“Allie girl—”
“Don’t say it.” Choppy and weak, the warning lacked the strength she was going for. Cold flooded through her on the heels of the pain.
His knees spread and then she was between them, pulled up against the heat of his body, her shoulder pressing into the hardness of his groin, her cheek to the firmness of his stomach. “Don’t say what? That you’re hurting yourself for nothing, that in the end, you’ll feed?”
He was so warm. So warm when she was so cold inside. Allie wished she had the courage to tear his clothes from his back. She needed the heat he kept from her. “I’m not preying on people,” she muttered through chattering teeth.
“It’s no different than any other species in the food chain. Better even. You don’t have to kill to live.”
“It’s not the same to me.”
His fingers worked the tight muscles of her shoulder.
“In time you won’t need to feed so often.”
It was a measure of her desperation that she saw that as a good thing. “How much time?”
“Months. Maybe years.”
“You don’t sound sure.”
“It’s different for everyone.”
“How often do you feed?”
“Once every few months.”
That was a long time between meals, which might explain, along with their use of illusion, how the Johnson vampires had gone undetected by humans. “When you get hungry, do you go on binges and tear up the town?”
“No. With time you gain control.” His fingers moved up the base of her neck as another bolt of agony shot through her. She bit her knee, forgetting about the fangs. The metallic taste of blood flooded her mouth. “Baby, how long do you think I’m going to let this continue?”
Allie tried to make her expression as serious as his, but the bolt of agony that shot to her core ruined the effect. His lips thinned at her whimper.
“As long as I want,” she gasped with the remnant of her breath.
His thumb brushed her cheek. The molten lights in his eyes gathered as they pinpointed the smear of blood she could feel on her mouth.
“You’re wrong. I could force you.”
His other hand curved around her back and he pulled her up onto her knees and into his embrace. His scent flooded her senses, his heat reached into her cold center, and his blood—the sweet rhythm of his blood—drew her forward. Her belly cramped with devastating precision. Agony and hope. Why were both those emotions always part of what she felt for him?
“I don’t think so.” She placed her hand against his chest, maintaining the space between them. “Because if you could, you would have done it by now.”
She felt the flinch of muscle that indicated his surprise. “I’m right, aren’t I? You can’t do a mental whammy to force this.”
“Not now.”
And that didn’t please his bossiness at all, she could tell. “Because I’m too repulsed by the thought.”
“Yes.”
Allie let him cuddle her then, mainly because the next pain took every bit of strength from her. Her fangs ached and throbbed.
“The pain will eventually take the starch out of your conviction.”
Caleb said that with a weariness that spoke volumes. “How long did you hold out?”
“Long enough to know you don’t want to travel that path.”
“I don’t have a choice.” She wouldn’t, couldn’t, feed on another human being.
“As you said, there’s always a choice.”
She absolutely hated having her own words thrown back at her. “She could drink from me.”
The suggestion came from her left, a voice she vaguely recognized over Caleb’s snarl.
Allie looked up, way up, into the face of the blond muscle-bound bully who’d thrown her into the stall.
“That idea has merit.” She’d love to suck the life right out of his high-handed ass.
“No,” Caleb snapped.
Between one breath and the next she was shoved back against the wall, her view narrowing to Caleb’s broad back. She didn’t need to hear the growl to know he wasn’t happy. The set of his shoulders conveyed that message quite clearly.
“A were is a good choice for her first feeding. She can’t kill me.”
“And she’s not going to be fucking you either.”
“I beg your pardon?” She had absolutely no intention of making love with the blond moron. Or anyone else. And then what the blond man said sank in. She cringed back against the wall, grateful for the way Caleb crowded her there.
“You’re one of them,” she gasped, clutching Caleb’s shirt in her fingers. Where the hell was her gun when she needed it? “How can you have one of those monster wolves working here?”
“Derek is not one of the D’Nally weres.”
Werewolves were werewolves in her book.
“And—” Pain jackknifed her into his back. His hand immediately came around to steady her. “This means what to me?” she finished in a barely audible rush, eyes closed, struggling to manage the rising tide within.
“It means you can trust him.”
“But not as a food source?”
“No.”
“He’s worried you might just develop a taste for wolf.”
Caleb’s silence was unexpected, until, unbelievably, Derek laughed. The laugh took him from rugged to handsome so fast it left her staring.
“You can flash those fangs all you want, Caleb. The choice is hers.”
Allie looked at Derek’s neck. How could she not? He was tanned and strong and his pulse throbbed with a heady allure. Healthy. She took a breath, instinct guiding the search for more clues, recoiling instinctively from the knowledge that a hint of how he would taste was encased in his scent. Too late. The knowledge lodged deep within her subconscious. Again the savage wave of lust rose, both physical and sexual, so entwined there was no separating them. Dear God, what was she turning into?
“I’m sorry, but—Ah!” Oh God, it hurt so bad! “As prettily as you made the invitation, you’re not my type.”
Her rejection only instigated a lift of his brows.
“Do you have a type in mind? There are several weres who would be willing to aid the brothers.”
Allie rubbed her head against Caleb’s back. “Jesus, you make it sound like a scene from The Godfather.”
Caleb reached behind and caught her hand with his. She didn’t have the strength to fight him as he drew it around his waist and pulled her into the solid strength of his back. Some of the pain faded, but not the hunger.
“There is a similarity in that we have a cooperative relationship.”
“You might want to clue fang and company out there that vamps and werewolves can live in peace.”
“They wouldn’t listen.”
“Why not?”
“It’s a long story.”
“I thought part of the perk of this vampire thing was that I wouldn’t be short on time.”
Against her cheek, Caleb’s breath was erratic. She could only think of one reason. The pain she should be feeling was being redirected to him. “You can’t shield me forever.”
“I can do whatever I want.”
“Then, want to explain?”
He grunted and then offered, “Weres are born. Vampires are made. The differences have caused issues over the years.”
“Not for you and Derek.”
“The McClarens are different.”
Derek folded his arms across his chest. “Actually it’s the Johnsons who are different.”
The pain squeezed her entrails in a vise. “How so?”
The question was a high-pitched squeak.
“They think more like werewolves than vampires.”
She cataloged the information for later.
Derek’s icy gray eyes narrowed as they studied her expression. She had a feeling he saw everything she wanted hidden. “I was serious about the offer. I owe Caleb. It would be a pleasure to provide for your needs.”
Again that surge of interest in his blood, followed immediately by revulsion. “No thank you.”
“Too bad. I would have enjoyed your bite.”
Caleb snarled and the rumble vibrated up her back. “You’re pushing our friendship, Derek.”
Derek cocked an eyebrow. “You have a mate. You can afford to be generous.”
“And yet, I find myself feeling possessive instead.”
Derek’s smile returned. “No more than a wolf would.” With a dip of his head, he took his leave.
Allie waited until Derek was ten feet away before glancing up at Caleb. “Am I going to turn into a slut, too?”
“What in hell makes you ask that?”
She watched Derek’s progress down the hall, confidence and sexuality following him like the flow of a cape. “The way everyone looks at me.”
Caleb’s gaze followed hers. “They’re just hungry.”
“For me?” She grimaced. “I don’t want you to be shocked, but that’s not the thrill it’s made out to be.”
He shook his head. “No. Not you. For mates of their own. Weres mate for life, and if it’s a true mating, only once.”
“And vampires?”
“They’re not as picky.”
“Excuse me?”
His finger slid down her arm. “Fortunately for you, Johnsons are not only picky beyond belief, they’re damn loyal.”
She grimaced as the tension twisted. “You mean, lucky for you. I’m not the complacent type.”
“No shit.”
The tension wrenched into a hard and searing knot, consuming her with an agony so violent there was no hope of holding out. She dropped to the floor, curled into a ball around the pain, and struggled to contain it.
The dual thunks of Caleb’s knees hitting the floor beside her blended with the thunder of her heart. “Goddamn, Allie.”
She slapped at his hands as they slid beneath her. She couldn’t bear his touch. Couldn’t bear anything. He didn’t leave her any choice as he swung her up into his arms and carried her as carefully as he could, swearing again when she screamed and strained against his hold, trapped in a prison of misery that wouldn’t let up. Consumed by the horrible hunger to which she couldn’t succumb.
Footsteps pounded through the house, coming at her from all directions. To her overly sensitive ears it sounded like an invading army. To her sensitive nose, it smelled like dinner on the hoof. She twisted in Caleb’s arms, her mind rebelling at the thought. Caleb caught her before she could fall, letting her slide to the floor as the dry heaves racked her body.
“Son of a bitch, Caleb, if you don’t do something, I will.”
Caleb took the words out of her mouth when he said, “Shut up, Jared.”
“She’s just a woman. The hunger will kill her.”
As soon as she finished vomiting up her guts, she was going to have a word with them about that “just a woman” crap.
“I know.”
He knew. What in hell did Caleb know? The next heave brought up blood. A lot of it. Was she hemorrhaging internally? The thought wasn’t as horrifying as it should have been.
She spit the last of the blood from her mouth, gasped a harsh breath between one pain and the next, and found a thread of her voice. “Caleb?”
His “What” was a brush of calm, belying the tension she could feel in his hands.
“Don’t let me do it.” She wrapped her fingers around his pinkie. Too weak to lift her head to see his face. “No matter what, don’t let me succumb.”
“Jesus.”
She didn’t know which of the brothers breathed that harsh curse. They were all there, standing around in a circle of scuffed boots and badass attitude, watching her as if she were some side-show freak. She scrubbed at her mouth with the back of her hand, staring uncomprehendingly at the red smear across the formerly clean skin. She turned to her back, relying on Caleb to support her, crying out as her ribs compressed her abdomen, and blinked back tears as she met his gaze. “I couldn’t live with myself.”
The swirls in his green eyes tightened and then flared.
“Tough.”
“She means it, Caleb.”
Out of the corner of her eye, she met Slade’s gaze. Thank God someone understood.
“I know.” Caleb’s hand cupped her chin, giving her additional support. “I understand your position, Allie. I just don’t agree with it.”
He had to. She wrapped her fingers around Caleb’s forearm, holding on as the next wave bore deep into her gut. She’d never begged for anything in her life, but she needed this.
“I need you to.” Oh God! “Promise,” she gasped between pants.
Caleb stared at her, his will an impenetrable wall she couldn’t hope to scale, until she saw it. The flicker in his gaze. Allie dug her nails into his wrist. She’d wrestled hope from less in the past. “Please.” For a second, she thought she’d lost, that his resolve would outlast hers, but then he slowly inclined his head and gave her the words she need to hear.
“I promise.”
She held on tighter, relief hovering on the brink of belief. “I can trust you to take care of me?”
His gaze didn’t flinch from hers. His fingers pressed at the base of her neck, arching her head back. “Always.”
The fight went out of her. She collapsed into the cradle of his arms, the support of his endless energy, holding on against the agony simply because he willed it. “Thank you.”
“Leave us,” Caleb ordered the others.
Yes. They needed to leave.
“No.”
Jared. He was always causing trouble. She snapped her head around, her snarl echoing Caleb’s much deeper one. Jared merely raised his brow at both of them as he took the towel Jace handed him. “She’s too unpredictable.” Jared tossed it over the pool of blood, hiding it from view. “And you, Caleb, are too vulnerable.”
Caleb didn’t take his eyes from her, as if he knew she couldn’t hold on without the connection, and offered her the strength to endure for just one more minute, one more second. “Get out now.”
He opened his shirt and brought her closer to the heat of his body, the lure of his blood.
“Caleb.” The whisper tore from her throat. Was he offering himself?
“I’ve got you, Allie.”
Jared’s anger and frustration filled the air along with the acrid scent of . . . fear? “You don’t have shit.”
For one heartbeat Allie was without the sustaining grace of Caleb’s stare as he shot a glare at his brother. “Leave, Jared.”
“Make me.”
She didn’t hear Caleb’s response, didn’t hear anything beyond the rhythmic pound of his heart and the muted echo of the life-giving flow of blood in his veins. She knew how he’d taste. Heady. Like a rich wine, but better, fuller. She knew how she’d feel after she took that first drink. The heat of his skin burned her lips. Her fangs extended, aching with a hunger all their own.
“Feed, baby.”
Yes! The salty tang of his scent stung her nostrils. This was what she needed, craved. She tucked her feet up underneath her hips and followed the directing force of his fingertips. He had plenty of blood, all she could want. All she needed. The touch of his skin on her fangs was an exquisite bliss. So good. The beast inside roared to life, revealing the level of its need, its all-consuming hunger, the depth of which scared the shit out of her. She had just enough presence of mind to extract another promise from Caleb before she went under.
“Don’t let me hurt you.”
8
Don’t let me hurt you.
Allie’s words echoed in Caleb’s head as he rubbed her back. “A little bit of a thing like you couldn’t hurt me.”
She moved against him restlessly. Small, delicate, infinitely feminine. A frown pleated her brow as her teeth teased his skin. “Then why is Jared so worried?”
“He’s just prone to it.”
“Uh-huh.” Her fangs scraped his collarbone before moving
upward. His cock throbbed, and his breath caught. He cupped her head in his hand, pulling her mouth to his neck, pressing against her resistance.
“Goddamn it, Caleb, you know better than to let her feed from an artery,” Jared growled.
But he wanted her to. He wanted to fill her need as fast as possible. He wanted it with a primal force that was almost impossible to resist.
“Why?” Low and husky, Allie’s question slipped between them, along with her hand. The scent of fresh blood surrounded them. Her blood. He wrapped his fingers in her hair and pulled her head back. The gash on the back of her hand spoke of her sacrifice. She’d bitten herself to avoid biting him.
Allie repeated her question.
Caleb ignored it, pulling her hand away from his cheek, lapping the blood from her skin, closing his eyes at the taste, urging her silently to feed, unable to bear the echoes of her agony pounding through him. Jared had no such compunction.
“I’m prone to worry because you could drain him dry.”
Allie’s teeth left his flesh. He caught the back of her head in his hand, preventing further withdrawal. “Shut up, Jared!”
“Someone has to speak reason.”
“Leave.”
Jared leaned back against the wall, arms folded across his chest. “Make me.”
“With pleasure.”
“What happens if I drain him dry?” Allie asked again.
Jared’s “He dies” coincided with Caleb’s own “Nothing.”
She looked between them, the gesture all the more wrenching for the slowness with which she did it. “I thought vampires were immortal.”
“In the most common ways, yeah, but you suck ’em dry and they die like anyone else.”
Allie’s withdrawal was as much emotional as physical. Her fingers clenched on his thigh. If she were at full strength, he’d be flinching. As it was, he could barely feel the pressure. She needed blood, now. “Just ignore him, and he’ll go away.”
Jared snorted. “Hardly.”
She looked at Jared. “I can’t hurt him.”
Every bit of her lingering humanity infused that soft whisper, which spoke more of hope than conviction.
Caleb rubbed his fingertips over her scalp. “You won’t hurt me, baby.”
“You’re not going to be in control.”
Caleb Page 10
