I sighed, my eyes sliding closed.
Hands kneaded my breasts, sending an electric cascade of shivers over every inch of my skin. My panting breath drifted away in frozen puffs as that electricity pooled between my legs, pulsing and tingling.
I twisted, wrapping my arms around the neck of a tall, dark-haired male with skin as light as moonlit snow. An exquisite face stared back at me, too beautiful to be real, his pale eyes full of hunger as they flickered over my face.
“Aliza.” His lips moved, but my name shivered inside me instead of drifting to my ears. A siren’s call. A plea.
Lightning skittered across the cloudless sky, a blinding flash that threw his beautiful features into sharp relief. I lifted onto the toes of my skates and kissed him.
I woke with a gasp.
It took a good few seconds to realise I was still in the tent, not out on the ice, and that it was Pansy lying beside me, not a hauntingly beautiful prince…
My heart thumped against my ribs, robbing me of my breath.
God, what was wrong with me? I clenched my thighs together, trying to push away the throb between them. It was no good. I needed air. I needed… I knew what I needed, and I certainly wasn’t going to get it.
The night air was cool on my flushed skin as I crawled out from under the flap and knelt on the ground. The camp was fast asleep, and thanks to my early night, I had no idea who’d taken watch. I peered through the dying glow of the fire, and saw Hyacinth’s faintly glowing silhouette leaning against a tree with her back to me. As silently as I could, I crept between the tents and into the deeper dark of the woods.
I hadn’t forgotten my disastrous afternoon, but I couldn’t bring myself to look up. If I was going to be mummified and have my insides liquefied, maybe it was better to not see it coming.
I was only slightly surprised to find the vampire sitting on a half-fallen tree, his legs swinging idly. Had he always been that waifishly handsome, or was my mind well and truly in the gutter?
“Jacques,” I said, my voice soft to avoid alerting anyone, or anything, to my presence.
He smiled, his lip ring dark against his stark teeth. “Aliza.”
He pushed off the branch, landing without a sound, and prowled closer.
“I almost died today.” I wasn’t sure why I felt the need to share with him.
“I know.”
What was the point of having a supernatural stalker if he didn’t come to my aid every now and again? “Much use you were.”
He huffed a breath through his nose and came to a halt before me. “You had your witches.”
“Why are you following me if you’re not going to protect me?”
“Who says I am not protecting you? My kind is feared by most. My presence here keeps you safer by night.”
That explained why our camps had been left untouched so far. “We teleported here. How did you find us?”
“I am a hunter, faster and more efficient than any of nature’s creations, and my kingdom lies beneath your feet, ma belle. A great spiderweb of darkness beneath the ground, allowing me to travel undetected and untouched by the sun.”
“Don’t talk about spiders.” Shuddering, I wrapped my arms around myself. “I’ve had enough of them.”
Jacques gave me a wicked smile. “Comme tu veux.”
“The witches think we’re close.” I wasn’t exactly sure why I volunteered the information when the vampire was basically a stranger, and a suspicious one at that, but I had few friends in this world. I was under no illusion that he was one, not with his penchant for human blood, but he made pretending easy. He was the first person I’d met in this God-forsaken place, and I was coming to enjoy our little chats, even if I didn’t understand half of what he said. “I’ll probably die tomorrow.”
He stepped closer still, his star-bright eyes as sympathetic as I’d ever seen them. Had any other human glimpsed pity in a vampire’s gaze?
“Non, ma cherie. Tomorrow you will break the curse.” His nostrils flared, and his soft, gleaming gaze sharpened. “What have you been thinking about, ma belle?”
My thighs clenched again, my heart quickening. Could he smell me, and the dream I’d had? God, I hoped not. Then again…
“Why haven’t you bitten me? Is it because you need me to break the curse?”
I expected him to deny any such thing, but his piercing gaze dropped to my neck, as though he was imagining his teeth piercing me instead. “Yes.”
“Oh.” My belly flipped, half fear, half insanity-fuelled excitement. “Then, you wouldn’t hurt me no matter what?”
The muscles in his sharp jaw flickered. “I need you to live long enough to save us all.”
I drifted closer. Did I have a death wish? Was I still dreaming? Whatever was happening, my mind had turned to candy floss, and the need between my legs grew more demanding with every beat of my heart. Cool breath fanned over my face, and my eyelids fluttered. My skin tingled, waiting to be touched by something other than air. I didn’t care if I died. I was doomed either way, I may as well go out on my own terms.
“Is that all humans are good for? Food and curse breaking?”
“I too was human, once. I believe our kind are good for many things.”
“Oh?” The word was nothing more than a sigh. I dared to slide my hands up his chest. Why shouldn’t I? He’d touched me, the last time we met. I wanted him to touch me now. To relieve me of the need my dream had left behind.
Jacques’ breath came heavier, but his hands remained at his sides.
“What would happen if you kissed me?”
Faster than I could see, his hand shot to my jaw, forcing my head back. A tree collided with my spine, knocking the breath out of me, and with Jacques’ cool lips skimming my neck, I couldn’t remember how to take another.
