The Way You Bite(47)

She glanced up. A half smile lifted his beautiful lips. His hand came up and stroked her hair back from her face, his thumb caressing her cheek. The same thumb traced across her lips, mesmerizing her. He lifted her hair away from her neck and pressed his warm lips over her jugular, sucking hard. Her heart hammered as her body bowed against him. Not a fair move on his part.

He whispered, “God, you smell amazing.”

“We can’t. Especially not when you just almost—”

“There’s only right now. Stop worrying about anything else.” He stretched the v-neck of the sweater off her shoulder and licked his mark. Spikes of lust shot through her body, but she wouldn’t forget he intended to ferret her away. Tonight.

She pushed to move away, needing space between them since apparently his touch sapped her ability to think clearly. But he didn’t release her. She said, “This is never going to work. You’re a… And I’m a vamp. Even if in some alternate universe it might work, I won’t be a secret mistress, and I’m not cut out to be a political wife.”

He stepped forward and kissed down her neck. “Let’s disappear. No more political bullshit. No more assassination attempts. Just you and me. No clothes.”

Didn’t he hear anything she’d just said? “You’re not just any wolf. You’re the king. Your people will paint a bright red target on me, mid-forehead, if we make this anything other than a short-term fling. They’ll think I killed you if we disappear. Everything going on here is a dead end.”

“You’re in shock and don’t know what you want right now.”

“Don’t you dare patronize me.” She shoved at him.

“What’s between us has nothing to do with politics or anyone else. This is real, and it’s about you and me. We’re meant to be together. I know you feel this. If anyone paints a target on you, I’ll kill him. If it becomes too dangerous for you, I’ll appoint someone else as leader. Kiss me.”

Like any ancient, he assumed she wanted him to take care of her. He planned exactly what she suspected—to scurry her away to some hole and never let her escape. Somewhere he could lord over her, own her, and take away her choices. “No.”

He retrieved his vibrating cell phone from his pants. With a quick glance at the highlighted screen, he announced, “Duty calls.”





Chapter Nineteen


They started arguing the second they stepped onto the porch of the borrowed house Lexan had used to set up headquarters.

“I’m contacting my aunt.” Vee tossed her head and gave him a squinty eye glare of defiance.

“No.” Lexan’s temper flared. Jesus, she was driving him nuts with her this won’t work mantra. Her stubbornness made him want to punch something. “You’ll stay off the radar of all American vampires until you are out of this country. No calls. No emails. No texts. Nothing.”

“You can bark out orders all you want, Your Highness. I’m not one of your subjects.”

“When it comes to your safety, you will listen to me.” He shifted all his weight off his injured leg, which burned. Not with the agony of a fresh wound, but with a dull thud. Unusual, since he healed almost immediately after injury. The silver wasn’t gone. Bad news. It might’ve rooted in his muscle when he shifted back in the medical room.

Her tone changed. “I understand safety, but please stop being a dictator. There’s got to be a way to safely contact my aunt. She doesn’t deserve to worry when she hears about what just happened with Ambrose through the grapevine. How about a quick text?”

“Definitely not safe.” All discomfort was forgotten. He purposely advanced to invade her personal space, where he could tower above her, making her see how much he was in charge.

She poked him in the chest. “You don’t scare me.”

“You should be scared.” Her noncompliance pushed him to establish which one of them controlled this situation. Didn’t she understand he had to take care of her? Mates only came along once for each wolf. Once. That made her precious. If he lost her… He couldn’t even conceive of it.

“Really? I should be afraid?” Her gaze dropped to his mouth as she leaned forward, bumping her pelvis against his erection. “How scared?”

His body jolted. He stared, transfixed, as her tongue moistened her lips.

“Right now, I’m in charge of your safety. Of your life. I will kill anyone who threatens you. So you damn well better listen to me. Every vamp in this country has you on their kill list.”

She grabbed the knife off his belt lightning fast and pressed it against his jugular. “I can handle myself.”

Lexan waved off TC. “I’m not questioning your ability to defend yourself. This threat is too big.”

“You’re right.” She blinked up at him without a hint of submission in her green eyes. Oh, he liked that. A lot. He pushed the knife away, bent, and pressed his lips flush to hers. Her mouth opened on a sigh as she swayed toward him and dropped the knife. As his arm wrapped her waist, pulling her tight to him, he slanted his mouth to deepen the kiss, taking exactly what he’d wanted since their argument began. Control.

His tongue brushed against hers and then along her teeth. She gasped when his tongue touched one of her elongated canines. With a soft groan, she slid her hand up his arms and down his chest to clutch his shirt in her fist, holding him in place. She pulled him deeper. His mind spun with a base instinct to have her naked. They needed this. He wanted this. Right here against the side of the house.