“You’ve got to be kidding me,” she groaned.
The intoxication of his blood was fading, leaving behind only the sting of embarrassment. Not only had she been craving a man she should be holding at arms length, she’d gone and riled him up with promises she’d never be able to follow through on. Melissa hadn’t miscalculated her timing so badly in decades.
His chuckles grated her already frazzled nerves. “This isn’t funny,” she said, but it was hard to be severe when she could barely keep her eyes open.
“I’m laughing at myself,” he assured her. “Can you crawl under the covers?”
She rolled onto her stomach and tried to shimmy toward the head of the bed with varying degrees of success. Flopping around like a fish on dry land in front of the man she’d just been pawing did not help alleviate any of her humiliation.
“I’ll take that as a no,” he said, a trace of humor in his voice.
Tarian swept her up into his arms. “Let yourself sleep, Melissa,” he said, pressing a kiss to her forehead.
“Embarrassed,” she breathed as he laid her head on the pillow.
“I told you before. Anticipation is a good thing.”
She felt his fingers caress her cheek but couldn’t find the strength to open her eyes as she fell into unconsciousness.
…
Tarian collapsed into the chair he’d pulled up next to the bed. She was out like a light. If he were a gentleman, he’d cover her with a blanket and hit the shower. Instead, he couldn’t drum up the will to move.
Her lashes cast dark semicircles onto her creamy skin. A lock of hair fell across her cheek, and he couldn’t stop himself from reaching out to brush it back into place.
He traced his fingertips along her jaw before sitting back. Melissa was always beautiful, but he’d never seen her this way before. There was no fear, no confusion on her face. She looked utterly peaceful.
And terribly vulnerable.
The past flashed through his mind, when he had hunted during the day, seeking vampires just as vulnerable as the one before him. No hesitation had ever gripped him in those dark days during the wars. He’d never doubted he was destroying evil.
Yet the woman before him was anything but.
“I made my peace with your kind,” he whispered to her. That acceptance didn’t account for the feelings rising within him each time he touched her, however. Hell, his vow to keep his hands to himself had lasted less than two hours. How was he supposed to survive the next few days?
“What are you doing to me?”
There was no answer to be found. A vampire was tying him in knots, and when her lips were on his, he didn’t seem to mind one damn bit.
Pushing from the chair, he reached out and flicked the blanket over Melissa for extra protection from any stray sunbeams. He paced into the bathroom, running a hand over his face. Shower first, and then he’d deal with planning their route for the next day. One thing was for sure. After his last bout with Melissa, sleep would be a long time coming.
“Shower,” he said to his reflection. “And let’s make it a cold one.”
Chapter Ten
The endless driving was not quite as fun the second night as it had been the first.
Melissa sat in the passenger seat and watched the flat landscape fly by outside her window. They’d passed a Welcome to Oklahoma sign a few hours back, so at least they were on the right path.
“We need to stop soon,” Tarian said. “You might have fed last night but I’m going to need a real meal to refuel. There are only so many power bars one can eat.”
The reminder of her last meal brought a blush to her cheeks. When she’d opened her eyes after her day’s sleep, the memory of her ill-fated make out session had been burned in her mind. She’d actually dreaded pulling off the cover that had kept her safe from the sun.
But when she had, Tarian had greeted her with a smile and the suggestion that they get on the road as quickly as possible.
She turned to glance at her companion. Other men might have been put out that she’d started something she couldn’t finish, but not Tarian. Did nothing rattle the man?
“There are lights up ahead,” she said, instead of the prying questions she wanted to ask. “Maybe there’ll be somewhere to stop.”
“I’d kill for a burger.” He shot her a wide grin. “Gotta keep my iron up.”
Which meant he wasn’t opposed to feeding her again. A wave of relief washed over her. Not that she couldn’t survive a few days of hunger until they reached home. Still, some part of her relaxed to hear he didn’t regret an act that was as vital to her as breathing was to him.
The small town grew on the horizon, and she hoped there’d be somewhere to stop. It might lengthen their travel time, but keeping her partner healthy helped both of them in the long run.