Bleed For Me (Loved By Gods #1)(9)

Well, she was. Clothes or no clothes. If he was an elder—

Apollo rose from the bed, stretching slowly, arching his back and raising his arms over his head. His fingertips pressed against the ceiling. His cock bobbed upward, shooting up from the thatch of blond hair at the top if his thighs.

Oh, my. She swallowed. The man sure was a delicious site to see first thing in the evening.

She could still taste him in her mouth. Taste the warm, strangely sweet flavor of his blood.

Her teeth clenched. “You didn’t answer my question.” Though she’d played the game and answered his. “You aren’t human, are you?” She’d bet her grandmother’s silver tea tray on that one.

He stalked toward her, his cock stretching, hardening even more. “No, I’m not.”

“Are you a vampire?” He hadn’t burned when they were in the sunlight together. So, that should mean that he wasn’t like her. But, maybe, if he was an elder—

Apollo shook his head. “Sorry, love, but I’m no vampire.” A pause. “I’m a god.”

Her mouth dropped open. “What?”

He was right in front of her now. His hand lifted, and he brushed back her hair, letting his fingers slide against the sensitive flesh of her neck. A shiver shook her body and goosebumps rose on her skin.

His head lowered toward hers. His lips hovered from her mouth. “You heard me.” His breath blew over her. “I’m a god. An immortal, all-powerful god.”

No, no freaking way. “Th-that’s not possible.” His fingers were stroking her throat and his touch felt so warm and good. And strangely right. But… “You can’t be a—”

He laughed again, that same warm, deep chuckle. “Love, you’re a vampire. If you can exist, then I can, too.”

She blinked. Well, yeah, that made sense. But, still—a god? “What kind of god?”

He sighed, a long-suffering sound. “I told you…immortal, all-powerful—”

“I heard that part,” she muttered as his fingers stroked her flesh. “But you’re not like, you know, the God.”

A faint chuckle. “No, I’m not him.”

“So, what, you’re the god of—of—” Heck, what were there gods of? “Um…rain? Or fire? Or war—”

“I’m the god of the sun.”

“Oh.” The sun. Pain knifed through her. He was the god of the sun. The sun she would never see again, not if she wanted to keep living. Her gaze roved over him. It figured he’d be the sun god with that thick blond mane of his and all that perfect, golden skin.

Well, hell. She’d gone out, desperate to find prey, hoping with all her being that she wouldn’t accidentally drink too much and kill the human she selected, and she’d wound up with…a god.

The sun god.

Fate could be such a cruel bitch sometimes. Swiping at her eyes, at the stupid tears she could feel welling, Terese pulled away from him and stumbled back a few steps. “Where’s my dress? I…um…really need to be going.”

“So that’s it?” His hands fell to his sides. “You screw me, you drink from me, then you walk away?”

She felt that hit straight in her heart. A heart she was surprised she still had. Her chin lifted. “That was my general plan, yes.” As tempting as Apollo was, she couldn’t stay with him. It would be too dangerous, for both of them.

A muscle flexed along his iron-hard jaw. “Is that what you do? You go out every night and find some guy to f*ck and suck?”

Fuck and suck. She flinched. “N-no. Y-you were the first.” Not the first guy she’d ever made love to, because back when she’d been human, she’d had lovers. But since her change, she hadn’t wanted to be with a man. Hadn’t wanted a lover to see the monster she’d become.

And the idea of drinking from someone, of taking a man’s blood…it had repelled her. Terrified her. What if I lost control? What if I took too much blood and accidentally killed my prey?

She’d gone as long as she could without feeding. But the hunger had burned her constantly and her body had trembled with pain. When the red haze of bloodlust swam before her eyes, she’d broken.

She’d gone to Hades and found Apollo.

Apollo moved in a blur. He grabbed her by the arms and pinned her against the wall. The sheet caught between their bodies. “Don’t lie to me,” he ordered. “You were no virgin. I wasn’t the first you’d taken to your bed—”

“Since my change, you were,” she snapped right back.

His eyes narrowed and his fingers bit into her flesh. “You said you changed a month ago.”

She nodded. “I’ve had lovers but that was before—” Before Eric. Before her life had turned into a waking nightmare of blood and death.

She swallowed to clear the lump in her throat and finished, “Before I turned into a vampire.” She closed her eyes to shut out the sight of his angry eyes and tight features. After-sex scenes sucked whether you were human or vamp. “Now, can I just get my dress so that I can get the hell out of here?”

His hand lifted and his fingers wrapped around her. “No.”

Her eyes flew open. “Give. Me. My. Dress.” The guy had sliced her apart with his questions and his asinine accusations. Suck and f*ck. Now she just wanted to get away. She’d run back to her shabby little temporary home and lick her wounds.