The clock was running out on their time together, unfortunately. Fast. Yet another reason for his unholy surge in hunger. Could he keep it in check one more day?
He honestly didn’t know. But there was no way he could stand by with Mary in need.
“I will pleasure you later,” he vowed, sliding his lips down her neck, taking a hearty inhale of the scent of her blood. “I’ll kiss you as long as you need. Mouth and pussy. You’re going to feel my tongue everywhere.”
Tucker expected her to nod or ask for his attention now. He never imagined she would shake her head, a distressed line between her eyes. “It’s not fair. You get no relief.”
It was the straw that broke the vampire’s back.
There was the upheaval of returning home. Knowing he’d be giving up Mary soon, leaving her some place he would be unable to protect her. Now his mate was denying him the right to satisfy her body. A fuse lit in his head and the fire spread, burning down the mental blocks he’d erected to keep the truth hidden.
“I do get relief, Mary,” he said hoarsely, sealing their lower bodies together, dragging his mouth across her collarbone. “You don’t know what it does to me. To watch my mate receive pleasure from me…”
An ominous whirring started in his head when Mary jolted.
Several beats passed.
She took a labored breath and pushed away from him, her feet landing softly on the floor. Tucker could only stare at the section of the wall she’d vacated, wondering what the hell he’d done. And what’s more, wondering if he’d revealed the truth intentionally, because every second that passed without Mary knowing she ruled him mind, body and soul was unacceptable.
Now what, asshole?
“I’m your…mate?” With her question hovering in the air, Mary reached out and traced his features, finding the answer without him having to say a word. “You told me I wasn’t. You said a vampire could tell right away.”
The admonishment from his mate blasted him like a furnace. “I’m sorry.”
A clock ticked in the nearby kitchen. “I’m sorry?” she sputtered. “Is there an explanation to follow?”
“You’re my mate. A vampire has to drink from a woman to know for certain if she’s his mate, but I knew it after the fight at the diner. After I caused so much destruction…”
“It was you who made the windows shatter.”
“Among other things.”
She made a sound. “I knew it. I…how? How does it work?”
“When a vampire’s mate is in danger, new abilities form. They strengthen every time he or she is threatened or unsafe.” He yearned to reach out for her, drag her up against his chest again, but knew he would be rejected. And rightly so. He’d lied to her. But she looked so lost and disappointed, shifting side to side on the hallway floor. “When you are unhappy or scared, the atmosphere…it enlivens. It lifts. Like my outrage sucks up all the gravity. I don’t know how else to describe it and I’ve had no time to learn to control it.”
She said nothing, so he continued.
“It’s unusual for a vampire to have exceptionally strong feelings for his mate before the final test, before…drinking. But the same thing happened for Jonas. Elias. They both just knew. Like I just know.”
“Why did you lie about it?”
Her voice cracked on the final word and his knees nearly buckled. This was misery. Getting caught in a lie by someone so honest and pure. And then having to continue to lie in order to protect her happiness. Because there were certain parts of the lore she simply couldn’t know. For instance, that he would readily die instead of live without her. That if he drank from her, he would have no choice but to die without her to sustain him. “I worried that you would feel guilty for leaving me. I wouldn’t have been able to stand that.”
“Or that I might choose you. Did you not even think of that? You thought I could only possibly stay out of guilt, not lo—”
“Don’t say it, Mary,” he ground out. “There’s too much at stake.”
“You’re one of those things,” she whispered. “We are.”
Just hearing the word we on her lips brought forth such a tide of unadulterated yearning, he didn’t even bother trying to dam it. “I know what you’ll gain from Hadrian. More than I could ever give you.”
She made a sound in her throat and turned away from him. “What about you, Tucker? What will you do when I’m gone? There is only one mate for you.”
“Don’t worry about me,” he managed around the manacle circling his throat, forged from lies. “I’ve made it this long, haven’t I?”
Mary’s shoulder blades stiffened and she marched forward, away from him.
Tucker immediately shot forward. “Where are you going? I haven’t…you don’t know the layout of the house—”