I turn and start walking, my gaze ping-ponging around the dark alley, trying to orient myself. Where the hell did he take me? A shiny metal sign on the back of one of the buildings clues me in.Chocolate Enchantments. We must be in an alley behind the stores on Main Street.
Footsteps scuff against the asphalt. My heart lurches. I glance over my shoulder and Declan’s closing in on me.
“Seriously?” I stop and glare at him with two indignant eyebrows raised.
“I’m not letting you walk alone.” He stares down at me as if I’m the one being unreasonable.
“Great, now I can add stalker to your list of irritating qualities,” I huff.
He throws his head back and laughs. Oh, my goodness. If I thought he was handsome when he’s all snarly and brooding, he’sdevastatingwhen he actually smiles.
“Stalker.” He lets out another chuckle. “You wish.” He waves his hand in the air, gesturing toward the end of the alley. “I assume you’re staying at the Applewood Inn?”
“Not exactly beating the stalker allegations,” I mutter.
His gaze cuts back to me, cool and deliberate. “Don’t flatter yourself. It’s the nicest place to stay within twenty miles.”
“‘Nice’ is underselling the inn, but yes, that’s where I’m staying.” I shove my hands in my coat pockets again. Sharp pain stabs under the nail of my index finger, searing and sudden. I yelp and yank my hands out.
“What’s wrong?” Declan frowns, his eyes narrowing.
“Nothing,” I grumble, gingerly reaching into my pocket and grabbing the iron nail between two fingers. “Jabbed myself with a stupid nail in my pocket.” I pull it out and hold it up to show him.
He blows out a slow breath. “Good thing you had that with you tonight.”
“Not this again,” I grumble.
Before I can toss it in my bag, where I’ll probably stab myself with it again in the future, he plucks the nail from my hand. His big fist closes around it, veins standing out, tattoos crawling faintly under his skin. Or is that a trick of the light in the foggy parking lot?
“You should keep this on you while you’re in town,” he says, voice low, rough.
“It just stabbed me!” I hold up my finger to prove my point. A drop of blood glistens at the tip, dark as garnet in the weak light.
Declan’s hand shoots out. Strong fingers wrap around my wrist, dragging me closer. My protest dies in my throat as he lowers his head. I stare wide-eyed as he parts his lips and sucks my finger into his mouth. Warmth. Pressure. His tongue slides over the tip, soothing the sting. Sparks of heat fire from my toes to my scalp, a full-body awareness that part of me isin his mouth. This grumpy mountain of a man has been nothing but hardness and scowls, but his mouth is warm and gentle.
I can’t breathe. Who needs air, anyway? The heat of him burns through the cold fog, through my stubborn insistence that I don’t need anyone. My pulse pounds against his grip, announcing my desire. Our eyes meet and the dark intensity in his stare sends a jolt of need through me. I drop my gaze to his throat where his tattoos seem to ripple against his skin.
He releases my finger with a pop. The sting in my finger has faded. He flicks his tongue across his bottom lip, like he’s savoring the small taste of my blood.
Maybe he’s a vampire?
No. That’s insane. He would’ve chomped on my finger or something.
Another ripple along his throat draws me away from thoughts of vampires. Are his tattoos moving? Reaching for me?
That can’t be.
This place, or this man, is making me crazy.
He flexes his jaw and drops my wrist, clenching his fists at his sides like he’s holding back a truth bigger than both of us.
“You need to be more careful,” he rasps. “Don’t give the Hollow your blood.”
“Give the Hollow…what are you talking about?” This time my question isn’t dismissive of the Hollow lore. I’m too desperate for any information he’s willing to share. Anything that makes sense. I shake my hand in front of his face. “Why did you do that? How do you know my blood won’t give you…hemorrhagic fever or something?”
“It won’t.” He scrubs a hand over his jaw, rough stubble scratching against his palm. “Come upstairs with me.”
“What? No way! I’m not going somewhere private with you.” Too bad my girly parts had a whole different answer in mind.
