The Wolf Within (Purgatory #1)(57)

He wanted to speak. Couldn’t. Because he could hear the wild thunder of her heartbeat. Want her blood.

“I shouldn’t have given you my blood. I know you didn’t want to change.”

His gaze was on her throat. On the pulse that raced so frantically.

“But I couldn’t let you die.” The words broke. “Please, Duncan, say something.”

He put his hand on her neck. He had claws. The claws of a werewolf came from his fingers. But he didn’t scratch her skin. He didn’t want to waste that blood. “Mine.”

“Wh-what?”

He pushed her against the wall. Trapped her. “Mine,” he said again, then his mouth was at her throat. This was instinctive, primal. There was no stopping, not now, not with her, though a part of him watched from a dark corner of his mind, horrified at what he was doing.

Can’t stop. Must take.

Her hands pushed against his chest. Before, her vampire strength would have been enough to send him stumbling across the room. Now, he barely felt the push of her hands.

His mouth was on her throat. He licked the skin. She trembled.

He bit.

When her blood flowed onto his tongue, it was the best thing he’d ever tasted. Better than wine. Better than honey. Better than any damn thing. His cock hardened even more because he’d been aroused since the moment he’d seen her. It stretched, ached, and he yanked down her jeans and shoved aside her panties even as he kept drinking from her.

The bloodlust tangled with the physical lust that he felt. He wanted to speak, to tell her that he didn’t want to hurt her, but he couldn’t pull away.

With one hand, he lifted her up. Held her easily, then drove deep into her. She moaned against him and arched—not away from him, but toward his mouth.

Oh, f*ck, but he hoped she was enjoying his bite. Because nothing could have made him pull away from her right then.

Her sex contracted around him, so tight that his cock felt like it was gripped in a silken fist, and he thrust deep into her even as he drank her blood.

He should have been repulsed by what he was doing.

He f*cking wasn’t.

She came around him. He swore that he could taste the pleasure in her blood as her body tensed and she choked out his name.

Then, only then, was he able to take one last sip from her. He swiped his tongue over the wound on her neck, and he came so long and hard that his body shuddered.

The fury of need slowly faded. Pleasure still pulsed through him, small aftershocks as his cock emptied into her. Her arms were around him. Her legs locked around his hips.

He was almost afraid to look at her. He’d been worried that she’d think of him as a beast before, but he’d just damn well gorged on her. She’d come after him, apologizing, and he’d done that to her.

Careful now, when he should have been careful before, Duncan eased out of her. Her breath caught, and his gaze flew to her face.

There was no anger in her eyes. No pain. Just the afterglow of pleasure.

He stared at her. Lost.

How the hell could she still look at him like that?

Then she smiled at him. Smiled. She said, “You aren’t going to…ah…believe this…” Her voice was breathless, husky, and it just made him hard again, “but I promise, I came here to save you, not just to f*ck you.”

Right there, in the middle of Purgatory, with death all around, with fangs in his mouth and claws growing from his fingertips, he…smiled.

Her breath caught. “Duncan, you’ve got dimples.”

He kissed her. Not wild. Not desperate. Just…kissed her.

Her lips whispered back against his.

“I’m sorry,” he told her softly. She deserved so much better than what had happened.

“For what?” She shook her head. “Duncan, I’m the one who changed you.”

And he was the one who’d just attacked her.

His forehead pressed against hers. “You shouldn’t be here.”

“I wasn’t going to let you just be tossed into some cell and locked away.” Her nails sank into his shoulders. “I can get us out of here. I just have to bite the guards, then I can control them. They don’t realize I’m a vamp, so they aren’t taking precautions and—”

He realized why Pate had kept Holly’s secret for so long. Because Pate had known that if the dark segment within the FBI found out about her, Holly would be watched, monitored, and maybe even tossed to the wolves for the battle that was coming.

Good thing this wolf found her.

“I’m not leaving.”

His quiet words froze her. Then she gave a hard shake of her head. “You have to leave. Look, I know your brother is here, but you can’t stay. You haven’t done anything wrong!”

He hadn’t done anything right, either. “Connor’s here?”

She gave a slow nod. “He was transferred in, the same day you were. I…convinced one of the agents to tell me that. Brent had quite a bit of information to share.” Her gaze searched his. Her legs had slipped away from his and fallen back to the floor. The scent of blood and sex surrounded them.

Want more.

He forced himself to step away from her. She wouldn’t be able to handle him taking much more from her.

But when he stepped back, she blinked and almost looked hurt as she fumbled to fix her clothes. Then her hand rose to her neck.