This woman is unlike any other I’ve ever met. She even puts the ones blessed with immortality to shame.
As if bewitched, my feet move toward her without my permission. The closer I get, the stronger her scent is. It reminds me of growing lilacs and rain, and it surrounds me. A sweet perfume. I’m lost in it. Lost in her.
A thumping pounds against my ears, and it takes me a second to realize it’s her heart calling out to me, her blood singing that familiar and addicting song as it pumps through her veins. My own speeds up to match hers—faster and faster until my vision sharpens and my incisors press against my bottom lip.
I fixate on the blue lifelines underneath her pale skin, watch them pushing the blood to make a blush redden her skin on her neck and cheeks.
Haven steps back, but her back meets the wall. Hermouth opens to speak, but no words emerge. At least none that I can hear. I’m too focused on the hypnotic sound of her heart beating rapidly. The curves of her lips. The way her tongue darts out between them nervously. God, I want to kiss those lips. Taste her. Press her slender body against my own and…
My mind runs away with me; all my rational thought is gone. There’s only her. Slamming my hands on both sides of her head, I lean into her, pinning her between me and the wall. As I imagined, she’s so soft against me. And when I look down at her face, I’m amazed to see her blue eyes looking back at me with the same heat and need flickering behind them.
I dip my chin, closing the distance between us, ready to take the risk and kiss her, but when she rises onto her toes to meet me, a different scent hits my nose.
Henri.
Ice shoots through my veins, and I rip myself away from her so fast, I stumble back.
What am I doing? I can’t just… I can’t…
Henri wouldn’t want me involved with her. Especially if he has plans for her change. I would be breaking some kind of rule. I’m sure of it.
He trusted me to look after her. Not get distracted by her.
Panic rushing through me, I shake my head clear. Where is my self-control?
I may be fairly new to this gift Henri bestowed upon me, but I need to keep my composure. If I let it go too far, I could give in to desire right here in the middle of theopen room. Or, worse. I could rip her throat open, drain her, and kill her. Instantly.
Both are ultimate betrayals.
At the mention of her blood, my stomach twists with hunger, but like Henri told me when I was changed, I was not a monster. This was simply a gift I had to embrace and master. It took time and skill, but I still had a heart. I could still feel. And love—
I won’t betray my lord.
Henri had brought Haven here to give her another chance at life, and that doesn’t involve me. I need to stay smart about this and look beyond what I feel. Haven is human, and it is the craving that draws me to her. That is all.
Haven
My mind still reeling after what just happened, I lift my body away from the wall.Almost happened, I correct myself. A shiver rockets through me, but not because of the coldness seeping from my wet clothes. From the overwhelming sensations swirling through me all at once. If Avrum hadn’t pulled away, I would’ve done something bold. I would’ve let him kiss me. Just the memory of him pressing against me made heat prickle across my skin and desire flood to my lower belly. I may have even let him do more…
I’m going mad. I barely know him. Not to mention that he’s not like me. He’s one of thosethings. Like Henri.They are something else entirely. They like to feed off humans like me. Henri does.
My hand shoots to my neck where the two puncture marks lay hidden under my hair. They may have recently scabbed over, but the skin is still bruised and tender.
That’s why Avrum tried to kiss me, to take advantage of me and drink from me, too. And I almost let him put his hands on me.
I won’t let him get that close again.
Disgust rises within me, but more at myself than anything else.
He may seem innocent and be a master at playing naïve, but I know better. Ultimately, he’s bringing me back to Henri. He works for him. Nothing will change that.
“I’m—I’m sorry,” he stammers, suddenly nervous. He runs a hand over his face. Even with his apology, the same primal hunger lingers in his gaze when he looks at me. He glances away. “I should have never—I didn’t mean to scare you.”
“You didn’t,” I mutter, studying him. Man, he’s good at pretending to care.
Avrum heaves a deep sigh. “Lord Henri would want me to bring you back to the party.”
The mention of Henri strikes a bolt of fear through me. Would he punish me for leaving? Or my father? Would he kill him so I’d never leave again?
