I’m still busy cursing my stupidity when she repeats her question, this time reaching out to grab my hand.
Her hand in mine is a perfect, impossible fit. A smile touches my lips until I remember she asked about her human friend.
“There’s something we didn’t tell you… something you need to know.”
Her violet eyes blink up at me. I’ve counted her freckles before—forty-seven, scattered across her nose—but I count them again anyway.
I raise one finger to trace them, but stop myself midair, my eyes widening in shock.
Just because she initiated contact does not give me the right to touch her any time I please. Especially when she isn’t wearing anything, like this.
My treacherous eyes follow a downward path, tracing the peaks of her breasts, pointed in the cool air. I swallow, a dry, human sound. My gums ache. My fangs push, needing to graze the curve of her neck, to taste. Her scent deepens, warming with a lust that answers my own, and it is all I can do to keep myself rooted to the spot.
It is not enough. I want more. I want all of it.
I take a step forward, closer, my nostrils now solely filled with the smell of my little flower, and I inhale greedily, like I may suffocate if I don’t. Which is a ridiculous notion considering I don’t even require oxygen to live.
And yet… I now know with complete conviction that I have absolutely no desire to continue to exist without Kallista in my life in one way or another.
That if she chooses to walk away, this strange flicker of life she’s awakened will leave with her.
But I hope she won’t. I hope she can find a use for me. Some purpose in her orbit. Fangs and all.
I tear my gaze from her rubbing thighs to meet her large purple eyes, and what I find there stops my breath.
There is heat in her gaze, yes, but beneath it is something stranger—not fear, but a sharp, unnerving curiosity, even as my predator features are on full display.
She is different. She looks at a monster and does not flinch. I do not know if that means she is meant for me, or if she is more dangerous than I am.
I pull a white daisy from my coat—an old, half-forgotten gesture for a new, unforgettable girl. It’s fitting for Kallie, in more ways than one.
Her eyes widen, then brighten with the delighted smile that reaches them, making the purple turn a shade of lilac that is breathtaking.
“Thank you, Stud Muffin. That is very sweet of you.” The nickname sends that phantom beat hammering against my ribs, foreign and odd. Her next words silence it completely.
“Now, tell me what I need to know about Casey.”
I take a step back, giving her some room and giving myself a chance to clear my head of the sheer want that is invading my every sense, but she doesn’t let go of my hand, her grip firm and confident.
“He needs blood to complete the shift.”
“Okay… So I’ll give him my blood.”
I shake my head, the heat in my veins turning to ice.
“He needs vampire blood. From a vampire Lord.”
Kallie processes my words, her brow furrowed in a way that tells me she hasn’t grasped the full implication.
“Are you a Lord?”
I shake my head again.
“Is Stark a Lord?”
“Yes.”
She huffs in frustration at my short answers. I’m struggling to find the right words, to soften a truth that has no soft edges, all while knowing she’ll pull her hand away the moment I say them.
