He had to. There was no choice. After the stunt he pulled with the kiss, he couldn’t risk it.

As he drove, he probed the spot on his tongue, sliding it up against the side of his fang. The slight wound had healed within minutes of the initial injury. He hadn’t cut it again which blew holes in his already weak justification that it had been an accident.

Worse.

It had been instinct.

Adam didn’t want to be a Para. He was only partnering up with Tabby because she had contacts that would help him get the elixir that might—just might—reverse his terrible curse.

Well, that and because he was afraid of what would happen to her if he wasn’t around to keep an eye on her. She had already proven that she could kick ass—the way she took out that Nightwalker plus the shifter was fucking masterful—but she took too many reckless risks. He wouldn’t guard her, he wouldn’t stop her from fighting, but he’d act as a back-up for her for as long as she allowed him to stand behind her.

But the wicked part of him that had him purposely slicing his own tongue and feeding a few drops to Tabby through their kiss… that was pure possessive Para instincts and he hated himself for it.

Too late to take it back. He wasn’t even sure he could. There was still so much about being turned that Adam didn’t know. But the one thing he was sure of was that it took three blood exchanges to create a blood-bonding between a Nightwalker and their chosen partner.

He bit her, stealing her blood.

One.

He just gave her some of his.

Two.

He couldn’t let there be a three.

Since he obviously couldn’t trust himself in regards to Tabby, accepting her invitation into her bed was a bad, bad idea. She wasn’t asking him to make her his betrothed. It was about attraction. Sex. She wanted a good time, not to be tied to his sorry ass for as long as he could stand being a Nightwalker.

Adam could lie to himself and promise that he was just in it for the sex, too. But after how he “accidentally” fed her his blood, so damn desperate to get some part of him inside of her—to stake his claim, to make her his—he was almost positive that he’d never be able to hang onto his control long enough to keep from instigating the third blood exchange.

Something told Adam that if he so much as tried to trap his slayer, his back-up plan of walking into the sun if the elixir didn’t work would be unnecessary. Tabby would go right for his neck with her dagger—and he wouldn’t blame her one bit.

No.

He couldn’t do it.

And, somewhere along the journey, Tabby figured it out.

Her sly smile faded into a look of speculation as she watched him out of the corner of her eye. She’d switched the radio to an oldies station, humming along to “Lean On Me” as she calmly popped bubble after bubble. Gone was the vixen who jumped into his arms, rubbing against him wildly.

There were so many sides to this woman. The sweet, innocent act she easily adopted when they first met and he foolishly believed he was saving her. The playful tease who called him ‘champ’ while snapping her gum. The temptress who seemed to undress him with her heated gaze. The kick-ass slayer who showed no fear.

The curious woman who seemed to know what he was thinking—and what he was planning—even before he did.

When Adam coasted his coupe up to the curb outside of her building, she didn’t seem the least bit surprised when he made no move to park it.

Fingers resting on the handle, she asked bluntly, “Am I gonna see you again?”

Good question.

“I… we’ll see.”

“There’s still the elixir.”

He nodded. The elixir. He’d been hanging all of his hopes on that magic potion. If he was human, he wouldn’t be in this situation. If he was human, he could go after Tabby like he wanted to. If he was human, the fear of forcing him to bond him wouldn’t be an issue.

But he wasn’t human. He was a damn Para, and unless he could get his claws on the elixir to reverse his turning, that wasn’t going to change anytime soon.

Talk about a catch-22. Tabby had the contact to get the elixir. In order to get it, he needed her help. But he also needed the elixir before he could even think about touching her again.

Tags: Jessica Lynch Claws Clause Fantasy
Source: readsnovelonline.net