“Jokes on you,” I slip my hands in my pocket. “You just fucked up the chance to enjoy that for longer, and I gotallthetime in the world to wait you out. Unlike you, I’ll live to be like five hundred years old. Maybe a thousand.”
Cinder glares, awkwardly chewing over the mouth load. The purple death is much less intimidating when cake is involved. I cover up my smirk when I see her expression fall a little as if she’s realized I'm right. I remain silent, walking by her side as she roughly swallows down the last big piece.
The silence is heavy between us, and I let it stretch between us. I pretend it doesn’t make me uncomfortable, that it doesn’t make me want to fill it with teasing or nonsense to yank her chain.
“I have anemia,” she finally answers.
“Anemia,” I shake my head. It sounds familiar, but I don’t know what that is.
“I don’t have enough healthy red blood cells, so sometimes I get dizzy or my heartbeat turns irregular. My feet and hands used to get cold all the time but that hasn’t happened in a while. In fact, I’m usually running hot these days,” she mutters more to herself.
Her blood smells plenty healthy to me, though I do my best to ignore that particular tantalizing scent.
It’s not easy.
When her scent hits me, it’s spiced cinnamon, cloves, and a hint of vanilla—warm and comforting. It's like a siren's call to me, a reminder of what I crave.
As Cinder talks about her condition, my mind drifts to the dangers that lurk within me, hidden beneath the surface of my calm demeanor. Most of the time I can ignore the fact she is a beater, but right now her heartbeat becomes my own, echoing in my ears.
I nod slowly, trying to focus on her words rather than the primal urge that whispers in the depths of my being.
The way her blood sings to me has my insides in knots. I clench my fists, willing myself to stay in control, to resist the temptation that dances before me in her every heartbeat.
The words hang heavy between us as we continue our nighttime stroll through the cemetery. My gaze is inexorably drawn to the gentle rise and fall of her chest with each breath, keenly aware of the rhythmic thrum of her pulse.
Heat rushes through my veins, an ancient hunger awakening from its slumber. I can almost taste the rich, coppery essence that flows beneath her skin—warm, intoxicating, utterly intoxicating. Desire coils low in my belly as vivid fantasies play out in my mind's eye, each more salacious than the last.
Forcing myself to meet her inquisitive stare, I'm transfixed by the molten depths of her violet eyes. They shine like precious gemstones, luring me into their fathomless depths until I'm utterly lost, consumed by want.
Without conscious thought I step forward, closing the gap between us until there's barely a breath separating our bodies. Cinder's back meets the solid rock of a weathered headstone as I cage her in with my arms, my fingers splayed against the cool granite on either side of her head.
Cinder looks up at me, concern etched on her face. She lets out a soft gasp, her pupils blown wide as her gaze flickers from my eyes to my lips and back again. I can hear the frantic cadence of her heart, sense the rush of blood heating her skin from within. The delicate flutter of her pulse at the base of her throat is a mesmerizing siren song that has my mouth watering in anticipation.
“Are you okay?” she asks, giving me a chance to stop. But I’m not sure I can. I’m obsessed, drawn in. Is this what it’s like to be thralled? If so, it’s not so bad.
Cinder goes stock still under me.
For a split second, I swear I see a flicker of orange flame dancing in the depths of her violet eyes. A trick of the light? Or something more?
She blinks and it's gone, but the air around us is charged, heavy with the scent of burning leaves—crisp, autumnal, a whisper of the season's change. It's entirely out of place and yet, inexplicably tied to her somehow.
Slowly, painfully slowly, I lean in until our lips are a hairsbreadth apart, our heated breaths mingling in the scant space between us. My eyes flutter shut as I savor the moment, every nerve ending in my body thrumming with unbridled need.
Just as I'm about to close that final inch, I stop.
Her blood rushes in my ears and heat emanates from her in intense waves, warming me to the center of my cold bones.
The beat of her heart.
It drums out at me.
An enticing message to every fiber of my being.
Fuck, I want to feed. I want to sink my fangs in her. I want to spear up into her tight little body with my dick and enter her every possible way while her liquid life flows down my throat.
I need to regain control. If I don’t, I’m going to do something I regret. So I reach out and grab for a question to distract.
“How does one get anemia?”
