Dying to Date(36)

But she didn’t trust herself with Tarian, even if the thought of sinking her fangs into him did fill her with a surge of possessive delight.

Just think of him as any random stranger in your past, she ordered herself. A meal is a meal. Don’t make it into more than food. A few gulps and that’s it. Home free.

“Come here, Melissa.”

She turned to see him holding out a hand to her. Still she hesitated. She wanted to hate him. Wanted to rail at him for making her feel small and foolish. And instead her mouth watered, and her body yearned to go to him.

“I’m running out of ways to say no.”

“Think about this logically. This is the safest choice.”

“I’ve never been a room service kind of girl. I’d rather go out for a bite.”

He shook his head. “Don’t be ridiculous. You know I’m right.”

She fought back the urge to hiss at him. “Indeed. I suppose I should be grateful you’re not making me beg at your feet for a meal, necromancer.”

His expression blanked.

Hot shame tore through her even as she tried to tell herself it didn’t matter that she’d tossed his generous offer back in his face. She shouldn’t care about a necromancer’s feelings. Shouldn’t be caught in this confusing situation in the first place. But logic didn’t erase the fact that she did care about the disappointment she read in his eyes.

“Dammit,” she said, whirling to turn her back to him. “This isn’t fair.”

She hated to show weakness in front of an enemy, and yet her body was betraying her. Dawn pulled at her senses, reminding her of the ever-ticking clock that was her reality. If she was going to feed, it had to be soon.

Gentle hands smoothed over her shoulders, and she stiffened. She hadn’t even heard him move she was so agitated.

“I know,” he whispered against her ear, his voice low. “There is very little about this situation I can make right. But this, Melissa, is something I can give you.”

“Doesn’t this unnerve you?” she asked. “We have our fears of necromancers but you have some of us as well. Our fangs are our greatest weapon.”

His thumb brushed over her nape. “I trust you not to drain me.”

Brave or naive? she wondered, turning in his arms. She could take him out. Leave his corpse in the closet and take her chances on her own. But even as the thought crossed her mind, she knew she couldn’t do it.

Because I need him to stop Lucian from raining havoc down on us all, she told herself. Not because she’d miss him.

A wry smile twisted his lips. “Think of it this way. In another life, we probably would have ended up here eventually.”

She knew what he meant. If Dominic hadn’t interfered, they’d be happily dating in New York instead of trekking across the country. She’d be gossiping with Abbey about her excellent match and counting down the hours until she could see him again.

She’d be thinking she’d finally found her mate.

Sorrow shook her as she mourned that shattered life, which would never exist again. The necromancers had done more than kidnap her. They’d also robbed her of a relationship she’d waited decades to find.

“You would have let me bite you?” she asked. “Even without me knowing what you were?”

“Our blood doesn’t taste different from any other run-of-the-mill immortal,” he replied. “There would be no danger in it.”

“I wasn’t talking about exposing you.” His kind did not sign up for vampire feedings. Nor did they give away valuable advantages as he had with the rield. And they never risked their own safety to help an enemy.

Tarian wasn’t just challenging her preconceptions of his kind. He was smashing them into a million pieces.

“It’s all right,” he said, reassuring her, when it should have been the other way around. “Take what you need.”

He needs you healthy. This helps his cause as much as it does yours, she reasoned. Except, right then the outside world felt very far away.

Taking his wrist, she turned it up toward her mouth.

“No,” he said when she started to lean down. “Not there.”

His hands slid around her waist to pull her closer as he tipped his head back.

She wanted to protest the intimate touch, but it caused her too much joy to demand he stop. Instead she stepped closer, her gaze locking on the pounding pulse in his throat.

Closing her eyes, she breathed in his unique scent of musk and magic. Her mouth watered as she pressed her lips to his neck. Life beat so close to the surface of his skin. Parting her lips, she dragged her tongue over his pulse.

Tarian groaned. His fingers tightened around her waist.