Her chest brushes mine, and I long to inspect every inch of her body for scars. If the mark on her neck is any indication, she has many. I itch to learn her history, her secrets, her desires.Every flicker of her soul will be mine; it’s only natural that I’m curious and eager to start.
Patience will be a virtue I cling to these coming months.
“The price for my illusions, aside from your darling company each day, is one night per lunation.” I lift her chin and greedily tap the seam of her lips. “On the night of the full moon, you will stay with me and no one else.”
Her pulse quickens, but her expression gives nothing of her feelings away. “I’m strongest at a full moon,” she warns, pursing her lips.
A smile tugs at my lips. “I am aware.”
She lifts a single brow. “You want to be locked in a room with a wolf during the full moon?”
I lay my hand over my unbeating heart. “I can think of no better place.”
Her lips purse. She studies my face for a long, silent moment, but I know she’ll accept my terms. She’s as desperate to escape her past as I am to secure my future.
“Fine,” she murmurs, “but on one condition.”
I nod.
“No vampire powers when we’re together. You won’t use magic to seduce me or complete a bond or otherwise manipulate me into feeling something for you. No illusions, either.” She pushes her fingertip into my chest. “Nothing.”
Before she can sense my intentions, I slide my hand into her feather soft locks and seal my lips to hers intimately, slipping my tongue against the seam of her mouth to taste the desire she so clearly holds for the wild wolf. The desire she is so desperate to hide. It’s the first of many secrets I’ll carry for her until my final slumber, a promise she has no hope of comprehending.
She beats her fists against my chest and screams against my lips, but there is no one to hear her, no one to feel her ire other than me. I drink it in greedily, press the sharp tip of my fang toher lip, and lap at her blood like a dying man sating his thirst. Her flavor bursts on my tongue, as vibrant as a summer’s day and twice as hot. That mere taste cracks open a hunger I’ve long since abandoned, one that I haven’t cared to nurture in the last few centuries I’ve walked alone: a longing to feed.
I groan deep as another desire takes hold, the force of it thrumming in the marrow of my bones and taking root in my bloodstream, feeding parts of my body that have long lay dormant.
Keeping my hands off her during our nights together will be . . . trying.
Sienna bites back in her frustration, drawing my blood into her mouth before I can stop her. I pull away before she drinks too deeply and savor the lingering taste of her on my lips, as blood-red as her own.
“What thefuck,” she hisses, “are you doing?”
“Sealing our deal,” I purr, unabashedly delighted at the turn of events. “With a kiss.”
“That wasn’t necessary!” She shoves away from me and wipes her lips, cursing at the blood staining her knuckles. “Gods, you taste like?—”
I hold my breath for her answer.
“—dirt!”
My smile freezes. “Come again, darling?”
“You taste like dirt,” she repeats, her eyes flashing.
“You jest,” I muse aloud, my own annoyance flaring. Vampires carry some of the oldest blood in the realm, meaning that ours has the richest notes. She must be lying. A shifter’s senses are unparalleled; she would have been able to taste the subtle intricacies in my blood. “Despite your tantrum, I will uphold my end of the deal.” Bowing slightly, I make a spoken promise. “I will spin illusions to keep your wild wolf at bay, and you will remain close for their duration. Furthermore, we willspend every full moon in each other’s presence, during which I will cast no charms or otherwise use my abilities.”
Still fuming, she nods. “Fine.”
I hide my frustration at her fickle temper and force my next smile. “Come,” I murmur, guiding her from the room. “I’ll escort you to class.”
I lay my arm around her waist and lead her through the many winding halls of the academy. As my illusion in the dining hall dispels, I shield her from the brunt of her wild mate’s fury rumbling down the corridor, but she jumps like she can sense it through my magic. I wrap my arm tighter around her until we reach our destination, then reluctantly release her to take our seats for this morning’s lecture.
She’s too distracted by the fiendish growling echoing down the hall to notice when I press my thumb to the pulse on her wrist.
A shiver courses through me as I feel her heartbeat and imagine its pulse on my lips—a temptation so innate that it stirs my awakening desire. I close my eyes and count each beat of her heart until she moves, breaking the spell as she pulls her arm away.
The class begins, but I ignore the lecture and continue monitoring her heartbeat, suddenly invigorated by the thought of her blood.
