“Never had a human before. Just one little, itsy, bitsy…” his fangs flashed.
“No.” She should be screaming. Fighting. Something. Yet all she could manage to do was to whisper that one little word.
“It would be best if you crawled back to your side of the fence,” Stephany whispered. “Stop now before this gets ugly.”
Reece ignored Stephany, he pulled her hand closer turning her arm so that the underside of her wrist was more exposed.
“Let her go,” soft spoken, yet with deadly intent. “Now,” a growl.
Tanya could recognize his voice anywhere.
“She is not mated,” Reece kept his eyes on her as he spoke.
Brant laughed. The sound sent shivers of icy fear up her spine. “Are you saying you wish to fight me for her?”
Reece turned to face Brant. Tanya let out a pent up sigh.
“I…” he paused to consider his answer. In a flash, Brant was at her side, there was a god awful scream together with a cracking sound. Reece flew back several feet landing on his back.
“You touch her again and you die. Am I clear?”
Tanya gasped. Reece’s hand was at a right angle to his arm, broken below the wrist. He cradled the mangled extremity and nodded.
“I’m sure you’re feeling proud of yourself,” Alexandra hissed. “Feeling full of it.” She spoke directly into her ear. Tanya felt too shell shocked to respond. “Two big vampires fighting over a little human.”
Tanya did her best to ignore her. Even though a feeling of uneasiness weighed like a rock in the pit of her stomach.
“Well…let me bring you down a wrung or two. You interrupted us earlier.” A pause. “Brant had only just started to feed. He’ll need me again before the night is out.”
“Get out of my face.” Using one hand, Tanya shoved the brunette away.
Alexandra laughed, the sound twisted Tanya’s gut.
Brant spoke with York. He gestured at the downed vampire and then at the door when he turned to her, his eyes were blazing. Two quick strides and he was at her side. “What were you thinking?”
“It happened so quickly.”
“Until we are mated, anyone can challenge me to drink from you. To fuck you.”
The air lodged in her throat. Maybe because an icy fist had surrounded her air pipe. “What?” She managed to choke out.
“You heard me.”
“No one would, right? I mean surely…you’re the king.” She was shaking.
“You’re such a temptation.” As he spoke, his nostrils flared. Her heart rate picked up and his eyes dropped to the fluttering at the base of her neck. She so needed to buy herself a turtle neck or a scarf maybe.
“Stop that,” Brant growled.
“What?”
“Calm down. You smell fantastic and this is heightened when your heart beat speeds up. Incase you didn’t notice, we’re in a room full of vampires.” His voice a low vibration.
Shit. Shit. Surprisingly, Tanya still held a mostly full cocktail. She downed the liquid in one quick motion, placing the glass on the bar. “How do we fix this?”
“The only way to fix this would be for me to mate with you.”
“Oh,” Tanya fought to keep her breathing even. “No way.”
“Look, even if you were, by some miracle, to agree I still wouldn’t mate you.” His eyes had narrowed. His dark lashes touched.
“Why not?” The words were out before she could stop them and she mentally kicked herself. Had the whole Reece thing put him off her? Surely not. It wasn’t like it was her fault or anything.
“Do you know how vampires…mate?” He ran a hand through his hair.
“Sex.”
Brant ground his teeth. Every muscle hardened. “Not just sex,” he paused. “I would need to drink from you at the same time.”
“I thought that was a myth.”
Brant shook his head. “You saw how that vampire reacted to you?”
Tanya nodded.
“He had to have known I was watching.”
“You never know, you were over there”—she gestured to where he had been standing—“and it’s busy, maybe…”
“He’s a vampire, he knew yet he came after you anyway.”
“Which means what exactly?”
He sighed. “Two things and neither are particularly pretty. Firstly, you’re too appealing to go anywhere without me. At least until we’re mated.”
“Wait just a—”
“Look, it’s up to you. Would you like to become an all you can eat buffet? If so, then be my guest.” His eyes had turned an impenetrable black.
Not trusting her voice, she shook her head.
“Good choice.”