Page 185 of Galaxy Circus Act One

“Link,” I grind out. “I am hanging onto my sanity by a very fine thread. You need to back away very slowly and put some distance between us.”

“Why, Lila? I won’t mind if you drink from me if it will help you.” Link’s words snap that thread, and I pounce, moving so fast that I have him on his back beneath me on the bed before he has even realized what’s happened.

Lila

Link blinks up at me adorably from where I have him pinned to the hospital bed, but I’m lost to the bloodlust. A quiet, continuous growl rumbles from my chest as I run my nose along the length of his neck. His hands grip my hips as I grind against him, my bloodlust making the other kind rise as well. I watch as his pupils dilate, swallowing the silver irises until they are no longer visible. I stroke my hands down his body as I settle myself comfortably on top of him, pleased that he’s pinned and unable to move.

I use my tongue to probe the thick vein in his neck, plumping it before striking hard. He stiffens and grunts at the sharp bite of pain, but soon enough, my venom kicks in and he becomes loose and compliant beneath me as his blood flows into my mouth.Holy crap, it’s like drinking an energy drink—sharp, tangy, and delicious. I feel his fingers tighten on my hips as I grind down harder onto his erection, dry humping him as I drink, and he thrusts up, doing the same. It’s not long before our teenage style movements have me on the crest of an orgasm.

One of his hands slides into my yoga pants and under my soaked panties. I groan as he thrusts two fingers deep into my pulsing channel, but then they start to grow, shifting and moving until they completely fill the space. I release the suction on his neck and throw my head back, moaning loudly as he pounds them in and out. It doesn’t take long before I’m flying over the edge, my orgasm ripping its way through my body. I’m not sure how long I ride the wave of pleasure, but when I finally come down, I’m panting hard, and I drop down against Link’s body. He removes his fingers, which have now returned to normal, and sticks them into his mouth, sucking them clean.

“You taste so fucking good,” he rumbles in a low voice before wrapping his arms around me and leaning in to kiss me. Before he can, I hold my hand up and place it across his mouth, stopping him. He raises an eyebrow, unable to question me with my hand on his lips.

“Blood breath,” I explain, flushing slightly, and he pushes my hand away.

“I don’t care,” he tells me, but instead of letting him kiss me, I push up and shuffle down the bed, reaching for his pants.

“But I do,” I mumble, unable to look him in the eyes. Tugging at his zipper, I try to undo his pants to return the favor, but he places his hand over mine and stops me.

“Lila, I’m fine. Your venom combined with your sweet little body grinding on me and your own orgasm proved to be my undoing. I’m going to need a change of pants.” He grins, not embarrassed in the least, and it’s contagious. I feel my own smile spread across my lips.

“Does that count as mutual orgasms?” I ask, climbing off of him and helping him sit up. I took quite a bit of blood, and I don’t want him to feel light-headed.

He shakes his head. “No exchange of body fluids, so we’re good,” he says, reaching up and feeling around his neck. There’s no wound because I remembered to swipe my tongue across it when I let go. “Vilaxian venom is really quite amazing,” he says when he pulls his hand away and sees that there’s no blood.

“Are you okay? I didn’t take too much. It’s weird, but there’s like this thing inside of me that tells me when you’ve had enough. It was the same with Xavier too. Saxon, not so much. We were kind of in a sexual bloodlust frenzy, so I wasn’t paying attention, but he seemed fine after. I think.”

“He was, and so am I,” Link assures me. “How are you feeling? More emotionally stable now?”

I smile goofily at him, patting my stomach. “I feel great. I’m as full as a leech and feeling pretty fucking amazing after that orgasm. I think after some real food, I could probably sleep for a day. It seems like so much has happened in the last forty-eight hours.”

Link slides off the bed and pulls me into a hug. I rest my head against his chest and sigh with contentment. “So much has happened! I think a meal and chilling in our quarters sounds like a good plan. I know you probably want to see Susie and explore the ship since you haven’t had a chance to yet, but that can all wait until tomorrow, or the next day. We have plenty of time to do all of that, and I want to make sure all of my readings are correct.”

A yawn creeps up on me, and I slap a hand over my mouth. I was going to argue with him, but now I can’t, so I nod. “Okay. How about we go past your quarters so you can get changed and grab a few things to move into mine? The guys can help you withthe rest tomorrow. In fact, I bet Xavier would just teleport it all there and save us the work.”

He chuckles and pulls away, grabbing my hand. “You may be right. Okay, let’s do this, my pants are starting to feel uncomfortable.”

We leave the private room, and I give John a kiss on the forehead on the way past. Link checks all his vitals before we leave, satisfied with the readouts. He locks up the clinic, and we move in the direction of the elevator.

“I will probably return here after dinner. I don’t want to leave him alone for long periods of time.”

I feel my bottom lip drop in a brief pout, but I mentally slap myself.

Get over yourself, Lila, he’s looking out for your grandpa. Stop being so selfish.

“I understand. I appreciate all the professional care you’re giving both me and Grandpa J,” I tell him as he stops in front of a door halfway between the clinic and the elevator.

“Lila, I would do just about anything for you,” he says, kissing my cheek before putting his hand up on the entrance panel.

The door slides back, and we step into a living area. It’s decorated in a minimalist style. He has the typical picture window, like all the other rooms I’ve been in, but the rest of the room is different than any others. There is no dining table or kitchen, just a replicator in the corner. The rest of the room is filled with a huge sofa, and the surrounding walls are covered by book-filled shelves.

“Oh my god,” I whisper as I turn in a semicircle, taking in all the books. You would think with the advanced technology that he would just use a tablet or something, but no, these are all leather-bound, paper-filled books. The room smells amazing. I stop at one shelf that is built around a fireplace. “Does thatwork?” I ask him, gesturing to it, and he smiles. He walks over to it and flicks a button on the wall, and it leaps to life.

I throw my hands up in the air. “That’s it, you can’t move into my place. How could you abandon all of this? That’s not right. I’ll have to move here.” His face had fallen, but he’s chuckling again by the time I finish.

“I’m sure we can figure out a way to move it all to your quarters. If you told your grandpas, they’d arrange to have your room extended and redesigned next time we are back on Skarr.” He turns his back to me and heads in the direction of his bedroom, while I run my finger over the length of a spine.

“What are all of these about?” I call to him.