He scowled, a low snarl building. “You shouldn’t say such things.”
“Why not? Because you don’t want to hear it?” She was seething now, all her cards on the table with him. She had never felt so vulnerable in all her life. “I’ve fallen in love with you, Asher, and that scares the hell out of me.”
The sparks that lit his gaze had turned molten as she spoke, his pupils swallowed up by the light. As he reached up to cup her face in his hand, she saw hisglyphschurning with living color. “Let’s go inside now. This is not the place for what needs to be said. And it’s not safe for you outside, especially in the dark.”
She slowly shook her head. “It’s not safe for me in there, either. Because every minute we’re together makes me want to pretend the rest of the world—the real world—doesn’t exist.” She withdrew from his touch, even though it was hard to deny herself his comfort. “I’m just so scared, Asher. I’ve been through pain before, but I’ve never given anyone the power to hurt me like you can. I didn’t realize what that meant until tonight.”
“The last thing I want to do is hurt you.” He caught her face in both of his hands and gently brought her to him for a kiss. Tender, unhurried, breath-stealing. “And the only vein I want is yours.”
She frowned. “But you and that woman—”
“I went in the station with every intention to feed from her, but I didn’t. I couldn’t bring myself to put my mouth on someone who isn’t you.”
“Asher . . .”
“Don’t,” he said, shaking his head. “Don’t look at me with that kind of relief. Because you’re right. Being with me isn’t safe for you, either. Because if I ever drink from you like I want to, there’s no undoing it. I’ll be bonded to you forever, Naomi. I’ll always want you, crave you . . . hunger for you.” He drew in a breath and let it out on a dark, strangled curse. “Hell, I’m going to feel all of that whether I have your blood in me or not.”
She swallowed, her throat dry. “Then take it, Asher.”
His scowl deepened. “You shouldn’t say that. You don’t really know what kind of man I am. I don’t have the honor it takes to turn you down.”
“So don’t.” She reached up, stroking his handsome face. She could see his torment so clearly now. He wanted her, but he was starving in another way too. She could see the anguish of it written all over his face. “As for honor, I’ve never known a better man.”
A faint smile tugged the corner of his lips. “You know at least one. Michael.”
“That’s not what I mean. I’ve never known a man I wanted the way I want you.”
She tilted her head to the side and pulled out the tie that held her hair in its ponytail. Sweeping the loosened strands around to one shoulder, she bared herself to his fevered gaze. To the razor-sharp fangs that seemed to lengthen even more as his gaze locked on her throbbing artery.
“Ah, fuck,” he rasped. “His breath sawed in and out of him as he lowered his face to her neck. His tongue was hot and wet as it brushed tentatively over her carotid. “I can feel your heart racing. I swear, I feel it in my own veins whenever I’m next to you.”
He licked her again, more deliberately now, a teasing, testing stroke of his tongue over her fluttering pulse. Naomi’s heartbeat thudded in her breast, hammering in anticipation of his bite.
Asher growled, an animal sound that vibrated all the way into her marrow.
Then he pressed his open mouth to the side of her neck and sank his fangs deep.
“Oh, God.” She wasn’t prepared—not for the jolting flare of pain, nor the rush of heat that flooded in on its wake. It felt so good, so primal. So powerful.
Arousal bloomed in her core, as sudden as a flashfire, and deep as a volcano. She arched against him, wanton and wild. His body was hard, his erection grinding into her in heavy demand. On a gasp, she tipped her head back and watched the sea of stars overhead blur into a field of diamonds as she lost herself to the pleasure of his heat and his elemental thirst.
Each strong pull of Asher’s lips and tongue at her vein was echoed by a sensual and building pressure in the center of her. She was wet and panting, desperate to feel him inside her.
“Asher, I can’t bear it . . . the pleasure is too much. Please . . .”
He groaned sharply against her throat, his tongue sweeping over the punctures. A tingling sensation followed as her wounds healed. He shuddered, and when his gaze lifted to hers it glowed with a devotion that staggered her.
“Now, I’m taking you inside,” he rasped, his fangs enormous and glinting in the starlight. He scooped her up into his arms. “My sweet, delectable Narumi. You belong in my bed.”
CHAPTER 18
He should have let her go tonight. He should have walked away from Michael’s house alone and either left her there or drove her to the Order in Lake Tahoe himself so he could deal with Slater and Cain and anyone else who might pose a threat to Naomi’s wellbeing.
Anything would have been better for her than what he’d just done.
But it was too late for second guesses or regrets.
The intoxicating taste of Naomi’s blood was still the sweetest fire on his tongue—feeding every cell in his body—and there was no taking that back. Bastard that he was, he didn’t want to take it back.
