Bloodless Desire

Chapter 12

Chapter 12: Absolute Friction

The heavy mahogany desk stood between them like a fragile barrier that had already lost its purpose. Analaya remained locked against Alejandro’s towering physique, her hands pressed flat against the cool, unyielding muscle of his broad chest. The sheer, intoxicating heat of his proximity rolled over her in dizzying waves, making her breath catch in her parched throat. He had just confessed to sewing the gothic black dress with his own hands, measuring her waist from memory in the dark, and the absolute vulnerability hidden beneath his lethal dominance was a drug she couldn't resist. Her green eyes were pinned to his crimson orbs, her pulse fluttering so wildly beneath his thumb that the dead silence of the study seemed to echo with the erratic rhythm.

Alejandro did not loosen his grip on her waist. His large palm remained anchored firmly at the small of her back, pulling her lower belly flush against his hard thighs. The fabric of her oversized green shirt offered no protection against the chilling, silk wrapped stone pressure of his body. He looked down at her with a dangerous, captivated smirk playing at the corners of his plush lips, his short jet black bob swaying slightly as he tilted his head to study the rapid rise and fall of her chest.

"You look entirely unraveled, little bird," Alejandro murmured softly, his deep velvet voice rich with that warm, rhythmic Caribbean lilt. He didn't lean away; instead, he deliberately shifted his hand from her jawline, his long, pale fingers trailing lazily down the sensitive column of her neck.

Analaya shivered, her teeth catching her lower lip as a sharp tremor of pure, unadulterated desire pooled heavy and low in her abdomen. She tried to steady her footing, tried to anchor her mind against the shameless, desperate necessity of her own attraction, but he was reading her body with a terrifying precision.

"You come into my sanctuary, dropping boxes and screaming of ghosts," Alejandro whispered, his velvet purr dropping into a low, vibratory pitch that thrummed straight through her collarbone. His cool fingers drifted lower, tracing the edge of her collarbone beneath the collar of her shirt, his touch so light it felt like ice melting against a furnace. "Yet you stand here completely defenseless against the very predator you claim to defy. Tell me, Analaya, what is it that you truly want from your king?"

"I don't want anything," she lied, her voice dropping into a shallow, broken gasp. She wanted to look away, wanted to hide the burning flush that had crawled completely up her neck, but his gaze held her captive.

"Another lie," Alejandro teased smoothly, his crimson eyes flaring with a sudden, predatory brilliance. He shifted his upper body, leaning over her until his chest pressed harder against her palms, his towering height completely blocking out the blue firelight from the hearth. "Your heart is screaming a completely separate story, little bird. It is demanding to be claimed."

Slowly, with an agonizingly deliberate momentum, Alejandro moved his lips toward her ear. He didn't bite, his fangs remaining hidden behind his plush mouth, but the cool brush of his lips against her sensitive skin made her entire frame go rigid. He let out a low, shallow breath, a cool draft that fanned the heat on her neck, before his teeth lightly, precisely grazed the soft flesh right beneath her earlobe.

The sensory overload was a physical blow to her restraint. Analaya’s eyes flew wide, her fingers instinctively curling into the dark fabric of his vest as a hot, liquid rush of absolute pleasure shattered her remaining defenses. Before her mind could even register the betrayal of her own senses, a loud, deep, and entirely unbidden moan tore from the very back of her throat, echoing loudly through the quiet, hollow spaces of the master study.

The sound hung in the freezing air like a confession.

Analaya froze completely, her breathing turning instantly into a horrified, ragged state as a massive wave of intense, suffocating embarrassment crashed over her chest. Oh my god, she thought, her heart hammering so violently it felt ready to burst through her ribs. She had actually moaned right into his ear, completely exposing the raw, desperate extent of how wet and helpless he could make her feel with nothing but a verbal tease and a graze of his lips.

Alejandro paused, his chest rising and falling heavily against hers as a dark, deeply satisfied chuckle vibrated through his muscular frame. His crimson eyes burned down into hers, filled with a triumphant, unyielding amusement that made her face burn with an unbearable, agonizing heat. He went to speak, his plush lips parting to anchor his victory, but the sheer shame of the moment gave Analaya a sudden, desperate surge of physical energy.

"Let me go!" she choked out, her voice cracking under the weight of her mortification.

Using all the strength left in her shaking limbs, she shoved her palms violently against his broad chest. Alejandro, momentarily caught off guard by the sheer, chaotic panic of her movement, allowed his grip on her waist to loosen just a fraction.

It was all the space she needed. Analaya tore herself out of his embrace, her bare feet hitting the mahogany floorboards in a frantic, wild scramble as she backed away toward the open double doors. Her long dark wavy hair fell like a messy shield over her burning face, her green eyes wide with a volatile mix of arousal and absolute horror. She didn't stay to hear his velvet voice finish the thesis. Turning on her heel, she sprinted out of the study, her feet flying over the cold marble corridors of the tower as she fled back toward the isolation of the east wing, her pulse roaring a deafening rhythm that drowned out the entire castle.