

Alexis’s hunger, and now her sex, burned with need. This wasn’t about a lesson any more, it wasn’t just feeding—it was a need. Alexis needed Katie.

She sank her incisors into Katie’s neck, and before she even tasted her blood, Alexis was lost in the taste of Katie’s skin. Then Katie’s blood hit her tongue, and she experienced both shock and unbelievable bliss at the same time. Alexis sucked harder, and after Katie’s initial gasp, the feel-good chemicals hit, and she relaxed in Alexis’s arms.

Alexis’s head swam with what she could only describe as joy. She was sating a hunger that she didn’t know she’d had since Victorija Dred first turned her and destroyed her humanity.

She should stop, but it just wasn’t an option. Alexis stepped even closer and pushed her groin into Katie’s bottom. Katie responded by groaning and slipping her hand into Alexis’s hair and pulling her into her neck even more.