Once Bitten (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #1)(12)

Arys’s pupils were a drowning black. His mouth was smeared with blood as he drank from her jugular. I should have been sickened, but I wasn’t. Had becoming a supernatural creature made me immune to human suffering? Not entirely.

The fear in her wide-eyed stare bothered me more than her fading life. My own reaction to the scene bothered me more. Despite my own personal beliefs and born humanity, I am a predator, and in that moment, I enjoyed what I saw. The scent of spilt human blood tantalized my senses. The sight of the crimson splashes stirred things low inside me.

As the light began to fade from his victim’s eyes, she ceased struggling and hung loose in his embrace like a forgotten rag doll. I watched in complete silence until she was nothing but an empty husk, and her vacant, dead gaze stared over his shoulder at me.

Arys stepped back and let her hit the ground with a thud that dropped my stomach to my knees. “Did you enjoy the show?” He wiped a hand across his full lips, and his tongue flicked over his crimson-smeared fang-teeth. “I always appreciate an audience.” The predatory glow in his eyes began to fade as he came towards me.

“I see you’ve been a busy boy tonight,” I commented casually, though I couldn’t deny the rapid beat of my heart.

“Yeah, well, they’re good for more than just one thing.” He cast a glance back at the body, and I got an unwelcome visual of the vampire making love to the woman that now lie dead. He’d taken her to his bed, possessed her body, and enjoyed her heat, but intended all along to take it away.

The human side of me was shocked that I wasn’t more appalled at Arys’s nonchalance. He spoke like those guys in high school, the ones that most girls fall for before they realize their mistake. Though the wolf in me did not take life from its lovers, it did, however, appreciate his predator logic.

I swallowed heavily, suddenly apprehensive and too aware of the sweet scent of blood drying on the corpse. I’d never thought that I’d feel threatened by Arys, but I decided that maybe I should.

I knew that Arys killed with discretion. Vampires do not have to kill to survive. However, feeding without the kill was like sex without the orgasm, according to my colleague, Kale Sinclair. It explained why some vampires just quit giving a damn.

Arys watched me with cool blue eyes and a curious expression on his forever-young face. “What’s your deal, Alexa? What brings you on a vampire hunt tonight?”

“I was just passing by. I felt you down here.” I licked my dry lips, and my head filled with visions of tearing into warm flesh. I could almost sense blood, hot on my tongue, as its intoxicating scent filled my nostrils. I wanted to consume the life within the girl’s blood. I shook my head, and my vision cleared. “You shouldn’t be killing in town. It’s dangerous.”

“Let me worry about that, my lovely wolf.” Arys studied me hard, and I wondered if he somehow knew what I’d just seen. With a hand on my back, he guided me out of the alley towards the glow of the light. “But, I am curious what had you hot footing it out of here so fast last night.”

I told him about Raoul as we walked, giving him my best rant, one that would have been wasted on Kylarai and Shaz. The energy of his fresh kill buzzed around Arys, which gave me goose bumps and a constant tingle down my spine.

“You shouldn’t have gone to him.”

“I know. I thought maybe he was in real trouble. Lord knows why I’d even care.”

“I certainly don’t see why you do. Every time you give him a chance, he lets you down. There is so much more out there. Why limit yourself?” He laid a warm hand on my forearm and gave a gentle squeeze. I couldn’t mistake the meaning of his words nor deny the warm heat that rose to meet his touch.

My breath caught as his energy danced along my skin and raised the little hairs on the back of my neck. His magnetic pull remained familiar, but the flow was different. The living, breathing power of my wolf rushed to the surface to meet the dark, icy power of the undead. If Arys’s sharp gasp was any indication, he was as surprised as I was.

His hand moved down my arm until he had entwined his fingers in mine. With this more solid connection, our two very different powers joined into one that took my breath away. A warm glow hummed all around us. Pleasure raced through my blood, and I wanted more. Arys’s pupils dilated in response. I could feel him peering into my soul.

I felt him in my head, a gentle touch on my mind. In the same moment, we shared a thought, a memory. He saw through my wolf’s eyes as she raced through the forest, answering the call of the night. Bloody images flashed through my head and the rush of sinking fangs into a soft, slender neck entranced me.

I wanted more. I wanted to climb inside him and roll around in all of that power. He took a step and closed the remaining space between us. The heat grew into a fever, something I fought to escape before it consumed me.

“Arys, stop.” With all my resolve, I pulled my hand from his and shoved him back. He blinked at me a few times but didn’t step out of my personal space.

“That was amazing. I would never have guessed you could do that,” he said. The look he gave me was undeniably full of desire.

“I didn’t do anything,” I stammered. He wasn’t buying it.

“I knew you were more than a shifter, but I didn’t realize how much more. This is more than a human’s natural ability.” His expression was serious, but he sounded drunk. The energy had buzzed me, too. It continued to throb through my veins. “You’re a metaphysical dream, Alexa. I’ve known vampires like you, but never one whose mortal heart still beats.”