Dying to Date(35)

“I don’t know.”

A curious pang twisted in her chest. His answer shouldn’t hurt. He was a necromancer, after all. No matter what they’d started in the city, she could never be with him in the way she’d planned. It shouldn’t matter that he’d never intended to be honest in their relationship.

“You wouldn’t have given me the slightest chance had you known the truth.”

“No,” she agreed. She would have run from him as fast as her feet could carry her. “So why’d you do it?” She opened her eyes and turned her head toward him. “Was it just to see if you could get the better of a lonely vampire desperate for a little attention?”

He didn’t so much as blink as she threw back the words he’d used at Dominic’s dinner. Until she’d asked her question, she hadn’t even realized how heavily the phrase had weighed on her. No matter what game he’d been playing when they’d first met, she didn’t want him to see her as some desperate vampire he could use for his own amusement.

“I came after you to stop a war,” he said instead, avoiding her question. “I would have come for any vampire in your position.”

She didn’t flinch. Points to her.

Tarian reached out to touch her cheek. “But my good intentions don’t account for the panic I felt when I heard you were gone.”

Melissa held still, waiting for him to continue.

“I lied about my species,” he told her. “But never, not even for a moment, did I lie about wanting you. You’re not just some lonely vampire I used to entertain myself.”

A painful hope tugged at her even as she tried to battle it back with reason. “I’d be a fool to believe your words,” she said.

“Doesn’t make them less true.”

Not for the first time, Melissa felt out of her depth. For years she’d watched her father play every political and strategic game known to man, but they hadn’t prepared her for Tarian. How much of what he told her was a lie, and how much was truth? He’d promised not to use his magic on her so long as she stayed with him. Seducing her would be an easy way to bring her under his control. His attraction might be real, but that wouldn’t stop him from using it to his advantage.

She had to be strong. To keep him at arms length. If she couldn’t believe him, then she had to avoid letting her libido take charge. Tarian was one temptation that could be hazardous to her health. And heart.

“I need to go out,” she said, pushing up from the bed and the clinging intimacy it inspired.

“What?” he asked as he sat up. “Dawn is coming up fast.”

“I know. But a girl’s gotta eat.”

Understanding lit his eyes. “You’re hungry.”

“Gold star.” She threaded her fingers through her hair. “I’ve only had one small glass of blood in two nights.”

“We’re not exactly in an urban center.”

Melissa shrugged. “I have to find something. Surely there’ll be early morning joggers or someone I can snack on. You have to love athletes. They’re like drinking a diet.” When he arched a skeptical brow she added, “Plus there’s always the clerk downstairs if I get desperate.”

“Or there’s a far easier solution.” He tugged off his jacket.

“No.”

Tarian arched a brow. “You’re hungry. I’m offering.”

Longing snaked through her before she battled it back. “I’m not feeding from you.”

“Give me a good reason why not?”

Because feeding was intimate, and she couldn’t handle more “intimate” with this man. The tiny taste she’d had in the alley still weighed heavily on her mind. All she had to do was glance at his neck, and she wanted to lick her lips in anticipation.

“Legend says drinking more than a drop or two of necromancer blood gives them power over us,” she said instead.

A harsh laugh broke from him. “Look at your history books, Melissa. Your people did a damn fine job of drinking half my race dry. As we are the ones hiding in rural towns, I think you can safely assume there are no ill effects to drinking our blood. Now quit stalling. You’re starving.”

Her stomach rumbled as if to punctuate his words.

“I can hold out till tomorrow night,” she said instead. “When I’ll have more time to hunt.”

“If you starve, you’re too young to control the bloodlust it will inspire.”

She narrowed her eyes. The damn man wasn’t wrong, but no one liked having their weaknesses thrown in their face.

Melissa paced the length of the room. Going hunting this close to dawn was never a safe option. Nor was leaving bite marks on the clerk.