Wild and Free (The Three #3)(30)

“Nothin’ to break down.”

“Humor me,” I snapped, his head jerked, and his lips curved up.

“Carry on,” he muttered.

“Thanks,” I bit out. “First, how many men’s heads have you torn off?”

“Four, and two wolves.”

“That’s it?” I asked.

“Yeah.”

“These being the night we met,” I stated.

“Yeah,” he repeated.

“The night some of them were trying to kill me and the others were trying to kill you.”

To that he said nothing.

I kept going, “So you haven’t torn off unsuspecting citizens’ heads willy-nilly, for the f*ck of it, or on a psychotic rampage?”

He pressed his lips together and I knew it was to hide his humor because his eyes lit with it before he unpressed them to say, “No.”

“Right,” I said sharply. “Have you ever had a psychotic rampage?”

He shook his head.

“So let’s get to the human blood part,” I suggested. “When you were,” I paused, “drawing from one of your ex—bitches, did you ever kill one of them?”

“Fuck no.”

“Take too much and make them sick?”

“No.”

“Do it against anyone’s will?”

His eyes went guarded, but he said, “No.”

I threw up a hand. “Okay, so what’s the problem?”

He blinked, straightening in his chair, but again said nothing.

“I mean, seriously,” I went on, “I’ve seen lots of vampire movies and TV shows and even the good vamps screw up and overindulge. Hell, Jessica killed three fairies in a ravenous attack. She might have had her issues as a young vampire, but by that time, she was full-on good.”

His brows shot together. “Fairies?”

“Fairies.”

“What the f*ck are you talking about?”

I threw up both hands and cried in exasperation, “True Blood!”

“Jesus, Lilah,” he muttered.

“No, seriously, Jessica is very sweet.”

“For f*ck’s sake,” he growled, sounding like he was losing patience, which I didn’t figure was a good thing.

“Okay, back on track,” I began. “Tell me. Tell me one instance in your life where you actually behaved like a monster.”

“I wanna f*ck you,” he snarled.

I stared.

“Yeah,” he ground out. “I wanna f*ck you, Delilah. Consumed with the need and I have no idea why, but I can guess, seein’ as it’s like you’re a bitch in heat, I’m a dog that catches the scent and his mind is wiped…wiped of anything…but the need to mount you and”—he leaned forward—“rut.”

“Holy f*ck,” I breathed.

“Yeah,” he said again. “That make you feel safe?”

“Abel—”

“I can smell your fear.”

I swallowed.

“It turns me on,” he kept going. “Makes me wanna tear into your throat and f*ck you and feed from you. Now, does that make you feel safe?”

“No,” I whispered, because it really f*cking didn’t.

“Right. No,” he bit off. “So I’m not a monster?”

“It’s…it’s…” I stammered.

“Yeah? What is it?” he asked when I couldn’t get it out.

“It’s you,” I said softly, because it was, even if it was scary as shit.

“You’re absolutely correct,” he clipped, then said with disgust, “It’s me.”

Then it hit me.

“You left yesterday because of that.”

“I did,” he confirmed. “I did, because if I spent another minute with you, I’d have you on your knees, takin’ my dick, you wanted it or not.”

“Abel,” I breathed, suddenly understanding, and my heart started bleeding.

Yes, he was protective of me, overprotective, wanting me to feel safe, struggling against his nature to keep me that way.

“Your heart’s beating so hard, it sounds like it’s about to tear out of your chest. I did that to you. And I’m not a monster?”

“My heart is beating hard because I’m feeling a lot right now, and not all of it is fear, Abel,” I told him.

“Then you aren’t very smart because, even as I sit here, all I can think of is burying my cock inside you.”

Oh shit.

Now I was getting turned on.

“Do you think other werewolves…do you think that they…?” I trailed off, but he got me.

“You’re not a werewolf. Maybe there are female ones who get the way it is, but you are not one of them.”

“But I’m yours,” I pointed out.

“You ever transform into a wolf?”

I shook my head, giving him the answer he already knew.

“No,” he said. “So how do I deal with this, Delilah? It’s my nature, the monster in me for the only time in my life since I was a kid controlling me. I don’t understand it and I don’t know how to fight it except to keep away from you. Or go to The Biltmore and talk to these f*cks and hope they aren’t what I think they are and can give me some answers as to how I can deal and keep you safe.”