Darker (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #6)(67)

“I know what you’re doing. Provoking me into a fight is not going to end the way you want it to.”

I wrestled the urge to hit him with a shot hard enough to send him crashing through the door. I was curious. Could I do it? Knowing that he wanted a strong reaction from me kept me from giving him one.

Instead, I said, “I didn’t break you, Kale. I’m not the one who made you so twisted.”

I stiffened when he leaned in to lick a drop of blood off my lip, but I couldn’t stop myself from nipping at him. The battle for control continued. I was high on the kill, and Kale was high on me. This could end badly in so many ways.

Kale laughed, a devious sound that told me I should be afraid, but I wasn’t. Not yet. I was too caught up in the tidal wave of power between us. He was unpredictable and clearly up to no good, yet I couldn’t resist him. I hadn’t realized how much I’d missed this game between us, one we both sought to win.

“No, someone else created my hunger. But, tasting your blood brought it back to life. Vampire heroin, that’s what you are. I wonder, will the hold you have on me break when you have breathed your last mortal breath?” Boldly, he laid a hand on my chest, watching it rise and fall.

“So, that’s what this is about.” Understanding settled in with the first cold spark of apprehension. “You kill me, you free yourself.”

I raised a hand to throw him off, but he caught it and slammed it against the wall. His timing was impeccable tonight. He was running at full power. Clearly, he had been binging.

“Something like that.” He ran his hand down my thigh, tugging up the hem of my skirt. “It doesn’t have to be that way. Put me out of my misery.”

Such bittersweet agony. Part of me despised him for what he’d done to me in the FPA basement. He had been an animal, seeing me as only a victim. It was a loveless attack. Here, with the high of the kill riding me and a memory of one night in the rain dancing through my head, I wanted to take what he was giving.

“I won’t do it,” I said through gritted teeth. “I’m sorry my blood is some madness-inducing vampire candy, but I’m not responsible for your suicidal tendency. No matter how you come to your end, Kale, I promise you, it will never be me.”

I wanted to slap his hand away; I knew I should. Butterflies tickled my insides as his fingers slid over my skin. He brushed his lips ever so lightly against mine.

“Are you sure about that?”

His touch was seductive, painfully so. I knew I could devour him. I wasn’t a prisoner this time, and he had no advantage. Though, I knew from experience, he would put up one hell of a fight.

Thinking too much would only succeed in furthering my role as his victim. Instinct was what made me kiss him. I pressed my lips to his, slipping my tongue inside his mouth to taste the human blood he’d consumed. I ran a hand through his hair, making a surprised sound when he bit my bottom lip. Sucking at the small cut, Kale held himself at a distance, his body shaking with the restraint.

The vampire’s will to control and manipulate others drove my actions. It wanted what it wanted, and the human side of me had no say in that. I was lost inside myself, a prisoner in my own body as a force bigger than I was made a slave of me.

My bloodlust had been sated, but my hunger was just getting started. I drew on his lust, feeding off the smitten vampire’s forbidden desires. The raw truth spilled from me as I whispered, “My love for you is selfish. It’s built on weakness. I see in you what I hate in myself. I can’t suffer alone. So, I choose you to suffer with me.”

He shoved away from me then. “Why me? What did I ever do to deserve to be a slave for you?”

“You fell in love with me. I didn’t manipulate your feelings. I didn’t ask for this either, Kale. Do you think you suffer alone? Get your head out of your ass and look around you. There are two choices: submit or suffer.” I advanced on him, going so far as to toss a little power at him.

He toppled over the foot of the bed, narrowly missing the fallen body of the brunette. He was on his feet with a flash of angry energy, lashing out with a hit that I blocked with a hand.

“Have you ever wanted someone you couldn’t have?” he asked, the darkness seeping into his mismatched eyes. “There are no choices in that kind of love. There is only misery and madness.”

Moving fast, he dropped for a leg sweep that knocked mine out from under me. I gazed up at him and waited for his next move. I was starting to get sick of Arys being right all the time, but in this case, he was. I would never again be safe with Kale.

He pulled me up off the floor and shoved me. I tripped on the leg of a corpse and caught myself before falling.

“The first man I ever loved was a liar, a womanizer and an egomaniac. He was my mother’s lover. I’ve watched those I love desert me, betray me and die. You think I don’t know pain?” My voice caught.

My fingers tingled from the power running through me. I held back, unwilling to lash out at him again. I didn’t want to hurt him. I would never give him the true death he sought from me.

His eyes were hard to read. He remained silent for so long, a knot formed in my stomach. Slowly, he reached out to smooth the hair back from my face. His hand lingered; he caressed my cheek as though my skin was fire to the touch.

“I always knew making love to you would drive me mad,” he said, his gaze on mine. “As much as I ache to touch you, I fear it as well.”