Tall, Silent & Lethal (Pyte/Sentinel #4)(77)

His gaze turned tender as he looked down at her. “This won’t turn you into a monster, Cloe,” he murmured softly as he gently caressed her jaw with his fingertips.

“You don’t know that,” she mumbled, hating the way that her voice shook, giving away just how scared she was that she was about to lose this battle.

“Yes,” he said, turning his hand so that he could trace her bottom lip with his thumb, “I do.”

She stubbornly shook her head. “I don’t want to lose control,” she said, remembering the look on his face when he’d lost control, the fear that shot through her when she’d realized what was happening. It was something that she never wanted to experience again, not if she could help it.

So, no matter how hungry she was or how badly she wanted to give in, she wouldn’t do it. She wouldn’t let herself lose control like that and-

“How about a compromise?” Christofer suggested softly, moving his fingers back to trace the line of her jaw.

“What kind of compromise?” she hesitantly asked, her eyes narrowing suspiciously on the bastard above her.

“The kind that lets me take care of you without you having to worry about doing something that you’ll regret,” he promised her softly.

“You can’t promise-”

“Yes,” he said, leaning down to brush his lips against hers, “I can.”

“How?” she asked with a sigh, giving up on trying to push him away since it was obvious that he wasn’t going anywhere until he was damn well ready. She wrapped her arms loosely around his shoulders. Unable to help herself, she began running her fingers through his hair, needing something to do as she laid there struggling not to get her hopes up.

“You’re going to drink from me and only me,” he said like that solved all her problems.

It didn’t.

Not even a little bit.

“And that helps me how?” she demanded, spreading her legs further apart when she felt him shift to get more comfortable. The move settled him more deeply against her.

“Because you’ll never have to worry about hurting me, mein Schatz,” he whispered as he shifted so that he could gently cup her face in his hand.

She opened her mouth to argue with him, but he cut her off with another tender kiss. “My blood can make you stronger, keep you safe and will cut down on how much blood you need to consume,” he whispered against her lips.

“How do you know that?” she asked, continuing to run her fingers through the hair on the back of his head, using the motion to hide the way her hands shook.

“Caine and Ephraim explained a few things while you were sleeping,” he said, tracing his thumbs over her cheeks.

“I don’t want to drink from you,” she stubbornly mumbled, her breaths coming faster.

“You don’t have a choice any longer, mein Schatz,” he said, brushing his lips against her forehead. “I need you to do this, Cloe. I need to keep you safe,” he said hoarsely.

“Why?” she asked, unable to understand why he cared so much.

“Why what?”

“Why do you care?”

He looked down at her, a small smile tipping his lips. “Because,” he said, leaning down until their lips were barely an inch apart, “you make me happy, mein Schatz.”

With that he sealed her fate and took the decision out of her hands.

Chapter 33

“Just do it!”

“Don’t rush me!” Cloe snapped back, chewing her bottom lip as she gazed at Christofer’s neck with uncertainty.

She’d agreed to do this, because he’d made her realize that this connection between them wasn’t one sided. He made her feel safe, protected and cherished and she apparently calmed something in him as well. It wasn’t something that she could ignore, not when she cherished that connection too much to risk it.

The other reason that she was doing this was simple. She liked the idea of needing less blood and not having to worry about hurting anyone. She’d been prepared to binge on that cold nasty bagged blood for the rest of her unnatural life even though it was without a doubt the nastiest stuff she’d ever consumed. So now, she was lying on a bed with the hottest man that she’d ever met laying on top of her, waiting for her to sink her fangs into his neck and drink his blood.

Yeah………..

“Do you need help?” he asked with a sigh as he shifted slightly on top of her.

“No!”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes!” she snapped back, wishing he would just be quiet so that she could focus on what she was doing.

“If you need help………” he said, letting his words trail off meaningfully.

“I don’t!” she said, deciding to just get this over with if it meant shutting him up.

With a slight cringe and a prayer that this wasn’t going to scar her for life, she leaned in, opened her mouth and moved in to just get it over with when something occurred to her. Her fangs weren’t down and she had no idea how to make them come out on command. Refusing to ask for help, at least not until after she’d tried, she pictured bagged blood, hoping it would be enough to make her fangs slide down.

It wasn’t.

Finally after a few more minutes of trying to force her fangs down, she gave in with a heavy sigh and admitted, “I need help.”