Maybe I’ll get the chance to bite him again.As soon as the errant thought filters through my mind, I drop my head whileplanting my hands on my hips in a show of frustration. This won’t go well if all I can think about is tasting his blood again.
“You think teaching me to use a bow is going to save me?” It’s a flippant question.
“It will help, but I also have a secret weapon.”
I bring my shaking hands up to cover my face. Apparently, my mind has slipped into the swamp or that of an adolescent male. The only secret weapon that comes to mind is literally attached to Ziv. Chancing a look in his direction, I split my fingers and peek at him through my hands. “I think your blood is affecting me.”
“I don’t doubt it,” he agrees.
“When will it stop?”
“Stop what, exactly?” He lifts one silver eyebrow in question.
I flush harder, thinking about how I’m going to answer that inquiry. Thank goodness he can’t see my face. “Making me feel…weird?”Like I want to feel your lips on me again, and I want to know what your skin tastes like.
“You’ll need to be more specific.” He’s not exactly scowling yet, but he’s not far from it either.
Damn it, I’m an adult. I can do this. “Attraction,” I blurt out, dropping my hands to reveal my glowing face.
Ziv’s chin kicks up a millimeter or two, but I’m so focused on him, I notice the smallest shift, like even his eyelids have lowered. “Are you saying you didn’t find me attractive before you bit me?”
What is that tone? Is he teasing me? “Uh…” I’m not sure how to answer. Of course I found him attractive, he’s brutally beautiful, but I felt like I could control myself before this, and now I have to think about not rubbing up against him like a cat in heat. “It wasn’t quite so distracting before,” I admit.
“You’ve been disrupting my life from the moment I laid eyes on you. I would say turnabout is fair play.” The way his eyesare squinted leads me to believe he’s not all that happy about it. “I’m sure it will wear off…eventually.” He shrugs as if he doesn’t care either way, but he doesn’t have to deal with damp underclothes or feelings so foreign, you can scarcely understand them yourself.
“Why were you kissing me then?” I counter, embarrassed that he is proving himself stronger than me in every way.
His silvery eyes widen. I don’t know him well enough to recognize if it’s my question that shocked him or just bringing up the fact that it happened. “You can hardly blame me. My mate just bit me. It’s a wonder I was able to show the restraint I did.” I clearly offended him, but then his words sink in.
“Your mate… She said something about that too.” I use my thumb to point behind me, indicating where the headmistress was.
“Yes, my mate,” he grits out through clenched teeth.
I gesture to myself, not accepting he could be talking about me, but I can’t find another explanation either. “Not me.”
“Yes, you,” he snaps back, growing even more agitated.
“I can’t be your mate,” I argue, but even as I say it, I know it’s not true.
“And why is that, little flower?” His question is soft, but his stare is anything but, especially when he begins to circle me like the prey I am.
“I’m nothing.” I keep him in my sight as long as I can without moving anything but my head and neck. When he gets behind me, the hair on the back of my neck stands on end, but I still don’t move. I don’t need eyes in the back of my head to feel his slow approach. Every cell in my body is attuned to his nearness.
Ziv stops when he’s so close, I can feel him breathing on the back of my neck. Fear grips me, but it isn’t anything like the dread I’ve known my entire life. This is something altogether different. I’m not worried about myself or what will happen tome. I’m terrified for him. How could someone like him be cursed with someone like me? No wonder he’s been so hot and cold. He must have recognized what this was far before I did. I’m having a hard time imagining it’s possible even now.
“You, little flower, are mine, but even if you weren’t, you could never be nothing.” I feel the whiskers on his jaw pull at the strands of hair in my braid as he leans even closer. My eyes shut, and the muscles along my back relax until I feel his chest pressed against me. I know if I leaned back into him, he would hold me up, maybe even welcome it. I test the theory and slump into his chest. He releases a sound that could be a hum, but that’s too sweet of a word to describe it. It sounds much more like a contented rumble than anything else.
I turn my face and inhale. Gods, he smells so good, like sugared almonds and tart cherries, and my mouth actually waters. The urge to bite him is still there, only now I want to nuzzle my nose in the nape of his neck or under his jaw before I sink my teeth into his throat.
I open my eyes, alarmed by my own thoughts, but seeing the sand in the arena doesn’t help dissolve the thoughts like I hoped. “I still want to bite you,” I confess, unsure I’ll be able to stop myself if given the chance, and I feel like he should be warned.
“Is that all you want?” His lips touch the back of my ear, and my knees get all wobbly.
I shake my head, hoping he isn’t going to make me voice the other things running through my mind.
I’m painfully aware of his fingers blazing across my hip until his palm is low on my belly. When he jerks me back, I let out a soft gasp that ends on a moan once I’m flush against him. My heart rate spikes, and my entire body feels like it’s covered in static electricity. “I don’t think I’m immune to your power,” I admit around a dry throat.
“I’m not using any power on you, Briar. That’s just your body’s reaction to me.”
