Biting down on her wrist, she winced as blood spilled from the punctures and slid down her skin. She didn’t have a choice, but she hesitated before bringing it to his mouth. She’d never given anyone her blood before, had never planned on doing so, and she had no idea what would happen when she did.
And what if she did something she couldn’t undo? What if she bound them together forever by doing this?
Her blood dripped onto the stones beneath her as Jack’s chest slowly rose and fell. His shallow breaths, stillness, and the growing pallor of his skin drove her to act. Before she could overthink the consequences, she placed her wrist against his mouth.
Brushing the strands of hair away from his face, she caressed him as her blood trickled into his mouth. Her apprehension mounted when he didn’t react, but then his throat moved as he swallowed it. Charlie leaned forward to rest her forehead against his.
“You’re going to be okay,” she whispered, willing it to be true. “You’re going to be okay.”
When her bite healed, she pulled her wrist from his mouth and bit into it again before placing it over his lips. This time, his mouth parted, and his fangs pressed against her flesh before he bit deep.
Charlie gasped and almost tore her arm away from him, but then the discomfort vanished and pleasure slid over her skin. She had no idea what she’d done by giving him her blood, but she couldn’t deny it felt incredibly right to have him feeding on her.
* * *
Jack wokewith the sweetest taste on his lips and in his mouth. He licked his lips and started to roll over, but the soreness in his body stopped him. He groaned before falling back again.
Was he naked? Yes, he was.
“Easy,” Charlie murmured as she ran her hand over his forehead. “You’re healing, but you have to stay still, or you’ll reopen your wounds.”
“Where are we?” he asked. “And where are my clothes?”
“Your shirt is ruined, and I took the other stuff off because it was soaked and freezing.”
Charlie found the light and turned it on. She’d shut it off to conserve it, but the beam was weaker than earlier. She’d also shut it off to shield her nudity as, unable to take the feel of her wet, cold clothes cleaving to her, Charlie removed them. If someone discovered them here, she had no problem killing them while she was naked.
Pointing the beam at a wall, she hoped to keep most of her nudity hidden from him as she sat in the shadows and drew her knees up to her chest. He’d already seen all there was of her, but she felt unexpectedly shy.
“Where are we?” he asked again.
“I found a small cave for us to hide in.”
Jack gazed at the walls only feet away from him before focusing on Charlie again. His heart leapt into his throat when he realized she was naked too. He swallowed to wet his suddenly parched throat. “Why didn’t you leave me?”
“Because you wouldn’t have left me.”
“But I slowed you down; you could have been killed.”
“I could have been killed many times, and I’m still kicking. It’s nighttime now, but we have to leave here at daybreak. If you’re not better by then, I’ll leave your ass.” She wouldn’t, but she couldn’t let him think she’d developed a soft spot for him.
Jack smiled at her. “Fair enough.”
Charlie went to kill the light, but he grabbed her hand.
“You were injured too,” he said.
“I’m fine,” she replied. “The bullet worked its way out hours ago, and my leg is almost healed.”
“Good.”
Jack’s fingers rubbed her hand while he gazed at her. He licked his lips again and tasted the sweetness of her on them. Despite the fact he’d taken three bullets, the power thrumming through him was unlike anything he ever experienced before. He frowned as he tried to figure out where that power was coming from.
And then it dawned on him.
“You gave me your blood.”
The look on his face had her hand fisting as she contemplated giving him a black eye. “You needed blood. Would you have preferred to die here?”
