Her gaze darted back and forth between the test and Alvin’s face. “What’s that mean? That color looks bad.”
He gave her a winning smile — all white teeth and sun-kissed skin and impersonal satisfaction. “Congrats, Miss McKnight. You won the lottery of venom types.” He showed her the test again, like she was supposed to know what that green dot meant. “You’re type N.”
you were born a vampire, right?
Boogeyman
I was. My mom says I came out biting
why does that not surprise me
do you ever stop and think it’s weird to get your food from other people
Do you ever think it’s weird to eat a steak?
ok that’s fair
Why the sudden interest? You thinking about what it’ll be like when I finally sink my fangs into you?
absolutely not.
No need to be scared, pet. I’ll take good care of you.
FIFTEEN
“Explain what’s going on,Felix. Now.”
She was pissed. Felix could feel her ire radiating in the air like heat waves off hot concrete.
He shut the door and flicked the lock in place. No one would bother him in his private space unless invited, but it never hurt to be extra sure. Especially now.
Felix turned slowly back to where Dahlia sat on the couch. Her cheeks were flushed, her eyes narrowed. She looked rumpled and so fucking beautiful in that silk robe he’d gotten her. When she looked at him like she was ready to rip his throat out, it only made him harder.
“Being venom neutral — it means something, doesn’t it?” she demanded, watching him stride toward her with slow, purposeful steps. “That’s what you were talking about last night, and that’s why Devon kept trying to— Gods, how did any of you evenknow?Weren’t you too busy bombing your own family members to pay attention to what happened to me?”
Felix weathered her tirade calmly. Sinking into the seat opposite hers, he leaned back. “You want me to explain or do you want to keep yelling at me?”
He swore he could see a vein throb in her neck when she hissed, “Oh, buddy, you haven’t seen me yell yet.”
Gods, he loved her.
Felix shifted his legs a little, trying to ease the discomfort of his pants’ seam cutting into his cock. He didn’t want to suffer an accidental amputation just when he got the chance to use the damn thing again.
Gods knew he’d waited long enough. He hadn’t touched another woman since he met Dahlia. Even if he wanted to, he couldn’t. Vampires were single-minded when they locked onto a potential anchor, and he was no different. No one tempted him the way she did. No one ever would.
Anticipation burned sweetly in his veins. His claws tapped a steady, patient rhythm on the armrest of his chair — a countdown beat to taking everything he wanted at last.
“Let’s start at the beginning,” he said, his tone conversational. Relaxed. The complete opposite of everything burning inside him. “You know me, but you don’t know what I do or who my family is.”
“I’ve put together what you do, Felix. I’m not missing any brain matter.”
“You know I’m in the vampire syndicate and I’m a criminal,” he corrected her. “You don’t know that I’m the head of the Amauri family, which controls much of the underground gambling and arms trade on the east coast. I deliberately withheld that from you because for the last three years I’ve been in a war with my Aunt Yvanna, who wanted control of the family and our operations after my grandmother passed.” He paused, sniffing. “Not that you ever asked.”
Dahlia shot him a withering glare. “Because I didn’t want to know. Still don’t.”
He waved her comment away, unbothered. “The risk that you could be targeted for revenge was high enough that I decidedI wouldn’t further our relationship until the fighting stopped. I put you on ice until I could be sure you’d be safe.”
“Put me on ice.” Dahlia leaned over to grab a silver dish off the coffee table. She whipped it at him with impressive speed and force, but he was just a bit faster. Felix leaned away, letting the dish sail harmlessly over his shoulder to dent the wall beside the fireplace.
