With his control fading fast, he snarled, “Get the hell away from me if you want to keepbreathing.”
Stormy gray-gold widened. Then she stunned all hell outta him and glared right back. “Is that supposed to frighten me? A pair of fake fangs? Shouldn’t you be out there with all the other cretins scaring the innocents tonight instead of hiding in the shadows like somepleb?”
At the taunt, Dagan didn’t think, he hauled her to him, raking those “fake fangs” down her neck, bruising the skin a little, a hair’s breadth past hercarotid.
The girl squeaked and slapped her palms on his chest. “What thehell?”
His arm banded around her waist, and he sucked on her fast-beating pulse, his saliva already healing the bruised skin. Unable to let her go just yet, he settled for running his tongue over her silky, warm flesh. She smelled of cinnamon and strawberries, a taste he’d long forgotten. A light brush of her psychic powers skipped overhim.
She yanked free, surprising him with her agility, and drew back her fist. He saw the punch coming and let it, hoping it would clear the damn haze in his head. She nailed him straight in theface.
Fuuuck! Stars exploded in his skull, stunning him senseless with the power of herblow.
“Don’t ever fucking touch me like that!” Her slanted eyes glowered like a wildcat’s in the dark. Shaking her fingers, she stormed off, muttering in disgust. “What the hell was I thinking trying to help that barbarian? I should have justleft.”
Dagan stood there, dazed, his bloodstrumming.
What the hell washethinking? He hadn’t lost control like that inmillennia.
The urge to go after her, taste her skin again, and satiate his hunger rode him hard, except it would lead to her death. At the thought, something inside him boltedshut.
He rubbed a shaky hand over his throbbing jaw, his damn twitching cock betraying him, then pulled out his cigar—and cursed. He’d left her with memories of his near lapse. Dropping the smoke back into his pocket, he took off after her fast-disappearingfigure.
As if sensing him, which surprised him considering he was thousands of years old and an immortal supernatural hunter, she spun around. Before she opened her mouth, he captured her furious gaze. Eyes the color of thunderclouds lit with gold specks lost their turbulence to stare blankly at him. The oddest sensation crept through him. This felt so wrong. He wanted her to remember him. Yet it didn’t stop him from what he had to do. First, he grasped her hurt hand and laid his palm over her bruised knuckles, letting his restorative power heal her. Then he scrubbed the unfortunate encounter from hermind.
“Oh…” She blinked those stormy-hued eyes at him a moment later, her brow creasing in confusion. Then shaking her head, she pivoted and ambled off toward the noisy club, leaving behind her lusciousscent.
Dagan watched her retreating form. And like his feet had a mind of their own, he found himself keeping to the shadows and following her. She thumped on the metal back door. It opened. Smiling at whoever answered, she slipped into a dimly lit corridor. With a thought, he kept it from locking and enteredunnoticed.
“I’m so glad you came, Shae.” A lanky blond sporting a mohawk hurried toward her and crushed her to him in a hug. “I missed you,doll.”
Dagan’s teeth clacked down, his eyes narrowing at the male touchingher.
“I’m fine, Ash.” She smiled, stepping away from the human—which probably saved his life. Yeah, rules had to be followed, and killing mortals was a big no-no.
She is notyours.
No, she wasn’t. Could neverbe.
Reining in the possessiveness that had sprung up out of nowhere, he dematerialized from the club. He didn’t mix with mortals, let alone stalk them. Undoubtedly, he was losing his mind from notfeeding.
He dematerialized to the Catskills Mountains. As he reformed in the dense forest, he instantly picked up the coppery odor of a wounded animal, its lifeblood pulling at him. He followed the trail, then it all turned fuzzy. He was at the cougar’s neck, incisors tearing through flesh and sinew. A red haze filled his mind as blood, warm and thick, flowed into his mouth. He ravenously gulped the liquid nourishment when a shuddering breath cut through the bloodymiasma.
No!He reared back, his heart thundering against his ribs in horror as the dying animal collapsed to the ground. Fuck! He scrubbed his unshaven jaw. Normally, he didn’t kill the creatures, but this scene drove him back to his blood-crazed past. Instead of the big cat, human bodies lay aroundhim.
Numbed to his very soul, knowing what he was truly capable off, he flashed to the rapidly flowing river nearby and dove into its icy depths. But nothing could wash away theguilt.
He was a killer. It had become his way of life, a cycle he had no way ofending.
