Shock and maybe revulsion flash across her face but they’re quickly replaced with that hunger again.
She swallows and takes a step back. “Don’t be ridiculous, Kian. Why would I want a taste?”
I shrug and give her a devilish grin, taking another step toward her. “It’s not like you haven’t tasted it before.”
“That was for a ceremony,” she retorts.
“But you liked it.”
“So what if I did?” she blurts out.
Ah. Sweet victory.
“There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that, little goddess.”
Her eyes light up with surprise. “What did you just call me?”
“Little goddess?”
“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Don’t I?” I ask, closing in. “It all adds up . . . the tonic, the blood, everything. Do you even know what you are?”
Her shoulders droop, and she looks at the ground. “No, Kian, I truly don’t. I have suspicions, but no evidence.”
I gently grip her shoulders, and she looks up at me, her eyes filled with sadness, longing, but also betrayal. “Let me help.”
Her body shakes with anger as she pushes away from me. “Is this all that stunt was? Were you hoping I’d slip up and attack you for your blood?”
I run a hand through the messy hair that came loose during training. “It wasn’t my best plan, I’ll admit.”
“You’re completely unbelievable. Why didn’t you just ask me?”
“Would you have told me? It’s not like you said anything to me about this before now.”
She laughs bitterly. “I’ve only just started coming to terms with it myself. Not to mention, in this last week alone, I’ve found out that so many parts of my life—of who I am—is a lie. That would be a lot for one person to manage, don’t you think? I barely know you. Why would I trust you with this?”
We stare at each other, her pain clearly etched on her features. She’s right not to trust me . . . it’s not as if I’ve shared all of my secrets either.
“You’re right, Rae. I shouldn’t have gone about things this way. I just thought that if I told you my suspicions without proof, you’d think I’d lost my mind. I thought if I could show you . . .”
“I think Ihavelost my mind,” she says wearily.
I step closer to her again, and this time, she doesn’t back away. Reaching up, I brush loose strands of her hair behind her ear and tilt her chin up so she has to face me. “I’ll say it again: let me help you.”
“How?” she asks, the hope and longing in her gaze nearly doing me in.
I unsheathe a sharp blade from my side and hold it up to my throat. “Taste me, little goddess. Drink and see what happens.”
She shakes her head. “I’m afraid, Kian. I’m afraid of what it means and of everything changing again. What if we’re wrong about all of this?”
“What if we’re right?” I dare her.
She squeezes her eyes shut, the war within her finally coming to a head. At her barest nod, I breathe a sigh of relief that she’s trusting me, and before I can second-guess myself, I reopen the shallow wound on my neck with a flick of my wrist.
“Drink, Rae.”
She opens her eyes, and I’m almost shocked at how ravenously she attaches her mouth to my throat. The softness of her tongue lapping at my neck almost does me in. I would have never thought something like this would turn me on, but oh gods, am I in for it.
