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"The rabbit can't donate his meat to my hunger and walk away. Vampires don't have to kill to feed."
"No, but if they don't, they have to feed every few days. Couple of weeks, tops, is how long the oldest ones can hold out. A lethal amount from one human will last someone my age a month. I couldn't take much from you while you were at your worst. My last meal's run out. And you get your panties in a twist about me playing with your hair. Can't imagine you'd like to donate meals to me, which is a far more intimate thing."
Cai cocked his head. "You're puzzling me, wolf. You just said you don't care much for human company."
"Not caring about them, and being okay with killing them when their deaths aren't necessary, are two different things."
"Oh, an eco-wolf. How refreshing. I must have missed your Greenpeace card. If carrying a wallet is problematic on four legs, get yourself a man purse you can sling over your neck." Cai turned away again. "Back soon. I'll miss you, too."
"Don't." Rand made it to his feet. He was not going to make this point sitting on his ass. "You're not going to kill that hiker."
"Really?" Cai turned, squaring off with him. "Who's going to stop me?"
"You'll have to kill me first."
Cai swept him a scornful look. "You might be able to outrun me in another day or two. But not today."
Despite the vampire's mocking tone, there was a look in his eyes that had become cold and settled. Up until now, because of Rand's self-absorption with his own situation, Rand hadn't focused much past the snark. Now, from the set of his jaw, the coolness of his gaze, his stance--neither offensive nor defensive, simply prepared to handle any attack--Cai was clearly a predator about to go on the hunt, and was merely curious, not offended or swayed, by his opposition.
Like wolves, vampires liked taking down prey, and it was hard to rein that back. Rand knew there was a rule among vampire kind that they could kill as many as a dozen humans in a year, including what they called the annual kill, one essential life-taking that maintained their overall strength. That baker's dozen was okay, if they didn't attract human notice, the guiding tenet of all those the clueless humans called fantasy.
Most vampires seemed content with that limitation. Born vampires understood the need to keep a low profile in the human world, and made vampires...well, they'd been human. Enough said.
Cai was a made vampire, yet he seemed chillingly detached from his former species, as if killing humans was something he did all the time, like picking up a burger at a drive-thru. All Rand scented from him was uncomplicated hunger.
Though Rand always thanked the spirit of the animal he caught, a common-sense spirituality, he didn't suspect that thought even crossed Cai's mind. But there were layers below that attitude that smelled like the damp, murky muck of a swamp.
No time to get out a shovel and dig, and Rand wasn't sure he wanted to do so anyway. But he'd address the problem in the way he could.
"Feed from me," he said.
Cai had started toward the edge of the clearing again. Now he pivoted, studying Rand head to toe.
"You need all your blood until you're fully healed."
"Maybe. But if I drag my ass after you to stop you from killing that hiker, I might relapse. Ruin all your efforts to keep me healthy enough to screw for the next few days."
Cai's expression suggested he didn't care for how crudely Rand had put that, but it was what it was. Why dress it up?
"Perhaps it's your hypocrisy that pisses me off," the vampire retorted. "I can't read your soul with a second mark, but I can read your mind, and I'm smart enough to connect the dots between the emotions I pick up from you. You may want to die, but it's been a long time since you've been touched or taken, Rand. The pull of that, for the moment, is stronger than the pull of death. Admit that, and I'll feed from you."
"Fine. I admit it. Here's my vein." Rand extended both arms, so he could have his choice. Cai swept a gaze over them. He lifted his attention back to Rand's face and dwelled there, his intensity as palpable as a touch.
He was moving, but no longer toward the forest. Rand couldn't help looking at the play of muscle under Cai's T-shirt, the swing of his arms and movement of his shoulders and hips. The thin line of his firm lips as he stopped before Rand. He'd just fucked Rand, but with one sexy swagger, he could get him thinking about it again.
"It's interesting to me how you know so much about vampires," Cai observed. "Your brain's like an encyclopedia of Vampire 101."
"My cousin is a servant to a vampire. Distant cousin," Rand added. "No wolf genes."
"Pity. I was about to have some serious threesome fantasies." Cai's serious expression didn't change, despite the dry comment. His tone sharpened. "Put your arms down. Clasp your hands behind your back."
Rand's brow creased. "Why--"
"Do it."
Rand could say fuck off, but the vampire would kill the hiker. So yeah, he'd backed himself into the corner of being an obedient dog. For the moment.
Cai's gaze glinted. "Not a definition I would apply to you, especially with that dangerous look on your face, wolf. Where are your hands?"
Rand heaved a sigh and clasped them behind him. Despite his studied indifference, a swirl of reaction tightened into a knot in his stomach as he restrained himself that way, lifting and exposing his chest to the vampire's heated gaze. Suddenly he was far more aware of how naked he was, and how the vampire was fully clothed. Cai moved a step closer, so Rand's pectorals brushed the soft cotton fabric of his shirt. His nipples tightened at the contact.
The vampire leaned in, lifting a hand to brush Rand's hair back over one broad shoulder. He coiled his hand in the hair, so Rand lifted his chin at the implied demand. His pulse elevated as he realized the vampire's intent, and Cai confirmed it, meeting his gaze.
"Blood from the throat is sweetest. And the most intimate. Even more than the femoral, though that puts a vampire close to a nice dessert. This hurts at first, but the pain goes away quickly."
"Just do it," Rand bit out, though his voice sounded hoarse. The vampire chuckled.
"You like to rush. I don't. You're going to have to learn patience."
He breathed on Rand's neck, used the tip of tongue to trace and taste. Rand swayed, his hands tightening into a knot against his ass. Cai slid an arm around him, holding him steady, holding him up, making it clear he had the strength to do it. It was an odd feeling, since Rand didn't have the kind of physique that suggested it was possible for one person to hold him on his feet.
I could carry you like a fainting girl, wolf. But it's not the image that comes to mind when I hold you like this. You're all male, a fighter, and I want to take a few tasty bites out of you, from the places of my choosing. Starting right here.
Rand stiffened as the vampire's fangs sank into his throat. His immediate, animal reaction was to yank away, to fight for his life, but Cai's grip on his hair increased, reminding him of the here and now and the purpose for all this.
Cai swallowed, making a pleased noise, apparently at the taste and richness of his blood. When his thigh shifted so it was pressed against Rand's groin as he held him by the hair, Rand leaned into him, his hands in that same knot. As Cai drank, a heat ran through Rand, a heady surge of desire that had him pushing against Cai. He'd just come. What the hell...
Pheromones released from my fangs. Lovely effect on prey, Cai offered. See what you selfishly took from the hiker? He'd have died, but quite happily.
Rand's cock bumped against the rough texture of Cai's jeans. Cai dropped his other hand to clasp him, work him in casual, teasing pulls as Rand rocked against him, damn near humping his leg as the pheromone effect increased. Cai wasn't unaffected himself. His clutch on Rand's hair became an insistent pull on his scalp. The smell of blood misted between them, goading two predators' instincts to life.
Cai was backing him toward the tree, a good option since Rand was pretty sure his knees were going to buckle. He reacted, but not fast enough, when Cai released his throat
and picked up the discarded chain, whipping it around the tree and looping it over the bend of Rand's elbows and across his chest. He had to drop his grip on Rand's cock to make that happen, but seeing the vampire's fingers wrapped tight around the chain to hold Rand, still pulling on it enough for him to feel the dig of the metal links into his flesh, had a similarly stimulating effect.
"What..."
"Don't fight me, wolf. Just feel."
Then he bit Rand again, on the other side of his throat.
