He’d let himself get too hungry. And if he weren’t careful, he’d take too much. She was delicious, almost addicting, and as he fed, he thought…she tasted like sunshine. Listening to her heart beat, he waited as long as he could, unable to resist just one more pull on her vein.
Carefully, he withdrew his fangs, then pierced his finger, exposing a single drop of his own blood to help restore a small bit of her strength. “Taste, my beautiful creature,” he whispered, and her delicate pink tongue darted out and licked the blood away. The bite marks on her neck faded, and he pressed a kiss to the spot, enjoying the last brief taste of her. “You will be tired.Rest tonight.”
The dark angel in his arms shuddered, and Declan withdrew a handkerchief from his pocket and dabbed at her lips, then his. Meeting her unfocused gaze, he sent his will flowing into her mind. “Return to the group. This is the last stop on the tour. You will be back on the bus shortly and will remember nothing of me.”
He did not want to let her go, but his sensitive hearing picked up on the last few lines of the tour guide’s story about his maker’s vile acts. “Tell me your name, my sweet.”
She blinked slowly, almost as if she could see him, but then let her eyes flutter closed. “Riley.”
The word escaped on a tremulous whisper, and Declan let the sound flow over him, wind its way through him…possess him.“I am sorry, Riley. Now go, and be well.”
He guided her back to the door, and from the semi-darkness, watched her stagger over to the group, follow them up the stairs, and walk out of his life. Forever.
