Blood Flows Deep in the Empire Read Online Free Page A

All he felt were the humans inside the apartment buildings.
    Why is she running? And where the hell is she going?
    “Ismini! Stop!”
    He saw her come to a stop. When he saw her clutching her chest, an odd stab of worry went through him.
    He decided to hell with it and dematerialized once more. “Ismini,” he said, appearing behind her.
    He was shocked by the changes in her. She’d been a child the last time he’d seen her. A chubby, awkward child. But it was a short, athletic woman standing in front of him.
    He grabbed her shoulder, tensing as she gasped. Something warm rushed through him. He barely stopped himself from clenching his hand as every muscle in him seemed to jump to attention. Dyletri reminded himself that one wrong move from him and he could crush her. Still, it was difficult, especially when she continued to pant in front of him.
    He swallowed, trying like hell to ignore the warmth he felt rise up in him.
    Familiar big gray eyes stared up at him from a dainty face he did not remember. It was different, pretty, but foreign to him. No longer childlike, it was appealing in a way that surprised him. He focused on the specks of hazel in in her eyes, and his heart sped up, his confusion giving way to something else.
    Something dangerous.
    Ismini stared up at him, fear rolling off her. He could see it in her eyes. Smell it in the air around her. The girl was shaking like a leaf, making him frown. He ground his teeth as a dangerous ripple went through him. What had frightened her? Had someone tried to hurt her?
    I’ll kill them.
    He blinked, the thought surprising him even as he began to question her. “Why were you running, Ismini? What’s wrong?”
    She didn’t answer but continued to stare up at him with an unblinking, terrified expression.
    Her legs gave out, and she started to slide down the wall. Unable to let go of her shoulder, Dyletri followed, kneeling beside her.
    “What’s wrong?” he asked, his voice lowering.
    Her lips parted in response, and the movement made him gasp. Her scent barreled into him, the taste of her fear and . . . something else. Something overwhelming.
    As confused as he was, there was no denying the way his blood was heating up. His muscles bulged. All of them . For the first time in millennia, a sharp slap of arousal hit him, diving straight into his lower abs.
    “Ismini . . .”
    Control yourself, Dy.
    Almost as if he’d been removed from his body, he watched his hand leave her shoulder. It rose, not stopping until it was on her skin. Cupping her face. Electricity shot out of him and into her once more. She felt it. He knew she did. Her pupils dilated and she gasped.
    “Why were you running?” he asked.
    Dyletri tried to make sense of how she was causing such a reaction in him. Sure, she’d grown up to be beautiful—he’d have to be fucking blind not to notice—but he was around goddesses and beautiful females all the time, and none of them made him feel such a craving. He hadn’t felt anything even close to desire since he’d locked his powers away.
    Dyletri’s cock swelled, making him shift uncomfortably. Shifting was bad, however. He realized that any movement his body made served to bring him closer to Ismini. Her skin was as soft as it looked, the heat of it leaking into his palm. He examined her face before fixating on her parted lips.
    They were the very definition of tempting. One glance and his shaft swelled further, becoming painful.
    Without realizing what he was doing, he leaned toward those parted lips, his eyes frozen on the bottom one. His thumb moved, ghosting across the plump moist flesh. Ismini’s breath hitched. He heard another shocked gasp escape her, and groaned in response.
    Then, highlighted across her skin, he saw something he hadn’t seen for eleven thousand years.
    Light. Pulses of white light reflected off the surface of Ismini’s cheek. Light that was coming from him, from his veins. The powers that had lain dormant inside