Just one nibble.
I wanted it more than I’d ever wanted anything aside from Finn himself.
“I’ll take that as a yes. Okay. So, here it goes. It’s not your fault. I can feel your inner turmoil, can feel bits and pieces of the guilt that’s tearing you to shreds. Which, as you should know, tells me something about the intensity of your feelings. I have no idea why you feel so guilty or why the fuck you’re so possessive over a random human you’ve never even talked to before today. And trust me, we’ll come back to that later. But it’s okay. Your guy is okay. Listen to his pulse.”
I did.
I couldn’tnotlisten to it.
The eventhump-thumpof his heart, the blood pumping through his veins. It was turning into my favorite song of all time.
“If it weren’t for me, he would still be out there dancing.”
“If it weren’t for you, Alaric would’ve taken him out back, fucked him from behind, and bitten him just as he was about to come. You know, the way normal vampires do it?”
“Yeah, yeah, I get it. I’m not normal.”
Because I didn’t want to fuck humans. Or other vampires. There was only one person I wanted. But I couldn’t have himwithout ruining his life. Having him unconscious in my lap was proof of that.
“What I’m saying is that he would’ve ended up as a snack one way or another. So, take a bite out of him already. I know you want to.” Bennie grinned at me while I considered cutting off his head and placing it on a stake. I’m sure he’d stop fucking laughing then.
“I’m not gonna bite him. He needs all the blood he has inside his body.”
Bennie rolled his eyes. “Since when are you into playing the good Samaritan?”
I raised my eyebrows pointedly at him.
“Okay, sure. When you ran into the alley to save me. I mean since then.”
“I wanted to become a doctor. The whole point of being a doctor is to save people.”
Bennie snorted. “For some, sure. Others… not important. If you need a reason to bite him… taste his blood to make sure the drugs are wearing off.”
I knew he was just trying to goad me. I knew it.
But his suggestion… well, he wasn’t wrong. I could taste drugs… Maybe if I took a little bite now, I could check on him in a few hours to make sure the taste was getting fainter and fainter.
Wait… what?
No. I was not going to bite him.
Was I?
My fangs elongated, the sharp, pointed teeth sliding out of my gums, poking my bottom lip.
Bite him, a voice inside me chanted, my vision zeroing in on the fluttering vein in his neck, the steadythump-thumpof his heart all I could hear. I felt his pulse beneath my fingers—so tantalizing, so invigorating.
Just a little nibble to make sure he was doing okay. It wouldn’t hurt him. He wouldn’t even remember. And maybe, just maybe, I’d be able to let go of him afterwards.
My eyes were still transfixed by the fluttering vein in his neck, but I reached for his wrist instead. I pulled his hand close and reached for his ring finger. I wasn’t going to drink from him. I just needed a little taste. One tiny little droplet.
I carefully pierced the skin on his fingertip with the sharp tip of my fang and gently massaged his finger until a drop of blood had formed at the wound. Then, and only then, did I raise the finger to my mouth and lick it off.
The taste hit me like a freight train, punching the air out of my lungs—not that I needed it to breathe. He tasted better than anyone I’d ever tasted, his blood better than the finest of wines out there. Rich, full of life, full of him, but… alsowrong.
There were the drugs, for one—a mix of several flavors that made his blood taste off, giving it a chemical note—but also…
I massaged his finger again, raising another droplet of blood just to make sure, but yeah…
