He hugged her. “It was incredible. You are incredible.”
She hadn’t expected a compliment. She drew back enough to meet his gaze. It struck her how little she knew him. She felt her cheeks warm up.
“What is it?”
“Nothing. I’m overwhelmed. I’ve never had an experience like this before and the truth is I barely know you.” She resisted the urge to run her fingers through his hair. Would he like her doing that? Or would it bother him?
“If it’s any consolation, what just happened between us is new to me as well. Can you feel our mating frequencies?”
As she shifted her focus from his exquisite blue eyes to the inner place of their realm frequencies, she gasped. “Sweet Goddess, we’ve almost bonded.”
“Exactly.”
She blinked rapidly several times. “I had no idea we’d gotten so close. That would have been –” She couldn’t complete the thought because it would be too harsh. The word ‘disastrous’ had almost fallen from her lips.
He sighed and nodded. “I know. Neither of us wants whatever this is. You don’t need to spare my feelings. I remember your opinions all too well from the first healing two months ago. I’m going to start pulling my mating frequency back, but I don’t want you to be alarmed. This might feel strange.”
She nodded as the furrow between her brows tightened. Whatever this was between herself and Rez, it held layers of complexity she didn’t want to think about.
Rez wasn’t for her. He was a vampire, a deserter, and hung out in a biker bar.
She was a professor at the Tannisford University, her father a renowned fae scholar. She also had the distinct impression Rez didn’t exactly approve of her either.
This relationship, or whatever it was, could never work.
As he began to disengage his mating frequency, she felt an odd impulse to stay connected to him and to keep him from leaving. She also knew she could do just that. She could arouse him all over again with her own mating frequency and sustain their intimate contact.
Instead, she drew a deep breath as he continued to withdraw and let him go.
She just didn’t understand what was happening between them.
Chapter Four
Rez focused on his breathing because he knew he couldn’t do anything else. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had sex like this. Maybe never.
And Holly’s blood, like fire in his body.
But the moment had passed and he was coming down rapidly. He’d already disengaged his mating frequency which left him with a cold sensation in the center of his chest.
Slowly, he began to withdraw from her body. Her arms fell away as his cock slid from her sex. He immediately reached for his shirt, shook it out then handed it to her.
“Thank you.”
She pressed it between her legs.
He’d come twice and she’d been so wet. The least he could do was offer his tank top.
He turned away from her, making a show of gathering up each piece of their clothing. He returned a lot of oak debris back to the grassy dirt.
The chore helped. He needed the separation.
What the hell had he been thinking to make love to Holly? He shook his head as he stepped into his leathers. Yet at what point had rational thought been part of the equation? He’d needed to feed, he’d wanted sex, he’d craved the woman and she’d been willing.
The trouble was, she was Holly McCrae, the daughter of a well-known professor at Tannisford University. She even taught classes herself.
He, on the other hand, was a disgraced Vampire Guardsman. He knew damn well she despised him for not returning to the Guard. But he’d long since given up trying to justify anything about his life. He had his reasons for the choices he’d made and he just didn’t give a damn if anyone approved of his decisions or not.
The part of his life where he’d given his heart fully was long over. He had only one real desire. He wanted to find his daughter. If she was still alive, whether paired with an Invictus wraith or not, he would do everything he could to save her.