“Wait.” I hold out my hands like I’m directing traffic. “Wait. Wait. Wait.”
Sorren arches his back like he’s trying to escape his own skin. His shoulders twitch violently, almost like something inside him wants to kick free. Agony etches a million lines across his face.
“It’s the bite, isn’t it?” I say, piecing it together as I stare down at my finger. The Saturn Band-Aid has grown worn over the course of the day, the edges curled up, dirty and sticky. “You bit me the first time. In the cage and then you became a man.”
He doesn’t answer.
“Right?” I badger. “Isn’t that what happened?”
A tight nod from him.
“So now you’re like a royal vampire bunny?”
That gets me a dirty look, which twists into a grimace of pain.
I take in a deep breath, blow it out, unable to believe what I’m about to say. “Bite me.” I stick out my hand, shove it in front of his face. “If that’s what you need to heal, then do it.”
His attention shifts to my hand and stays there, staring like it’s something dangerous. Something he shouldn’t want.
Sorren jerks his head away. “No.”
I huff. “Why are you being so stubborn about this? It’s one tiny nip. Barely hurt the first time. I was more surprised than anything. Now I’ll know it’s coming.”
“I will not take more from you.” He sets his jaw. “You do not understand.”
His voice has gone rough, not with pain. With restraint.
“You already did it once.”
“Yes.” He freezes the way prey does when it’s trying to decide if it should stay or bolt. “And I felt it.”
A strange, hot shiver works its way down my spine.
“Felt what?”
“You.”
The word is barely audible.
The air thickens between us. His breathing is ragged. My pulse is too loud in my ears.
“When I take your blood,” he says, his voice taut, “it strengthens the bond between us.”
I squint at him. “You say that like it's a normal sentence people say to each other.”
“Itisnormal where I come from.”
“Fantastic,” I mutter. “So what bond are we talking about exactly?”
“Ours.”
“Me? And you?” I stare at him. “You’re saying you bonded me?”
“No.” His expression hardens. “The bond already existed.”
I throw up my hands. “That’s worse. That’s actually worse.”
He winces at my frustration. “The bite only allows me to use it, but I cannot, should not, bite you. Each time I do, the bond deepens. You will begin to feel me.”
