Once Bitten (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #1)(24)

Arys’s fingers traced light circles in the palm of my hand. A heat wave flowed down my arm, followed by a tingle, the sensation of the energy building. Common sense told me to pull away while everything else screamed for more contact, more power.

“I can’t do this.” I whispered the words, but he heard me. Without replying, he leaned in and before I could react, turned my face to him as he boldly kissed me.

The roar in my ears left me deaf. As he deepened the kiss, a doorway opened for our two differing energies to meld.

He tasted faintly of blood, and I liked it. His fangs pierced my bottom lip, and an exhilarated thrill shot straight to my groin as he ran his tongue over the small wounds. The metal of his lip ring was cool against my tongue as I tasted him.

The power began a steady climb, but finally my rational mind took over. I broke off the kiss as the waitress returned with my drink.

When she’d gone, I turned to Arys. My heart pounded in my ears. “This is dangerous. We’re playing with fire here.”

“Then, let’s extinguish the flame.” Was Arys out of his mind? What was he expecting from me? “Let’s get out of here.”

“No. I’m not leaving right now. I’m going to find Ky, and then I’m going to shoot some pool.” I needed to escape the situation.

The next girl to dance was one of the local Weres that ran with us on occasion. I certainly couldn’t watch this. I used the moment to stand up and gather my things.

“I’m sure you should have enough to keep you entertained.” I filled my hands with my purse and drink so that I couldn’t possibly fulfill the longing to touch him again.

“Not a chance. You haven’t seen the last of me tonight, Alexa.” He leaned close. His breath felt warm against my ear. The heady scent of him tempted me to change my mind. “With a hunger like yours burning, I plan to be around when it burns out of your control, when you need someone to quench it.” With that, he gave me a wink and sauntered back to his table.

I stared after him for a minute. I was hard-pressed not to just drop my things and abandon self-control. I did hunger. I’d attributed it to the moon, combined with natural human and animal instincts. But, this was different. This was a similar need with a different outcome. I wanted to know what that outcome might be, as frightening as it was.

I found Kylarai. She sat at the bar and visited with Shaz. I was suddenly stricken with worry, afraid that Shaz had seen Arys kiss me.

I had no commitments, but I was wary of hurting anyone’s feelings. The smile, which he beamed at me when I walked up, told me that he’d seen nothing. Despite having no commitments, I couldn’t shake the guilty feeling.

The customers never relented, so I didn’t get a chance to speak with him long. Kylarai and I spent the next couple of hours shooting pool and enjoying some of that savory steak that I’d been eagerly anticipating.

In the back of my mind, I kept going back to Arys, to the wonderful way the power breathed over, around and through us. I couldn’t stop thinking about it, which also led me to think about Shaz.

It was different with Shaz, different not only because we both shared the same supernatural power, but also because I feared an emotional attachment with him. I didn’t feel that Arys would ever look at me that way. It was nothing more than a power trip for him, too, with nothing deep-rooted to destroy. I didn’t want to take that chance with Shaz. He’s family.

We’d decided to call it a night around one o’clock. I’d had more than my usual to drink. I got successfully tipsy. I didn’t tell Arys that I was leaving. We’d just left the building and rounded the corner to watch for a taxi. I cursed about having to leave my car.

They came out of the dark. Three men moved to form a partial circle around us. One of them stepped forward to act as ring leader. The stranger stood before me and looked me up and down with a judgmental grimace under a greasy coif of hair. He looked almost forty, too old for stunts like this. He leered down at me and puffed on a cigarette.

“Tell me where to find Raoul Roberts.” He ground his teeth together as he spoke. His eyes were extremely bloodshot, and he looked as if he hadn’t slept in days.

“Who?” I blinked up at him with my best vacant-eyed expression.

“Don’t f**k with me. Somebody told me that you would know where to find him. Raoul Roberts. Where is he?” His fists clenched and unclenched, and I fought the urge to head butt him right in his insipid face.

“I’m sorry, sir, but I don’t know what you’re talking about. Now if you’ll excuse me-,”

“You’re not going anywhere until you tell me where he lives. He killed my wife, and I’m not going to rest until I take him apart with my own hands. You don’t want to be the only thing preventing that. I don’t have a problem starting with you.”

I said nothing and shouldered my way past him. What I should have done was drop him, right then and there. The slap came out of nowhere, and I tasted blood inside my mouth. I hadn’t anticipated the hit.

Kylarai was in his face before he could blink. I don’t think he even knew it was her that hit him before he was wiping blood from his broken nose.

He stumbled back, but his friends never budged. If things got ugly, I was more than sure we could handle it, but I always preferred to walk away when it came to foolish humans.

The other two guys looked at Kylarai uncertainly. They were second-guessing their choice in confronting us. As I braced myself for a fight, I cursed Raoul inside my head.