4. (JO POV)

(JO POV)

"Please... be careful? Take it slow? I'd rather not be drained dry? I'm not even sure what to say here." I sighed, a mix of resignation and an inexplicable trust in him dawning within me. 

"It's okay, kitten. You don't have to know what to say right now," he reassured me with a smile. He wasn't even trying to hide that giddy boyish anticipation in his eyes anymore. He said he was ancient, but judging by that look, I wasn't sure of the validity of that claim. It was almost... Endearingly cute. 

He smiled as he took my hand and pulled me to him, repositioning until he was on his knees on the bed in front of me. 

He shifted me so I straddled him, his arms wrapping around me. 

"Don't worry if you scratch me. I'm a big boy... I can take it," he whispered near my ear as my hands found his shoulders. I realized then why he kept calling me kitten. I must have scratched the hell out of him on the way to this room.

His charm and disarming confidence coaxed a giggle out of me. The sound was so foreign and unexpected that it surprised us both. He smiled, then extended his fangs. The sound was so loud in the quiet room, it made me jump in his arms.

Once I settled back down in his lap, he asked playfully, "Do you want to touch them?" I could only nod, my curiosity overriding my fear.

He leaned back, offering me a full view of his proud and slightly naughty smile. Tentatively, I reached out and touched a fang, tracing it down to the point. He quickly retracted them, "No, don't pierce your skin yourself."

I nodded, sensing the danger in his warning. He pulled me back against his chest, extending his fangs again, this time more carefully, keeping his mouth closed to muffle the sound.

The shaking started, a visceral reaction to the anticipation, fear, and budding excitement. "Shhh, kitten," he whispered against my skin. He kissed my neck softly, a surprisingly gentle action that made me gasp before he finally bit down.

The pain was sharp, a bright flash that receded almost instantly, replaced by a wave of passion that flooded my senses. My instinct was to pull away, but his muscular arms flexed against my back, holding me steady. My body tensed, then relaxed into an intense, unfamiliar ecstasy, his strong arms continuing to hold me securely against him as he fed. 

The experience was unlike anything I had imagined. It was totally terrifying, undeniably exhilarating, and deeply intimate all at the same time. 

Most shockingly, as the intensity of the sensation grew, so did an inexplicable trust in him. 

The intensity of the moment seized us both, a shared intimacy that neither of us could have anticipated. As he fed on me, the sensations overwhelmed my reasoning, drawing me deeper into the experience, into him. My hands found his hair instinctively, lightly tugging and playing with it as he rolled his head slightly with my touch. 

When he finally pulled back, his chest was heaving from the intensity. He immediately tended to the trickle of blood as it ran down my neck, carefully licking it away. 

Taking my hand in his, he guided me to pierce the pad of his pointer finger, demonstrating the force needed to break the skin. "You need to be healed now... and you have a couple of choices," he whispered, "Either I can do what I did to the cut on your head... or you can drink it."

"Me, drink your blood? Why?" The question came out more curious than horrified, the previous sensations leaving me open to possibilities I would have never considered before.

"It'll make you heal far faster, and... that... tingle you just felt... it's way better when you've had my blood." The offer, so casually made, held an allure that was hard to deny.

I hesitated for only a moment before attempting to taste his blood, only to find the wound already healed. My disappointment must have been evident as I pouted and pulled his finger out of my mouth. 

His laughter vibrated against me. "Told you, I'm old. I heal fast. But... Now you do it," he said as he held his hand out to me and encouraged me to try again. With a mixture of trepidation and excitement, I reached up, guiding his hand to use his fang to pierce his finger again.

Without a second thought, I took his finger into my mouth, and the following sensation was nothing short of transcendent. A profound dizziness washed over me, and the flood of hunger and energy coursing through my veins overpowered my senses.

 My eyes flew open in shock, only to find his closed, a look of elation on his face as he shared in the sensations rippling through us both.

As the sensations slowly ebbed, leaving a lingering warmth and a sense of profound connection, I realized that this moment had irrevocably changed something in me and between us. 

Dane wasn't just a vampire, and I wasn't just a human being used for sustenance. We were something more, something more profound, connected by an experience that transcended the barriers of our respective natures.

"Mmmm," Dane murmured. Gently, he pulled me down to the bed with him, rearranging our positions until I was lying in front of him, his body spooning mine from behind. His arms wrapped around me tightly, surrounding me with an odd sense of security I did not expect to feel when given this punishment.

 I felt an overwhelming sense of protection and desire radiating from him. He wanted me there with him physically and in every other possible way.

 He didn't have to say it out loud. I knew. I could feel it. 

It was like having a direct line to his heart, an exhilarating and terrifying connection in its ardency.

I could feel his hard-on pressing against my thigh, a blatant reminder of the physical aspect of such a connection. It was no secret that vampires often enjoyed feeding and sex in tandem. 

 Yet, based on the rules laid out upon my arrival... sex wasn't allowed for criminal wards. The knowledge left me wondering about the implications of where this could possibly lead under the academy's strict regulations.

He sighed as he buried his face in my hair. "Wow, Jo... you are special," he whispered.

"That was exceptional... is it only that intense the first time for, uhh... blood virgins?" I asked.

He chuckled softly, the sound resonating through his chest against my back. "Well, yes and no... it always feels like that when a human and vampire feed on one another during sex."

 "I was told there isn't any sex," I replied, thinking back to the strict guidelines that were supposed to govern our interactions.

He sighed again. "There isn't. Well... On academy grounds, anyway."