Blonde & Blue (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #4)(92)

The brunette leaned into Arys as they talked. Something in her eyes, a strange glazed look, indicated Arys’ influence over her. That had been easy. Not many vampires had that ability to make people want to surrender, happily accepting that he would drain their life away. I was painfully aware that, because I loved him, I often forgot how very dangerous Arys really was.

Catching my eye, Arys nodded ever so slightly toward the door. With eager anticipation, I picked the olive out of his abandoned glass and tossed back the contents. Then, I made my way out of the lounge and up to our room.

I was a mess waiting for them. I paced the small but nicely kept hotel room, unable to sit or stand still. I turned on the gas fireplace but then turned it off. Finally, I went to stare out the window at the street below.

By the time Arys opened the door, I was gripping the window sill so hard my clawed nails left gouges in the wood. I whirled around to face him. I hadn’t sated the bloodlust in days. I wasn’t sure how much more I could take. He had wanted me to be pushed to the breaking point. It was nearing quickly.

“Alexa, this is Roxanne. She was supposed to meet a blind date in the bar, but lucky us, she has agreed to keep us company.” Arys flashed me a smug smile and a wink. He ushered Roxanne into the room and locked the door. She didn’t seem to notice.

She stared at me with a big smile plastered on her pink lips. The spellbound expression she wore was unsettling; I didn’t like it. The vampire in me thought back to something Kale had once said. He preferred it when they knew it was coming, when they begged and screamed. If this mesmerized complacency was the alternative, I’d prefer the screams, too.

No sooner had that thought crossed my mind than I wondered what it would take to make Roxanne scream. My fangs filled my mouth, four brutal points that I ached to sink into her. I moved toward her, and Arys stepped in between us.

He must have seen the intent in my eyes because he smiled and shook his head. “Patience, my love. This is about satisfaction through control, not weakness because of the loss of it. Follow my lead.”

Roxanne stood there like a human doll, waiting for us to play with her. It was disturbing to see someone so completely lost in the thrall of a powerful vampire. I hated that I kind of liked it.

“Roxanne, sweetheart,” Arys purred, taking her hand and bringing it to his lips. “We won’t keep you long. Just a little taste, alright my dear?”

She didn’t even speak. Gazing up at him with those glazed eyes, she merely smiled timidly and nodded. Arys kissed his way up her bare arm, and she giggled. I waited for jealousy to hit, but it never did. I wanted to watch him in his element. The seduction and the hunt, that was Arys at his best, and I wanted to see it.

He took his time, making his way from her wrist to her neck. Her eyes closed, and her head fell back. Desire flowed from her, tantalizing and hot. My grip was slipping, and I knew I couldn’t cling to sanity much longer. The bloodlust was a powerful master, and once again, it had made me its slave.

His lips on her skin, the scent of her growing desire, and the sound of her heart beat growing louder in my ears, it all came at me in a rush, driving me into a frenzy. Arys, being the incubus he was, manipulated her sexual response to him, encouraging it to flow freely as he fed upon it.

The energy in the room became suffocating. I snarled, baring my fangs. Arys lifted his head to find me on the edge of the abyss, about to step past the point of no return. He gripped her forearm, and with a sudden aggression that spoke to the wolf in me, Arys bit into her wrist.

Blood spilled forth, and I was ravenous. I lunged at them, willing to knock Arys aside to get to that glorious red stream. He held me back with a hand on my throat, cutting off my air supply just enough to shake some sense back into me.

“You can’t bite her, Alexa. You’ll turn her or kill her. That’s not what you want.”

I wasn’t listening. I was staring at the blood that ran down Roxanne’s hand to drip off the tips of her fingers. It was all I could smell, all I could focus on.

Arys sat Roxanne on the end of the bed. Her eyes fluttered open and then closed again. She sighed softly. Gripping both of my arms tightly, Arys forced me to look into his eyes.

“It will always be part of you, but it doesn’t have to own you. You can control this.” He shook me when I growled at him. “Stop giving in so easily. You’re stronger than that.”

Then he slapped me.

It was startling. The sound of his hand hitting my cheek was loud in the quiet room. I laughed. It earned me a glare.

“Let me have her. Just this once.” I was detached, hearing myself talk but not fully aware it was me.

The power flared between us as Arys struggled to get through to me. “You will master this or else it masters you. Got it? Is that what you want? To be just another killer?”

“Why not?” I snapped. “It seems to be good enough for you.”

Arys dragged me close and pressed his forehead to mine. His eyes closed, and I felt the warm push of calming energy. It filled me from head to toe, bringing me back to myself. I hovered precariously in that awkward place between who I was and what I had become.

His voice low, almost a whisper, Arys loosened his grip. “You are the light in my darkness. I can’t watch you become something you will grow to hate.”

Something in his tone struck a nerve deep down. I blinked a few times, and the bloodlust cleared from my vision. “Arys…”