You are scared, I tell myself.He killed two men without blinking.He controlled my voice.He locked me in a room. This is scary.Heis scary.
And yet, my body leans toward him.
He closes his hand around my wrist, and my pulse jumps violently under his thumb. He raises my hand above my head and presses his body tighter against mine. Or maybe I’m pressing my body tighter against his. I don’t know.
“All I want to do is protect you,” he whispers back. “That’s it. I simplyhave toprotect you.”
Heat spreads through my body from the contact, and goose bumps roll up my arms. It’s as if my body is revolting against me. It’s as if my body just wants to get as close to him as it can. It’s confusing. It’s overwhelming. It’s consuming.
“I hate you,” I say, but it sounds diluted now thanks to the rapid breaths of a wanton woman I can’t seem to control.
His eyes turn violet. “Do you?”
I don’t answer. I can’t answer. My body is betraying me, and all I can think about is the way his mouth would feel against mine.
This man kidnapped me. And while he’s a vampire, he’s not elite. He’s not powerful. He’s not wealthy. He is not from the life I was raised in or the future I was promised. He is primal and blue-collar and work boots and something dangerous that I don’t understand.
And I want him.
The kiss happens before I can decide whether to fight it.
His mouth presses to mine, steady and certain.
For half a second, I freeze, and then the world tilts as heat surges through me like a hurricane. All the fear inside my nerves dissolves into something grounding.Something safe.
My fingers curl into his T-shirt, and I kiss him back.
I savor the taste of his mouth. I savor the taste of his lips and tongue. And I press my body tighter against his until I can feel his arousal against my hip.
I’m overwhelmed with a million different emotions, but the one that stands out the most is hunger. Want.Desire.
When he pulls away, I’m shaking and breathless and confused.
And when he leaves me locked in the room again, I’m angry. At him. At myself. At how I could kiss this man who took me without permission and still have it be the best thing I’ve ever experienced in my life.
But, livid or not, it was thebest.
And I have no idea why.
Kane
Blair is asleep. Even through a locked door, even one floor down, I can feel her. My body can tell that her pulse is slower now and her breathing is even and her anger has been dulled by exhaustion.
The bond doesn’t shut off just because she’s unconscious. If anything, it only hums louder.
Rook sits at the kitchen table, his arms folded and his jaw tight. If vampires actually needed sleep, he’d look like he hasn’t slept in days. Kylie is in his bedroom, turnedtheirbedroom, and Cal leans against the counter, arms crossed and waiting.
No one speaks at first, but with the way Cal keeps tossing glare-daggers my way, I know I’m going to have to be the one to break the tension. After all, my extracurriculars are the most recent cause.
“There are more casualties.” I shrug. “I…well, I killed the men who were there to take Blair.”
“Fuck,” Rook mutters.
“Shit, Kane.” Cal’s jaw ticks. “How many?”
“Two,” I admit. “Mark and Evan.”
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” Cal sighs. “You killed Holland’s boys?”
