Blood Legacy Read Online Free PDF Page B

it felt like eons. I wanted desperately to push myself off that couch, straighten my dress, and storm from the office and Bressov Industries forever, but it was like my muscles weren’t answering my brain’s call.
    “You are familiar with Vampyr lore,” Victor said finally. In this cathedral-like office, it sounded like a heavy pronouncement.
    “As much as we humans are expected to be.” I watched him, unmoving, one arm braced on the back of the couch and the other on its arm as he loomed over me. “Of course, when I was in Secondary school, they were still working hard to chisel away all memories of the Onyx Queen’s existence, so I’m sure there’s a lot I missed.”
    “But you know of the agonies . Souls who crave pain and torment—not just the kind found in bloodletting. All kinds. It gives them sustenance. Power.” He reached down toward me and brushed a loose strand of dark hair from my face, tucking it behind my ear with a gentleness I couldn’t have imagined from him.
    All I could manage was a weak nod in return.
    “An agonie ’s blood is a gift,” he continued. “Not meant for just any Vampyr to drink. His or her suffering, too, can empower the tormentor.” His finger trailed from my ear toward my collarbone, but this time, I didn’t sense the same eagerness in him to feel my pulse pounding away under his touch. His desire felt much more primitive than all that.
    I felt that same desire building in me like an echo. For all his cruelty, his infamous viciousness, this sudden tender touch pricked me just like his ring had when he struck me all those years ago. A phantom metallic taste danced on my tongue. “And I suppose someone poised to gain a seat on the Coven needs all the power he can get,” I said.
    “Among other things.”
    His fingers slipped under the neckline of my sheath dress to tenderly cup one breast. A soft gasp escaped my lips; a tingle ran from my breast on down. His bow-shaped lips twisted into a smirk as he swirled one fingertip slowly around the nipple, then struck with a fierce, harsh pinch.
    I flinched, but couldn’t stop myself from moaning. There was something delicious in the way the pain unfurled. How quickly pleasure could be sheared into torment, back and forth like a pendulum. But I couldn’t bring myself to believe in this agonie nonsense. Surely everyone enjoyed the punishment that came with sexual frustration and anticipation—I could hardly be alone in that.
    Could I?
    “You Vampyrs sure are a superstitious bunch, for people who invest so heavily in technology.”
    He snaked his hand back out of my dress and cupped the back of my neck, forcing my gaze back up toward his. “We’re undead, immortal monsters of unspeakable power,” he said. “What’s not to be superstitious about?”
    I laughed in spite of myself. My hand reached up to trace the lovely line of his nose, seemingly with a mind of its own; I was happy to let it. “Fine. Assume I am an agonie . I can’t imagine your kind wants a weak little mortal like me gaining more power.” Lord, but his skin felt exquisite—far from some rotted-out corpse, it was soft and silken, just begging me to caress it. I brought my other hand to graze his stomach, trailing along his fine tweed vest down to the inverted V where the two halves of the vest separated.
    “Yes,” Victor murmured, dipping his head down so his lips gusted hot breath against my ear, “there are some amongst my kind who might take issue with that.”
    “But not you.” My nails circled the buckle of his belt—something sleek, metallic, and expensive. Far too expensive for me to have the first clue how to unfasten it, but trying to figure it out provided a nice distraction from the voice in the back of my mind that demanded to know why I was trying to unfasten it in the first place.
    Victor’s tongue darted out to tap against my earlobe, sending a fresh wave of hunger rippling through me. “I’m known for taking risks.”
    He closed