Love Bites

“I do.” He shrugged. “To live without rules is dangerous for all involved.”

Sydney laughed quietly. “I’ve always hated rules. Like the unspoken one that women aren’t supposed to be interested in sex. That they aren’t supposed to want or need the attentions of more than one lover.” Because Kellan’s gold gaze sharpened, she swiftly changed the topic. “With Alysia dead, you and Lucas were on your own.”

“Yes, and we were as fumbling and afraid as baby birds that fell out of the nest. We fed like animals for awhile, on everything and anything that crossed our paths. Did whatever we had to to survive.”

“At least you had each other.”

“You’re right. And now I have you.”

Something inside her shifted into place, a piece she hadn’t even realized was missing. “I’m not saying I believe all this.”

“No, but you’re not saying you don’t.” He kissed her with every ounce of the passion she’d longed for in her relationship with Tate. His tongue lashed hers as he changed the angle, driving deep, offering all and taking all in return. Then he glided his lips across her cheek to her neck, his teeth skimming her pulsepoint as delicately as if she were made of spun glass.

Her blood boiled under her skin. Could he feel how excited he made her? Did he hear her heart quickening in her chest?

“Let me make love to you. Just me. Just you.”

As Sydney eased back, an image of him drawing his mouth from her with his fangs stained red flashed in her mind. The memory no longer aroused fear in her. Only passion. But there were new considerations. “I’m not sure we should be…intimate,” she said, hating herself even as she uttered the words.

Was she crazy?

“Why not? Is this moving too fast?”

That he didn’t try to strong-arm her and merely regarded her with a raised brow garnered him major kudos in her book. “No, not sexually. You know how much I’ve enjoyed….” There was no polite way to say it, and her normally ballsy manner of speech no longer seemed appropriate. Not when she felt so unsure of her footing. “It’s not that. It’s me. Something happened a few minutes ago—”

“What happened?”

She stared down at the hands she’d ball

ed loosely in her lap. How to say it? “I wanted to bite you.”

She waited for him to question her. Maybe even to stare at her in wordless shock. But she never expected him to throw back his head and roar with laughter. “Is that a bad thing?”

Maybe she wasn’t being clear enough. She rubbed her fingertips over the freckles on her knee. Funny, they seemed lighter than they had just days ago. Must be some trick of the sunlight slanting over the bed.

And that was another thing. If he was a vampire, why didn’t he shriek and hide from the sun? She’d have to ask him about that, but her brand new bitey-bitey tendencies were a more pressing matter at the moment. “Not your thigh or your shoulder. Your cock. And not some little love nibble, either. I wanted to bite you like you’ve bitten me.”

“You wanted to drink from me.”

Drink. How civilized that sounded, when the act was so primal and raw. “Yes.”

Kellan threaded his fingers through her hair and kissed her softly. When his cock jutted between them, she slid down to cushion his shaft between her breasts. His groan flowed like molasses over her skin, warm and sweet. “How can it be possible? How can you want to drink from me, when I haven’t turned you?”

“Easy enough.” Lucas slammed the door shut and glared at them. “For a latent vampire.”

Chapter Four

Kellan glanced at his best friend and noted the metaphorical steam curling from his ears. Great. So much for a peaceful morning.

He rose and circled the bed, blocking Lucas’s view of Sydney’s naked body. Stupid to feel protective of her after all they’d done the night before, but he couldn’t help it. “Give Lucas and me a couple minutes?” he asked, cupping her chin.

Sydney shook her head. “No way. Whatever you have to say involves me, so I deserve to hear it.”

“When the hell did this become a bloody democracy?” Lucas dropped the bag of groceries he was carrying on the counter in the nearby galley kitchen. The unusual layout somehow fit them. “You’re just the snatch we picked up on the side of the road.”

“Lucas, that’s enough.” Kellan bent to pick up his jeans and climbed into them without benefit of underwear. He didn’t make a habit of wearing any.

“Though I’m beginning to wonder about that. How’s it possible we managed to flag down the one woman you’re torqued over? Dark, rainy night, and we stage the scene right as she drives by—”