Darker (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #6)(65)

The will to fight had left me. The blood hunger ruled, and I thought of nothing but appeasing it. In a black skirt that flowed around my knees and a red halter-top, I crossed the lot with a predatory gait.

Upon walking through the lobby into the club, I was hit with the dizzying rush of excited energy oozing from those inside. I embraced it, wrapping it around me like a blanket. I wasn’t in the mood to wait out the right victim. I scanned the crowd for my chosen one.

Kale was near the dance floor with a tall brunette in his arms. He whispered in her ear. She blushed and threw her head back in laughter. He looked at me, and I redirected my gaze. I wasn’t here for him.

I prowled through the club, careful to give Kale and his playmate a wide berth. A guy standing alone near the bar caught my eye. Judging by his heavy metal attire, consisting of leather and chains, he was here to party. A pretty boy with slick black hair, he would do just fine.

Once our eyes met, I knew he was mine. Crooking a finger, I invited him to come to me. I tilted my head and gave him a come-hither look he couldn’t deny.

The anticipation was foreplay like no other. The build-up to that inevitable moment when he would be mine was a pleasure all its own. I couldn’t wait to taste him. Nothing else mattered but that moment. Vampires existed for this alone; the hunt made all other thoughts disappear. Problems ceased to exist. For now, I was in control, and it felt damn good.

“Looking for a friend for the night?” He asked when we stood face to face. His dark eyes sparkled with intrigue.

“You could say that.” I pulled him close and gazed deep into him. It wasn’t hard to lure him in. I’d so often been the victim of a vampire’s thrall that it felt liberating to be the one behind the manipulation.

“Go easy on me,” he said with a boyish smile. “I’m a bit of a newbie.”

I searched him; the innocence in his eyes almost stopped me. He wasn’t yet immersed in this world of vicious lust and pleasure that always comes at a personal price.

“What brings you into a place like this?” My lips brushed his neck as I whispered in his ear.

“What else? The curiosity. The thrill. The chance to run into a woman like you.” He nodded appreciatively, looking me over with a glazed expression evident of my influence. “What’s your name?”

“No names,” I said with a shake of my head. A grin tugged at my lips. Arys’s vampiric essence flowed from me, entrapping my victim in an unseen force.

My patience wore thin. It was getting harder to keep from tearing into him like a rabid dog. That would be quick and gratuitous, a waste. I resisted only to draw out the moment, savoring every second of agonizing anticipation.

I shoved him against the wall in the small corridor that joined the club to the back hall. His heart raced sporadically, and fear mingled with his masculine human scent. My fangs sprang forth, and I growled.

He pushed against me, but I held him with no difficulty. Intrigue turned to panic, and he struggled harder. A small voice nagged me, my conscience, demanding to know how I could be the one that destroyed this innocent. He wasn’t an evil doer. He wasn’t even a blood whore. He didn’t belong here.

I pressed my lips lightly to his, aligning his energy with mine. I could feel every beat of his heart. The blood rushing through his body was loud, an echo in my ears. I wanted to have him beneath me, screaming even as he begged for more.

“Come with me.”

I led him along to the back hall and selected the closest empty room, two doors down from Kale’s dirty little hole in the wall. Kale was the only vampire here to have his own regular room. I could only imagine how many nights he’d spent there, lost in the throes of bloodlust-fueled euphoria.

With just a thought, the door burst open, bouncing off the wall. I shoved the nameless man in first and kicked the door shut. He sat on the end of the bed, staring up at me in mesmerized wonder. I climbed into his lap and forced his head to the side. Running my tongue over the pulsing vein in his neck, I slid closer to the edge of the abyss.

His eyes were wide in fear, but his body responded to me with lust. I had no intention of following through with my seduction though I could have bathed in the waves of sensuality emanating from him.

I was running out of time. If I didn’t stop now, I would kill him. I did my best to avoid killing innocents. I preferred to target the pimps and johns exploiting young girls or the gangsters that gunned each other down over the slightest dispute. Assholes with blood on their hands, they were my victims of choice. Otherwise, I couldn’t live with myself.

“Don’t stop,” he pleaded when I pulled back. “Your touch feels like electricity.”

“I can’t do this,” I said. “You shouldn’t be here. You’ll end up dead.”

My words didn’t match my actions. I shoved him back on the bed, pinning his arms to the bed. It would take just one bite to cause a fount of blood to burst forth. One bite would kill the ache inside me.

I dragged a claw lightly over his throat, careful not to puncture. It would be so easy to bleed him, but I couldn’t. This was everything I dreaded about being a vampire. If I couldn’t control myself now, I would end up like Kale and Arys, killing out of sheer joy.

“No,” I said aloud to nobody in particular. “I won’t do this.”

Two opposing natures warred within me. Every part of me screamed to drain him of all his blood and energy; I needed it. I shouldn’t have come here. I knew better. Allowing the bloodlust to make me a slave was no way to maintain control.