“I could take you to Donnie's place.”
Her head lifted, white hair slipping back like a curtain. The beginning of a smile tugged at her lips, only to vanish behind a scowl when suspicion snapped back into place.
“Why? What’s in it for you?”
I wanted to say ‘time with you.’I wanted to tell her I craved every second of her voice, her scent, her fire, but that would send her bolting. No, I had to be useful. Indispensable.
In a flash of vampire speed, I brushed her hair back behind her ear before she could react, letting my fingers graze that warm skin that burned like wildfire against my cool fingertips. “Because I’d rather not end up with my chest split open, my heart ripped out, and my blood burned in a ritual for the Syndicate gods.”
Her eyes cut to the side where I’d tucked her hair, then slowly came back to me. The screeching sound of the chair dragging along the hardwood echoed in the room as she stood up.
Every nerve in me lit up when her hands slammed down on either side of me, boxing me against my own desk, her breath sharp and hot against my lips. “If you try anything—anything—I don’t like,” she whispered, each word laced with venom and promise, “you won’t have to worry about gods or death.”
Her lips parted in a wicked smile, teeth flashing. “I’ll chain you upside down over my tub. Your new job will be to fill it with your blood. Every. Damn. Day.” Her finger traced my throat in a mocking caress. “I’ll slit you open again and again until mywhole body is covered in crimson stains, then leave you there until the next day and the next, until you're used up, old husk of a body has nothing left to spare.”
I should have flinched, should have felt fear, but something dark and primal inside me broke loose, and I wasn’t in control anymore.
A growl ripped out of me as I snapped, arms locking around her waist to yank her flush against me. My cool collided with her heat, my lips barely an inch from hers. “If that’s your idea of an invitation,” I rasped, “you could’ve just asked. I’d love to get you naked and paint your skin with my blood.”
Her breath hitched, her jewel-pink eyes dropping to my mouth for one heavy heartbeat, then her fist cracked across my face. Pain exploded, and I doubled over.
She stalked back to the door, boots thudding her victory as her satisfied huff echoed in the air.
Fuck. No, no, no. I blew it.She’d never speak to me again if I left it like that.
Unexpectedly, her steps stopped. “You may heal slower because you’re a turned, but I didn’t touch your legs. Let’s go.”
At the sound of her steady, commanding voice, I glanced up. Arms crossed, hip cocked, but her lips… there was the faintest traitorous curve. Maybe I imagined it, but… maybe not.
Either way, I wasn’t about to waste this chance. I hauled myself up off the floor.
* Weak by AJR
9
NOVA
Conrad Mecariee. That was a name I was going to remember.
It had taken far too much of my self-control not to answer his incessant invitations. It wasn’t the first time someone had flirted with me to get something in return, but it was the first time I almost responded. With the ravenous urge to put him in his place… to pin him underneath me… I almost took him right there on his desk.
It was just a blip of a thought, but before I knew it, I was pressed against him, his arms circling me tight, the heat from my body transferring to his, spiraling out of control. Getting this close, I could see the way his deep evergreen eyes burned with carnal desire. When he licked his lips, my whole body tensed, ready to climb on top and ride him hard and fast.
Then I came to my senses and punched him.
Gulping down some air, I forced myself to walk away from that sophisticated grapefruit-crisp scent, laced with warm sandalwood and a cozy bite of nutmeg. His scent called me to stay, to sink into his space and see where this could lead us. Mywolf let out a small whine at the loss, purposely making my steps louder to drown her out.
I tried to steady myself by thinking about Reece and that human kid, praying Jeremy hadn’t done anything stupid enough to get either of them killed. That thought sobered me up fast. I turned to ask for Donnie’s address, only to realize Conrad hadn’t moved off the floor. He was staring into space with a stricken look on his face.
What the fuck was he doing? Twiddling his thumbs? He might’ve been a turned vampire, making him weaker than someone who’d been born that way, but I hadn’t hit himthathard.
“You may heal slower,” I snapped, glaring over my shoulder, “but I didn’t touch your damn legs.”
His head swiveled around in a flash, eyes lit with hope at my words. My wolf all but wagged her tail.
I. Hated. It.
“Let’s go,” I growled, turning away before he saw the heat in my cheeks.
