“Griff? What the fuck, man?”
“To my home, Simond. Now.” The other vamp, another Protector, did as he asked, shooting Griffin a glare before turning around and getting their truck on the move.
In relative safety, Griffin did what he’d been aching to do since the first glimpse of the woman. He pulled her into his lap, cuddling her close as he bared his fangs and slid them into the vulnerable skin at her neck. The stranger twitched and fought against him, her weak movements no challenge against his strength. He pulled at the wound, suckled the holes he’d created. The acidic tang of the pixie’s blood flowed over his tongue and he fought to keep his mouth in place. Pure, the poison would have killed him, but diluted by her life-giving fluid, it simply decimated his palate.
The enzymes in his saliva would help what was to come. She needed this. Blood for blood and she’d…
“Griffin?” Simond’s voice was censuring, a warning clear in his tone.
Another suckle at the slices in her skin and he released her, baring his fangs at his friend and brother Protector. “Mine.”
Ignoring the shock that crossed Simond’s features, he tore at his wrist and made a fist, releasing and tightening until blood pooled along his pale skin. He pressed the wound to this stranger’s mouth, this woman who called to him like no one else in over three hundred years.
“Drink.” Her head tossed from side to side, eyelids lifting and falling, but refusing to remain open as she attempting to fight him. He tightened his grip, forcing his wrist snug against her lips. “Drink.”
Those plump lips shifted against his cool skin, her heat searing him as her tongue lapped at the tear in his wrist. She suckled and then moaned, flexible muscle going back for more and more of his blood, the fluid that would save her life…and tie them together for eternity. He’d be able to find her anywhere now.
With every draw, his cock hardened further beneath her, throbbing and silently demanding to be sheathed in her warm, wet heat. Perverted fuck that he was, his brain agreed.
Her wounds healed before his eyes, her body purging the last of the poison before sealing every nick and scratch caused by the pixies. And still she drank. The healthy flush of life imbued her cheeks and her labored breathing eased.
Those green orbs were revealed once again, new life shining in their depths. And then they drifted closed as she fell into a natural sleep.
Part of him worried over how much she took, but the primal part of him that lay just beneath the thin veneer of humanity relished the ability to heal his mate.
Fuck, fuck and fuck again.
With a final sigh, she released his wrist and he brought it to his mouth, sealing the tear with a single swipe of his tongue.
“What. The. Fuck, man?” Simond’s voice yanked him from his mate.
“She’s mine, Simond.”
“Dude. I’m all for doing the dirty with humans. Hell, they’re even a nice snack now and again. But, that was not a snack. That was a fucking buffet and it was the wrong one of ya doin’ the buffet-ing.”
Griffin bared his fangs at his friend, snarls and growls filling the dark interior of the car.
“Okay, man, okay. Don’t getcha panties in a bunch. I’m just sayin’ that Carac’s gonna hear about this and—”
Carac, their Sovereign, the Master vampire that held them together, guided them as they protected the city. Elder and more powerful than all the city’s Protectors combined, he was judge, jury and executioner for all Others in Atlanta. And he wouldn’t be surprised if the vampire came after him for the night’s events.
“Don’t. Give me until daybreak, Simond and I’ll release her. I vow it.” Griffin stroked her rosy cheek with a single finger, traced the slope of her nose and the outline of her tempting lips.
“It’s the first exchange, Griff.”
“I know.” His cock throbbed at the thought of doing another…then going further and completing their bond with a third. Thrice bound…
But it was impossible. He would have this tempting siren out of his system come morning.
He had no other choice.
Chapter Two
Wren was slow to wake, mind pushing through the cotton and syrup that seemed to surround her head as she was thrust from unconsciousness. Memories, vivid and disturbing, assaulted her…fairy light flying things…fluttering wings…fierce, man-eating, what-the-fuck teeth!
And a savior… God, even as she’d been bleeding in a disgusting alley, she couldn’t forget the mountain of a man. He’d saved her, cradled and protected her from what was probably her own fucked up mind.
And hot. At least, her fuzzy memory thought he was hot. He’d had short, dark hair, slightly long on top, but just enough to grab when he was between her… Ahem. Anyway. He’d had a strong jaw, kissable (not that she knew for sure) lips and eyes that seemed to glow in the darkness that had surrounded them. He’d been snarling and gruff, but gentle as he’d held her close to him.