The Way You Bite(21)

If circumstances were different, and he wasn’t who he was with too much political responsibility to his species, and she wasn’t who she was, he’d have definitely enjoyed the chase. He’d be damned if staring at all her smooth skin didn’t make his mouth water with need to taste her. And her scent…it alone could be addicting.

He moved her to the bedroom. For endless minutes he stood above her. As he gazed at her slumbering form, animal instinct gripped him hard. She’s mine. It pushed him to mark her.

Absurd. Chemistry was unpredictable, but in this particular instance, he would fight it. He touched the giant emerald on her ring finger. She was marked as belonging to another, even if it was an arranged engagement to one of the more treacherous of the DiFalco hoard. Ambrose’s lust for power had earned him exile in the States after a clumsy attempt to kill his father. In most vamp families, that would’ve ended in Ambrose’s execution, but the DiFalcos were always trying to kill each other. It was a way of life. Viktor labeled it survival of the fittest. It bred devious minds, distrust, and never-ending political maneuvering. Marrying into the Scarpas, though, wasn’t a move he understood. Maybe it was a way to align themselves with one of the few larger families that wasn’t intermarried with them.

Lust clawed at his brain and body, uncaring for her engaged status. He sorted through the anomalous physical reaction, dissecting it in his mind like one would a dead animal in a grade school class.

Bloody hell.

He finally figured out how this demisang had hijacked his body. And she wasn’t going to like his explanation.





Chapter Seven


Vee cracked her eyes and immediately slammed them shut against the late afternoon light peeking through her curtains. She lay still for a few minutes, assessing her stats. Despite a monster headache, her body registered itself as okay.

Wait a minute. What was she doing in bed?

“How do you feel?” Lexan asked from where he leaned against the wall near the bedroom door.

She shot up. Her head swam, but adrenaline kept her upright. Looking down, her only article of clothing was her thong. She pulled the sheet to cover her chest. “How dare you undress me.”

His gaze remained fixed on her now-covered chest. Distractedly, he said, “Your dress wasn’t in good shape. I’m not sure it can be saved. True shame.”

Although she didn’t like that he’d undressed her, she wondered about his reaction. Her wound aside, had he liked what he’d seen? Oh my God. I want that.

He snagged her gym squeeze bottle off the nightstand and handed it to her. “Drink.”

Her stomach roared. She accepted the bottle, wondering where he’d found it. It must’ve been at the back of a cabinet. She hadn’t exercised in months, not with vertigo plaguing her any time she moved fast. One sniff detected blood. How thoughtful. Would it be poisoned? She detected no unusual odor. Just good old Type-O. Maybe he stuck a non-odorous poison in it.

Hunger overrode risk, and she sipped. Tasted great. On the upside, if she died from poison, it’d save her from a stressful night of Dominic’s dictates, the treatment, and sex with Ambrose. The human blood filled her stomach, but it didn’t assuage the hunger. She emptied the bottle.

He popped the tab on a can of Pepsi out of her frig and handed it to her. “You need the sugar.”

She sipped a few times, finding she did feel better when the soda hit her stomach. Funny how she craved the stuff but never thought to drink it after blood. “Thanks.”

He sat on the edge of the bed. “How do you feel?”

The low timbre of his voice with its rich quality fascinated her. She wished he’d keep talking just so she could hear the nuances of his voice, but he didn’t.

His eyes, so blue, stared at her as if he was seeing to her soul. Desire burst through her, raw and stark and all too strong. She craved him. It wasn’t like a blood craving, but a deep desire to touch him…to know him. Fear shimmered in her mind, not because she thought he’d force her into anything, but Lexan filled her senses with a sensual heat she couldn’t ignore.

He reached out as if he couldn’t resist and touched her cheek. The warmth of his fingers heated her skin.

She jumped, pulling her face away from his touch. “Don’t touch me.”

“You have beautiful skin.” He sounded unapologetic and unfazed by her demand.

“Don’t flirt with me.”

A slow smile spread on his face, softening every hard line and lighting up his eyes. “You’d know it when I was flirting.”

“You were flirting.”

“Maybe a little bit. But you do have beautiful skin.”

“Thank you, I guess.” She touched her teeth to her lower lip and shrugged.

“What happened last night? Did Dominic stab you?” The question came out so soft. Danger swirled around him as it had before when he’d asked.

“Not Dominic. I decided it time to leave the wedding when I felt things were…unsafe. They found out about your visit to the vet hospital.” She glared.

He didn’t apologize.

She continued, “One of Dominic’s Squad goons tried to detain me, but I said no. For them, noncompliant females warrant force.”

“Did you stab him back?”

“Yes. With his own knife.”