Like this is my choice.
The world narrows down to this moment, this decision.
I nod.
He lifts my wrist higher, turning it slightly, exposing more of the soft skin there. His fingers wrap around me, not too tight.
I could pull away. If I wanted to.
I don’t.
His eyes lift to mine one last time. A warning.
His mouth lowers. The first contact isn’t teeth.
It’s lips.
Warm. Firm. Intentional.
A kiss.
My pulse jumps, beats irregularly, and I flush, embarrassed because I’m sure he can feel it.
This is a terrible idea.
His teeth sink in.
The sting is sharp, quick, but it barely registers because something else ignites inside me. Heat sparks low in my body and spreads outward in a slow, liquid rush. Not from blood loss or adrenaline. Something deeper. Heavier. Like my blood suddenly speeds up, racing through my veins too fast.
My fingers curl into the sheets before I can stop them. A strange, tight awareness gathers low in my belly.
Sorren makes a rough sound against my wrist, almost a moan, his mouth still latched to my skin.
A sharp pulse follows, stronger this time, as if something inside me has woken up and doesn’t know where to go.
Sorren inhales against my skin.
Deep.
Greedy.
My body shudders in answer.
His fingers tighten around my wrist, and something electric snaps through me, strong enough to make my back arch. A tiny moan escapes my lips, soft and helpless. Fire rushes up my arm,across my collarbone, spills into my chest like liquid light, and then my body pulls.
Toward him. Like he’s drawing on something more than just my blood.
Like it’s my soul that reaches for him.
Like gravity itself just shifted.
And the most terrifying part is that I don’t want it to stop.
Sorren’s eyes snap open. They’re not human anymore. The pupils have elongated, more oval than round, and for the first time since this whole insane day began he looks just as disoriented as I am.
For one suspended second, the space between us goes strained. Stretched.
Like a rubber band pulled too far.
