The Wicked Kiss (Alexa O'Brien, Huntress #2)(73)

“Thank you,” I murmured, indicating the bottle in my hand. I was uneasy and unable to hide it. Of all of the places for me to end up on Halloween, it had to be here with him.

What was with my luck?

“How much do you know about me?” His question caught me off guard. It wasn’t what I’d been expecting.

My answer was automatic. “Enough to know that I don’t want to know any more.”

His look became appraising, and I glared in response. I had expected his anger, and the fact that he was enjoying this was driving me crazy.

“I’m afraid you have the advantage over me. I don’t know nearly as much about you as I’d like to.”

“And, what is it that you want to know?” My voice was weak, and I coughed. I wasn’t feeling nearly as on the ball as usual, and it nagged at me. I had to get it together.

There was a long pause as we stared at one another. I could only imagine what kind of a fit Arys would pitch if he knew where I was. He must have noticed I was missing by now.

Harley’s dark eyes sparkled with an evil glint that told me I was about to regret my question. “I want to know if you’re a screamer. I want to know if your blood tastes as good as it smells. And, I would love to know if you would beg me to stop or beg me to bite harder.”

I don’t know what I’d been expecting him to say, but it wasn’t that. The look in his eyes had grown hungry and even though he stood six feet away, I felt like he was too close.

I gaped at him incredulously. I had no words for that. I was filled with terror, something that only fed his fire. Try as I might, I could not force my pounding heart to slow back down to a normal pace.

With nothing more than a blur of motion, Harley had a handful of my hair tight in his fist. My breath caught, but I didn’t shriek like I wanted to. I knew that’s what he wanted.

I couldn’t give him that kind of satisfaction.

He exposed the bite on the left side of my neck, and a new panic gripped me. His eyes lit up, and before I had even formed a coherent thought, he leaned in closer, scenting the tender wound.

“He must be hopelessly in love with you.” Those whispered words brought the barest touch of his lips against my skin, and I shuddered. “To be able to stop without draining you dry. Blood this heavenly is so hard to resist and even harder to come by.”

I couldn’t prevent the small shriek that did break free when the moist tip of his tongue touched Arys’ bite. I closed my eyes and prayed that he wouldn’t dare bite me.

Against my will, the power rose up inside me as if curious about this close new source of strength. Along with it came the gratifying rush of sexual excitement. It was as unwelcome as it was confusing.

“I can feel him all over you, inside you.” Harley suddenly released me, and I hurried to put distance between us. The way I physically reacted to him wasn’t right. This kind of desire was unnatural.

“Stop that,” I muttered. “Whatever you’re doing, just stop.”

“Come now, Alexa. Surely, you are used to the touch of an incubus vampire. You belong to one.”

Why did I always feel like the perpetual student? “I thought demons were succubus or incubus.”

“What do you think a vampire is, my love? We’re all demons in our own way.” His wicked tone dropped, becoming more physical rather than solely audible. “Some vampires use straight up fear to get the blood and energy pumping for a good feed.

Others rush right to the finish, unable to prolong that powerful moment. And, many like myself and those created by me tend to draw out the energy by using sexual influence as well as fear.”

He paced the length of the room near the door, always so close to the door. “If you can withstand the hungers of an insatiable vampire like Arys, then are you more powerful than any other mortal I’ve ever encountered.

“You are young still but I’m amazed you don’t know more about what you are. That explains why you haven’t effectively turned me to dust already.”

“Yeah, well I don’t know a lot of people quite like me. None to be exact.” I shouldn’t have bothered talking to him, but the silence seemed to enhance his eerie qualities.

“Does that make you realize that you possess something that nobody else does? I don’t think you know what you’re capable of.”

I had to agree with him there, but I couldn’t voice the words. In the last few months, I’d learned a lot about my abilities. Clearly, it wasn’t enough.

“You must have some kind of weakness, though,” he continued. The new and darker tone to his voice instantly put me on red alert. “And, finding it is a challenge too good to pass up.”

Anything I said or did would set him off. I could feel it. I stared at him in wide-eyed terror, waiting for him to make a choice. The undead power inside me combined with the power of wolf to fill me as everything in me prepared to fight for my life.

His lips peeled back to reveal fangs. I swallowed hard and braced, expecting an attack. I wasn’t sure if it was possible, but his eyes appeared to be two black pools, beckoning me to fall in.

“You’re supposed to be mine,” he hissed, catching me by surprise. “I was everything to that son of a bitch and all he ever did was punish me for it. He took so much from me.”

“That has nothing to do with me. I wasn’t part of your past with Arys.” The terror was evident in my voice.