Snarling at himself, he started toward his quarters after delivering the deer to the kitchen. But somehow he found himself at the lab.
Might have something to do with the fact that since he’d entered headquarters, three people had toldhim Nicole was with Grant. As if Riker was her keeper or jealous boyfriend or some shit.
And here he was, hand on the doorknob and feeling like a jealous boyfriend.
The second he opened the door, he knew he’d made a huge mistake.
The two females assigned to watch Nicole acknowledged Riker with a nod before going back to propping themselves against the doorframe. He acknowledged them and then zoomed in on the human standing next to Grant, her shoulder brushing his as she reached out to pin a card to the bulletin board on the wall.
A deep, primitive urge to beat Grant to a pulp and drag Nicole off to his quarters made Riker forcibly lock his joints to prevent his body from firing off before he’d even pulled the trigger.
Grant turned to Nicole and smiled, and even from the doorway, Riker felt the male’s moon hunger radiating off him. Normally, humans weren’t the target of a moon-starved vampire. But sometimes when the hunger struck, mistakes happened. Eventually, the vampire would realize his error, but by then, it could be too late.
Riker didn’t want any male taking Nicole by accident.
And that, he realized, included himself.
Clenching his hands into tight fists, he backed out of the room, trusting katina and Zara to get Nicole out of there before Grant fell to the moon hunger. He all but sprinted to his quarters, stopping for a moment at the gym to order one of his newly blooded warriors,
Gaelan, to get a message to Benet immediately.
The knock at the door didn’t come soon enough.
Or maybe it came too soon.
Benet strode into Riker’s place, her long red hair pulled into a high ponytail to expose her neck, the way she always wore it for him. And, as usual, her brightly colored jeans—turquoise today—hugged every curve, and her black V-neck top revealed plenty of throat for him to sink his teeth into.
Not that he ever had, and as she started for the sofa in preparation to sit so he could take her wrist, he grabbed her arm, halting her in mid-stride.
“Riker?” Her husky voice wrapped around him like an embrace. Wrapped around him like Nicole’s arms had when he’d kissed her in this very room.
Benet even sounded like Nicole, and now all he could think about was Nicole’s sweet flavor. Her fresh scent. Her soft skin.
His fangs throbbed, pulsing to the beat of the blood in Benet’s veins.
He pushed her against the wall and covered her body with his as he put his lips against her warm neck.
“I need you,” he said roughly. He needed Nicole so badly.
“This is different,” she whispered, but he barely heard, let alone cared. All he knew was an all-consuming hunger, as if he’d missed several moon feedings in a row and was on the verge of starvation and bloodlust.
The glands behind his fangs tingled as he put his tongue to them, releasing fluid that would ease penetration and provide intense pleasure.
“Now.” Nicole—no, Benet—rolled her hips against him and cranked her head to the side in a double invitation. Sex and blood. She’d give him both.
With a growl, he struck, sinking his canines into her tender flesh.
“Yes,” she moaned. “Yes.”
Nicole—had to be Nicole—wrapped one slim leg around his waist and rocked into his erection, her movements growing more frenzied with each pull he took on her vein. Warm, wet blood poured down his throat, firing his need for her even more.
“Take me, Riker,” she whispered.
He intended to, and God help any fool who interrupted.
------------------
The clan was a very strange place on the day of the full moon.
Nicole had spent the day in Grant’s lab after a fitful night in the room she’d been locked inside, and while everyone had been cordial, they’d also been . . . intense. Even Grant, who had been so squirrelly the day before, had been serious, startling her with sudden growls and even the odd purr.
The purring happened when she got close to him.
When they accidentally touched, Grant purred louder, and his gaze would drop to her throat.
She made a conscious effort to keep her distance.
The two male guards she’d started out with in the morning had been replaced by females as the day wore on, including the scary katina chick who had threatened her in the prey room. But there had been no sign of Riker, which disappointed Nicole more than she cared to admit.
He doesn’t want anything from you. You mean nothing to him. Less than nothing. He didn’t even want your blood in the cave when he needed to feed.
Yeah, he’d made his feelings last night perfectly clear. Nicole had no right to be upset, but dammit, she’d laid herself out for him, thinking they at least shared a mutual attraction. And he’d turned her away without a second thought.