“Don’t go.”
Ana stared down at her feet, afraid to glance into the window and see his face. She didn’t know what the hell was going on. What had changed?
The room became a vacuum, as if everything had been sucked into a void leaving only the two of them and the slow ticking of the clock. Each second that passed by sounded loudly in her ear. Tick tock, tick tock.
Her fingers gripped the knob and she twisted it. “I can’t stay. I need . . .” She gave a mental shake as once more she envisioned her mouth upon his flesh. “I need something you can’t give me.”
He was there, just behind her.
“Don’t go,” he whispered again. His voice was rough and there was a new depth to it that sent shivers rushing across her skin.
Ana stared at her hands. Her knuckles were white, a testament to how tightly she gripped the handle, and she relaxed her hold a bit. Slowly her gaze rose until she once more stared out into the darkness beyond. The moon was incognito, fog was a constant, and everything glistened with a wet sheen.
If she was smart she’d disappear into the velvet blackness and forget about Declan O’Hara.
Don’t do it. The whisper slid through her mind even as her gaze traveled upward. She met his eyes in the reflected glass. It was like a physical touch and she licked her lips nervously as he moved closer still.
The heat of him was at her back and she dragged a long, torturous breath into her lungs.
His hands fell to her shoulders and she let him turn her body until she faced him fully. Ana stared up into his dark eyes, and it felt like everything inside her was falling away. She couldn’t describe it any other way.
He was beautiful and her hand reached for his cheek. She frowned as he rested into her palm. There was pain, deep within the recesses of his eyes.
Declan had always been so adept at hiding his true self that to catch a glimpse of something real was somehow sacred. It scared her. She let her gaze fall, suddenly uncomfortable. She didn’t want to see into his soul. That was much too intimate, something they could never be.
Intimate.
“What happened?” she whispered.
“Shhh,” he answered. “No words.”
Ana shuddered at the intensity within him. He seemed lost somehow. “What is this, Declan?” she asked, glancing up.
His eyes never left hers and for a moment there was silence. She sensed his struggle and fought the urge to clasp him to her breast, to hold him tight.
His hand crept up until he cradled hers within his large grasp, and he held her firm against his cheek. She felt the rough stubble on his skin and her eyes drifted away from his, traveling over the planes of his face before settling on his lips.
Her breaths fell faster as she eyed his mouth. So strong and firm.
Ana looked away. Her control was thin at best.
His arms slid around her waist and Declan pulled her flush against his body. Her first instinct was to resist but something held her still. Was it his need?
Or her own?
She felt every inch of his hard frame and as she laid her head upon his chest, the beat of his heart called to her.
“This,” he whispered into her hair, “this is what I need.”
Ana exhaled slowly and relaxed a bit. She listened to his even breaths and relished the warmth of his skin. She bit her lip when he lowered his head, and as he nuzzled the hollow between her neck and shoulder, she couldn’t help the groan that escaped.
“Declan, I don’t—”
“Shhh,” he interrupted. “No words. I just need to feel something real tonight, nothing more.” His lips brushed along her neck once more. “I want to hold you.”
Declan straightened and arched away, his dark eyes piercing as he stared down at her. “Let me hold you.”
Ana’s breath hitched. Shadows played across his face and when he bent low she froze. The need that sat in the pit of her belly burned hard. The tips of her fangs broke skin, and sweat beaded along her forehead.