“She’s nice,” I agreed, earning a chuckle I didn’t quite understand. “I can be ready to go in a minute.” I looked around the room, trying to remember what I’d done with the small purse I’d been carrying yesterday. By now, my cell phone had to be dead. Panic began to set in when I realized that I’d failed to text Olivia at all. She was probably freaking out, and if she was freaking out, she might have called my mother and–
“Wait,” he interrupted the runaway train of thoughts in my head. “I’d like to give you a proper good morning.”
“A proper what?” I asked in confusion. He gave me a meaningful look that turned my core into molten lava. Suddenly my arousal and my anxiety were dancing around each other. I had no idea which would win. “Oh. I mean, that’s not...I...”
“That’s not what, pet?”
“You don’t have to. I’m not mad anymore,” I said quickly.
His jaw clenched, and he turned away from me. When he finally looked back, his eyes were the color of midnight.
“Oh!” I took a step away.
“I’m going to have to insist.” His teeth remained clenched together as he spoke, and I couldn’t help noticing that his fangs had lengthened.
It was what happened last night, but this time I had no idea what had set it off. That’s why he’d been so annoyed when he came into the room. Was he going to do this every time I saw him? That would get old fast unless he followed it up the way he had last night.
I bit my lip, torn between needing to check in with my friend and wanting him to erase all thoughts of anyone but him from my mind.
“It’s very hard to resist you when you do that, pet,” he seethed.
“Huh?” I asked, and he relaxed a bit as I released my lip. Oh, that. He took a step closer, but I held up a hand to stop him. “Is this...normal? The blood-lust, I mean?”
He shook his head.
Somehow I already knew that. “Is there something I can do to help?” It was hard to even ask, because part of me selfishly wanted to keep him in this primal state, where he cared only about pleasuring me. But underneath the predator, I sensed pain. It wasn’t just something he couldn’t control. Staying in this state was hurting him.
“Only three things can sate blood-lust,” he said in a strained voice.
I was thoroughly introduced to the first method last night, but I wouldn’t mind a refresher. “Do whatever you need.” I cleared my throat, trying to sound less emotional about the idea of offering myself to him completely. “I’m yours.”
“That’s a dangerous invitation to give a vampire,” he growled.
“What will it take?” I asked, edging closer to him. “To make you feel better?”
He shook his head, but as soon as I was within reach, his hand shot out and grabbed my sweater. Drawing me closer, he pulled me roughly against him. With one swift motion, Julian lifted me from my feet and carried me to a chair. I felt a flash of disappointment he didn’t take me back to his bed, but he quickly distracted me. Sinking into the seat, I found myself straddling him. If there was any doubt this was blood-lust, the rock-hard erection pressing into me erased it. A strong hand wrapped around my neck and guided my lips to his.
The kiss was full of a hunger so achingly deep it made my soul hurt. I couldn’t kiss him hard enough or deep enough to satisfy the need I felt. Was this what he was fighting? Did he want me this badly? Could humans experience blood-lust, too?
He continued to explore my mouth even as his hands crept under the cashmere covering my breasts and found my nipples. I moaned into his mouth as he began to massage them. He did it gently at first. Then his touch became rougher until I was gasping with pleasure. He twisted and played with the sensitive buds, earning me jolts of pleasure that suggested there was so much more to come. Julian pulled away and yanked the sweater over my head. Tossing it to the ground, he bent and took my left breast in his mouth. His tongue flickered possessively over the hardened tip, and I felt myself spiraling inward. When he dragged a fang across my tortured skin I found myself bucking against the hard bulge in his pants.
“That’s right,” he coaxed as I ground against him. “Show me how beautiful you are when you come, pet.”
A strangled cry escaped my lips, but I didn’t stop. I couldn’t. He returned to worshipping my breasts, and I felt my release build. If it was like this with most of our clothes still on, how much better would it be if he were inside me? I knew all the reasons I shouldn’t ask him for that, but I couldn’t deny how much I wanted it–how much I wanted him.
“Don’t stop,” I urged him as he moved to pleasure the other one. He clamped his mouth over its peak and sucked so hard that I felt his fangs needling my skin.
“Come for me, pet,” he ordered, grabbing hold of my hair and jerking my head back to extend my neck. His lips moved up and hovered over the exposed flesh.
Without thinking, I asked for the only thing that could make this moment better. The only thing I wanted more than this. “Julian, bite me.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
JULIAN
“Julian, bite me.”
I didn’t think twice. I plunged my fangs into her neck, ready to savor blood that had called to me since the moment I saw Thea. It spilled hot and fast over my tongue, but I tasted nothing. The promise of her cantatio–her blood-song–remained unfulfilled. I drank harder, desperate to sate the gnawing hunger inside me. And then she went limp in my arms.
No! I snapped myself out of the fantasy just as my fangs extended, nearly nicking the delicate skin of her throat. It took every last ounce of my self-control to stop myself from fulfilling her request. Instead, I stood up, dumping Thea onto the floor in the process.
“What the..!” She stared up at me, reaching to rub her backside.
I wanted to kneel down to check on her, but I resisted the urge.
“I warned you never to offer a vampire your blood,” I said through gritted teeth.
“I didn’t think that after last night…” she trailed off. There were tears in her voice, and I couldn’t resist looking down to see how badly I’d hurt her feelings.
I didn’t find rejection on Thea’s face. I found defiance. She glared at me, lifting her chin as though to prove that she was offended, not hurt. But I’d heard the pain in her voice. I knew the truth. She was hurt and she refused to show it. I found myself impressed with my little pet. Still, I couldn’t reward her for putting her neck on the line. Literally.
“I won’t drink your blood,” I said firmly.
She opened her mouth and shut it again quickly. Finally, she spoke, “But it would help, wouldn’t it? You said there were other ways to sate your blood-lust.”
I ignored her and walked across the room to find the stupid, tiny phone Sebastian gave me. It was on the nightstand.
“Wouldn’t it?” she repeated, refusing to be so easily dismissed. She got to her feet and moved to the other side of the bed.
