His body snapped to attention, heartbeat pulsing in his fangs, cock hard and aching. He couldn’t remember the last time a woman had elicited these reactions. Blood lust and physical lust usually went hand in hand for a vampire, so he hadn’t craved the tight heat of a woman’s body in a very long time. Too long.
“That’s it? That’s all you have to say? Because, you know, I’m kinda using this blood over here.”
The angered heat behind her words did nothing to rein in his physical reactions. He swallowed hard, forcing down his hunger for her blood. And her body. “I know how this sounds, Kaira, and I am sorry. If there was another way...well, there isn’t. I’ve tried everything. I wouldn’t take more than you could afford to lose at one time. I don’t know if your blood will definitively cure me, but I do know without it...I’ve no chance at all.” He shook his head, still grappling with his thought of offering her his vein in return.
Usually, such a privilege was reserved for a vampire’s mate, especially given his rank and station. Not that he’d ever been successful at finding a blood match that might’ve led to his joining with a mate. For a single moment, he let himself imagine the immense satisfaction of Kaira’s lips at his throat, her tongue coaxing his blood into her mouth, her body clinging tightly to his.
His cock punched at the zipper to his jeans and his fangs stretched out against his bottom lip. And that reaction was another consideration. Could he feed her and not make it about sex? He wasn’t even sure it was possible.
Kaira gasped, her eyes trained on his mouth.
He almost turned away. But then he thought better of it. It would be good for her to see his true nature now and have the time to wrap her head around it.
At first, looming panic filled her expression. But then it shifted into what he would’ve sworn was abject fascination. Her respirations quickened, her heart rate thrummed, and the rich scent of her adrenaline filled the air—along with something else. Something hotter, sweeter, more feminine.
She was aroused. By the sight of his fangs.
He was merely a shadow of the male he’d once been. No delusions about what he looked like here. Was it really possible that someone as beautiful as Kaira could find him attractive?
“Kaira,” he said in a rasping warning. If she didn’t stop looking at him like that, he wouldn’t be responsible for his actions. She blinked and licked her lips. Which didn’t help his restraint one damn bit. He pushed onto his feet and braced his hands on each of the bedrails, a predator stalking her, boxing her in. “You need to understand how weak my restraint is, kjære.” Dear. The term of endearment was out of his mouth before he’d thought to say it. He pulled away.
She cupped his cheek in her hand, and her touch was like an anchor. Holding him. Steadying him. “So, you need blood to survive?” Her thumb stroked across the skin under his eye. Warm. Soft. Captivating.
The question unleashed a rising tide of hope. Was she finding her way to being all right with this? And how long had it been since someone had touched him with such gentleness? Momentarily overwhelmed, all he could do was nod. While vampires were capable of ingesting rare meats and spirits, blood provided sustenance like nothing else. It was the one thing he couldn’t live without.
Kaira’s gaze dragged from his eyes to her own thumb moving over his flesh, and then she looked lower. She shifted her hand until she cupped his jaw. Her thumb caressed the corner of his lips once, twice.
Henrik’s heart tripped into a sprint. “Kaira.”
The next slide of her thumb brushed the surface of his fang.
He sucked in a breath and every muscle went rigid. His hands fisted on the bedrails, attempting to hold himself in place for whatever exploration she wished to conduct. She touched his elongated canine again, a purposeful drag of her skin against the most visible outward manifestation of what he was. The sensation lit up his entire central nervous system.
Adrenaline and arousal poured off her, and her heartbeat fluttered like a hummingbird’s wings. Her lips fell open. She swiped her thumb under the point of his fang.
He wasn’t sure who gasped louder.
She examined her thumb. A thin ribbon of red bloomed on the pad. Her eyes went wide.
The bedrails under his fists creaked and groaned. He couldn’t look away from her intrigued expression, from her breasts heaving under the thin gown, from the smear of her life’s blood turning the air so fragrant he could barely maintain rational thought. “If I...let go...I’m going to be...all over you,” he growled. “Get rid of it.”
She hesitated for only a moment, then pressed her thumb to her own lips.