“Da, sometimes,” came the answer. “Is always temptation to indulge oneself, is it not?”
Maggie shrugged, not disagreeing but her mind had gone elsewhere. “Have… you ever been tempted to feed from me?” She hesitated only a fraction before blurting the next question and instantly wished she’d kept it to herself. This was a poor segue into talking about their relationship!
She watched Anatoly freeze in place, his jaw clenched and an eerie stillness settling over him. Then she saw the guilt spread across his face and she didn’t need him to speak the answer to know that yes he’d considered it and something had stopped him.
Saving him from verbalizing it, she followed up with yet another question. “Why didn’t you?”
Anatoly let out a small sigh and then chuckled nervously as he stuffed his hands into his pockets. “Was not expecting such exacting questions,” he remarked, but then he added quickly, “I do not wish to harm you, Maggie.”
“So, it does harm to feed? Even from a willing subject? But Deacon—” She didn’t know why but she started to argue and only stopped when he held up a hand.
“Nyet, it does not harm per say…” He was still nervous. She could hear it in his voice even if he wasn’t frowning with uncertainty anymore.
She mimicked the earlier expression, a line creasing her brow. “Then why not me? I don’t understand. You’ve had plenty of opportunities.”
Anatoly swallowed visibly, his Adam’s apple bobbing with the gesture. “Because, I long to,” he finally confessed. “And that desire frightens me.”
“Oh.” The word escaped her lips and suddenly all Maggie could think about was taking another sip of coffee. She refocused all her efforts on her breakfast then, eating until the bagel was gone and there was nothing left to stall a proper answer.
Maggie hadn’t been expecting such an admission. She’d been preparing herself for the worst possible answer. Maybe there was something wrong with her blood, maybe there was something wrong with her. She hadn’t expected the blatant revelation of his desire and now that the moment was upon her to press about their relationship, she was entirely preoccupied with the new revelation instead.
Yet she had no idea how to respond to it. What did someone say to finding out your crush wanted to drink your blood? It’s not like there was a card at the supermarket for this sort of thing!
“Maggie?” The sound of Anatoly’s soft voice drew her gaze to him, and she realized he looked miserably guilty.
Setting her mug down on the counter, Maggie closed the distance between them and slipped her arms around his waist. Just to let him know she wasn’t upset, she was only speechless. She felt him relax and then his hands were on her back, pressing her into his chest.
The hug made her feel better, too and after a few minutes, she pulled back just enough that she could look up at him. A lopsided grin slanted her mouth and she reached up to stroke his beard. “You can, you know…” she whispered. “I trust you, Anatoly.”
No sooner had the words left her mouth that Anatoly was suddenly moving. In a flash, she was being pressed backward until her body was pinned between the cold drywall and the cold vampire.
A surge of primal, instinctive fear coursed through Maggie, making her heart beat faster and her eyes widen. She knew a hundred ways to escape and yet she remained locked in his arms even as a low, predatory growl rumbled in his throat.
“Careful, Maggie,” he warned in a whisper of his own. “You should not tempt beast.” Then he placed a firm, hungry kiss to her lips that had her trembling with heady lust in an instant.
Without hesitation she eagerly returned the gesture, at least until he pulled away to trail kisses from her jaw down to her neck. Her body shuddered as his tongue flicked over her delicate, exposed skin.
“I can hear blood thrumming in your veins…” he groaned, his need so evident it was palpable.
“So, why resist?” Maggie urged, hardly recognizing her voice for how husky it was.
Anatoly growled again, sounding more animal than man in that moment, and for some reason, Maggie wasn’t frightened of him this time. Her initial fear, a fleeting involuntary emotion, had evaporated during their kiss and now all she wanted was to share this moment of intimacy with him.
“What if I cannot stop?” Anatoly grated the words out, nuzzling and kissing her neck.
“I’ll make you stop,” she answered with conviction. Maggie was certain that if she wanted to get away from him, she could manage it. She was trained in self-defense and the only reason she didn’t demonstrate her ability was so as not to ruin the mood.
“Maggie…” He sighed her name and his breath tickled her neck, making her shiver. “And if it hurts?”
Maggie tilted her head to the side, further exposing her neck and shoulder. “I’m no stranger to pain, Anatoly. Now stop stalling and—” She gasped as with another growl Anatoly bit into her tender flesh.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Hot blood poured into Anatoly’s mouth, sweet and metallic in just the right combination. His whole body shuddered and he clung to Maggie, swallowing hot mouthful after hot mouthful of her enticing life essence.
Soft, warm Maggie, who had tempted him into feeding from her, was now moaning his name, her arms around his shoulders, holding him just as closely as he was holding her.
The pain would have been fleeting and sure enough, he knew the moment the bite turned pleasant because she melted, her whole body relaxing into the embrace.
