Bitten Beauty (The Deadly Beauties Live On 3)

He rolls his eyes like it’s ridiculous or funny, but I can see the pain he’s hiding. It breaks my heart for him.

“My sister shot me five times.” He almost says the words so quietly that I don’t hear them. “Good thing I’m bulletproof. Or, well, normal bullets don’t hurt me, anyway.”

He takes a breath as though he realizes he’s rambling, and I slide my fingers together with his, locking them together.

“They called me a demon. Said the devil was in me. Thought I was an evil spirit that had invaded their son… It was bad. My mother was on the verge of a heart attack when Dray showed up. He wiped their memories and healed my father, who actually had a heart attack instead of merely passing out. He almost died, Leah. Just seeing what I’d become almost killed him.”

My heart breaks a little more, and his arms wrap around me as he lets go of my hand, settling his head on my chest.

“I’m sorry,” I whisper softly.

“It’s not your fault. It’s not their fault either. They’re human. Their instinct is to fear me. Some romanticize the notion of what we are, but when we become a reality, fear always rules. Survival of the deadliest. It is what it is. At least I don’t have to live wondering ‘what if’ all the time. I know. Since then, I watched from a distance when I could. I keep tabs on things. I went to the funerals, but only stood in the shadows like a creeper. I’ve accepted my life now, Leah. It’s not a bad life. It’s just not the one I planned or the one I wanted.”

I continue running my fingers through his hair, thinking over his words. Zee has had control stripped from him ever since he was plunged into this world. First his sire, then Gage’s brother, now… Now I test his control every day because fate can’t seem to leave me alone.

“Was meeting me a good or bad thing?” I whisper.

He tenses, but it’s only for a second. “Ask me that question when I figure out how to deal with the sire calling.”

I’m not sure if I want to smile or frown at that answer. He’s great at the whole mystery thing.

“Do you think you can reach your aunt? It’d be wise to find out if she was anointed or not.”

Back to business.

“I tried calling her, but she didn’t answer. I haven’t spoken to her in two years.”

“She could be hunting our kind.”

“No. Never. She’s not a killer.”

But the word hunting drops an uneasy feeling in the pit of my stomach. Is it possible it wasn’t just wild game they were going after? Again, I feel like I’m forcing dots to connect, taking coincidences and turning them into a conspiracy theory.

Zee kisses my jaw, moving from my neck to it and back and forth again.

“We can talk about this later,” he tells me, distracting me with his incredible mouth.

He continues kissing leisure trails across my neck and chest, and my fingers go to his hair. He immediately grabs my wrist and pins my hand down so I can’t keep touching him.

It’s been almost two weeks since Slade tried to set us up, and Zee has held true to his promise of not letting me out of his sight. Unfortunately, I’m not allowed to touch him at all anymore, and he’s struggling more and more to not make me his in the permanent sort of way.

My life is complicated. Very freaking complicated. And weird.

This past month has felt like a year because of all the bizarre and crazy things that have transpired.

“I really wish I could touch you,” I whisper, finding it hard to breathe when he starts working those lips lower.

“We both currently want things we can’t have. Be glad drinking your blood helps give me some control,” he answers, still kissing trails along my skin.

I want to kiss trails on him, touch him, run my fingers down those contoured lines of perfection, and grip his shoulders when he takes me. Or other parts of his body…

We can barely even kiss anymore, b

ecause it seems to drive him into a frenzy.

I’m not sure if I should be flattered or disturbed.

Someone knocks on the door, and Zee covers me up with the sheet, shielding my bare body from sight.