His cheeks flushed. “Put a cork in it. I don’t want a relationship. She just reminded me of my humanity.”
“Ah. The pesky thing you keep trying to kill. You act as if caring about someone will ruin your reputation.”
He pinched his beard, deep in thought. “I’ve seen too many men lose their lives for a four-letter word. If the fates gave us immortality, it wasn’t for us to waste on such a frivolous emotion. That’s not the Vampire way.”
Christian’s hand stroking my ankle belied his words. He clearly craved physical affection. Maybe that was why he engaged in debauchery—to have that connection with another person. The same craving I felt whenever he touched me so tenderly.
“Didn’t mean to bring up a sore subject,” I said.
“Doesn’t matter. She wasn’t the biggest mistake in my life.”
Were the women he had sex with a means to make him forget that he actually had a heart and had made the mistake of listening to it once or twice? Thinking about what went on inside Christian’s head had become not only a pastime of mine, but a means of torture.
“Should I cook dinner?” I offered.
He gave me a crooked smile. “If you enjoy the suffering of others, by all means.”
“Don’t you ever get hungry, even for blood?”
“No.”
“So you just live in a state of nothingness? Never hungry, never full.”
He scratched his scruff, a sign he was hiding something.
“What?” I nudged him with my foot. “Tell me.”
“We didn’t have exotic fruits in Ireland. When I came here, you ate whatever was local. It wasn’t until years later that I began noticing strange fruit. Watermelon fascinated me. Such a hard exterior with ugly markings, and yet when you sliced it open, it was gorgeous. Juicy and bright red.” He licked his lips. “I’d never tasted anything like it. Every so often, I crave watermelon.”
A smile touched my lips. “Am I strange fruit?”
When his smoldering eyes latched onto mine, a sexual heat pooled low in my body. At first I thought the blood exchange was making me feel that way, or the fact that he was the man who’d rescued me from the fire. The worst part was that I couldn’t stop analyzing my feelings about him and what they meant, because I’d never felt such an unyielding attraction to anyone before.
“You’re strange indeed,” he murmured. “Did you come in here to hide away like a little mouse?”
I shrugged. “I like to be alone when I’m hurt.”
Christian abruptly leaned forward. “Let me see your hand.” He took my injured palm and turned it over, running his finger over the partially sealed wound. “You need to fix this. There are twenty-seven bones in the human hand, and I’ll wager the bullet shattered at least one.”
“I can’t keep drinking your blood,” I said, retracting my arm.
Christian gripped the edge of the tub and slowly put his knees down, forcing me to open my legs. “There’s nothing wrong with what we’re doing. You’re my partner. You came in here to hide like a wounded animal because that’s what you’re used to doing. You’re not alone, Raven. Together we’re stronger than any of them,” he said, nodding toward the door. “Don’t think I haven’t figured you out.”
I blinked in surprise. “What do you mean by that?”
He took a lock of my hair between his fingers and looked at it for a moment. “I know why you hate Vampires. Your Mage Creator was a cruel man. Most people despise their tormentor, but you hate your Vampire maker because he’s the one who abandoned you to evil. He was your hope—your salvation. You trusted him, and he betrayed you. The Mage side of you is the only part you understood—no matter how vile or terrible, it made sense. You never learned what it is to be a Vampire. It’s as simple as that.” Christian hovered as if he might lie on top of me. “I won’t abandon you. I won’t betray you.”
I trembled when he stretched out his neck before me, his artery pulsing with healing blood.
“Drink,” he whispered, his neck brushing against my lips. “Don’t fight it.”
Everything about his offering was so sensual that my fangs extended. I wanted to fight against my Vampire nature—against the very idea of consuming blood from another person—but I couldn’t. The scent of him, the feel of his warm neck, his willingness to give himself to me—it called to my Vampire heart, and I cradled his neck in my hands. My body hummed with desire, and I hadn’t even tasted him yet.
I wasn’t even sure I wanted to.
I pressed a kiss below his jaw—completely unnecessary when drawing a vein closer to the surface.
But I couldn’t help myself.
