Jesus Christ, he muttered, finding his voice at last. You're insane. And I'm leaving. I only came to grab a few of my things and I'm out of here.
When he stalked forward, meaning to dismiss her and her ludicrous suggestion without another word, Elise moved into his way. He glared down at her, but she didn't so much as flinch under the deadly look that would have withered warriors and Rogues alike.
What are you running from, Tegan? Soft lavender eyes fixed on him in defiant challenge. I'm sure it can't be me scaring you off.
He scoffed at the idea, refusing to let her see how close to the mark she might be. Do you know what you're asking for? If you take my blood, a part of you will be linked to me for as long as I'm alive. It's an unbreakable connection.
I know very well what the blood bond entails. All of it.
Her sudden flush seemed to indicate that she was also aware of the sexual nature of the act. Vampire blood had a highly aphrodisiac quality. In females without the Breedmate mark, the effect was often a rush of fierce desire; in females like Elise, who were capable of bearing Breed offspring, the drinking of Breed blood nearly always sent them into a heated sexual hunger that demanded to be slaked.
I'm not what you're used to, he told her sternly, the only warning he could think of now. Don't think that I'll be gentle with you. I wouldn't show you any mercy.
Her little smile was mocking. I'd hardly expect that you would.
With that, she turned and strode away from him, her spine impeccably erect as she went into his bedroom to await him. Tegan raked his fingers through his hair, knowing he had about two seconds to get a grip on himself and walk away from this certain disaster. Any longer for him to think about it, and he didn't know if he'd have the will to refuse her.
In the adjacent room, he heard the soft clop of Elise's shoes hitting the rug as she took them off. If he thought he could scare her out of going through with this, apparently all he'd done was fortify her resolve. She'd thrown a gauntlet here, and he had never been the kind of male to back down from a challenge.
Even now, when every survival instinct he possessed was clamoring for him to turn tail and run from a situation that had catastrophe written all over it.
Long moments ticked by.
And still she waited.
Tegan growled a dark oath.
Then, with hardly a conscious thought to command it, he brought the door to his apartments closed with the will of his mind and headed for the bedroom after her.
Some of Elise's resolve wavered as Tegan came in behind her to his bedroom. There was a savage intensity in his slow steady stride and in the unblinking gaze trained on her. Suddenly she felt as if she were standing before a predator while it measured its options, preparing to close in for the kill.
How do you want... She let the words trail off, uncertain how to proceed now that she actually had him here. Where shall I...?
The bed, came his flat reply.
He began pulling off his black knit shirt, baring his glyph-marked torso. Their normal henna hue was deepening now, no longer the neutral shade indicating a placid mood, but blushing darker, the patterns beginning to saturate. Elise sat down on the very edge of the mattress and turned her head to avert her eyes from him. She heard the crush of fabric as Tegan set the shirt aside and came nearer to the bed.
You're overdressed, he said, his warm breath tickling the side of her bare neck. His presence so close to her was almost as startling as his words. Elise turned an anxious glance on him. You mean for me to disrobe? I don't see why I sh--
You will, he said, leaving no room for argument. If I were a cultured Darkhaven male and not the crude warrior that I am, I doubt you'd expect me to receive you fully clothed.
It was true. Respect for the act of blood- bonding between vampire and Breedmate demanded that both parties come to each other without concealment, coercion, or reservation. Naked in body, commitment, and intent.
Tegan reached down to unfasten the zipper on his low-slung blue jeans.
As they sagged on his trim pelvis, Elise's eyes fell unwillingly to the ridges of taut muscle that defined him, and to the trailing pattern of dermaglyphs that quite obviously continued all the way down to his naked, swelling groin. He wore nothing beneath, she realized in a state of instant panic.
Please, she gasped. Tegan, please. Will you...leave them on?
He didn't reply, but he slowly pulled the denim back together and dragged the zipper up. She couldn't help noticing that the button at the top stayed undone, baring a small vee of his smooth tawny skin.
That's the only request you get tonight, he said in a deep rasp. You still have time to reconsider. But not much. Now disrobe, or ask me nicely to let you leave.
He was testing her. She knew he was deliberately pushing her now, probably so sure that he could make her change her mind with a few menacing words. Really, she should be afraid. Not just of being alone with a warrior like Tegan, but also of the intimate, sacred act she was about to defile by drinking from a male she had no intention of taking as her mate. Truly, she degraded them both by asking Tegan to service her like this, and if he was disgusted by the thought--or by her--she could hardly blame him.
What's it going to be, Elise?
She stood up, too aware of him watching her, waiting for her to bolt. With only the slightest tremble in her fingers, she began to lift the hem of her tunic and drew it up over her head.