Braced on my elbows above her, I meet her eyes and see a mirror of desire. With her hair splayed across the pillow, her pupils dilated, and a wonderful flush blooming over her chest, she looks so much like the version of her in my dream that it frays my sense of what’s real and what isn’t. Her lips are slightly swollen, probably from biting them while I touched her, and it makes me want to kiss her. I’ve played out the memories of our one kiss so many times it now haunts my dreams, and at this moment, it’s hard for me to remember why I’m not supposed to. Fortunately, there’s so much of her wonderfully on display that I simply choose a different target.
Digging my fingers into her back, I dip down and press my lips to her throat, her chest, and the valley between her breasts. Each kiss is followed by my tongue tasting her skin.
She grips my hair, the strands poking between her fingers, and wraps her legs around my hips. More moans escape her sweet mouth.
“You’re so beautiful,” I whisper against her flesh, a hint of something tender woven within the threads of this insatiable need for her. I love the feel of her desperate touch. I love the sound of her voice. I love every part of her.Because I love her,my mind supplies, both a terrifying and exhilarating realization. I’ve tried to deny it, but this feeling won’t let go. I want her as part of every corner of my life. As the truth settles in my bones, I’m overwhelmed. I need more of her and to finally claim her as mine.
With the scent of her desire teasing my nose and the feel of her undulating body against mine, I bite her again, this time choosing the delicate flesh of her right breast. My eyes nearly roll into the back of my head from the sweeping bliss of the taste of her blood once again in my mouth.
“By the goddess,” she cries, lost in the pleasurable venom of my second bite. “Touch me. Everywhere. I want… I need… more.”
Happy to oblige, I use my superior strength to rip the back of her bra apart and commence slowly tugging it down when it suddenly vanishes from my hands… along with everything else. We’re completely skin to skin now, all of what remained of our clothes gone to who knows where.
Drunk on lust and blood, feeling her warm wetness against me, my first instinct is to continue. The need to claim is stronger than ever, but it’s short-lived as panic takes over. Unaware, Callie presses herself harder against me, digging her hands into my shoulders, and she makes a throaty groan. Sweat sticks our flesh together, and I feel trapped, like an invisible noose is tightening around my neck. Retracting my fangs, I rip myself from her grasp, and with one look into her lust-drugged eyes, I know this is a mistake. She didn’t mean for this to happen. She has no idea what she’s done.
Or did she? She said she could hold the line. She said she wouldn’t go beyond my limits. She lied and used magic to get what she wanted just like before. Witches are always taking whatever they want.
“No…” I whimper, fumbling to the foot of the bed.
Callie reaches for me, the venom in her system desperate for my return. She looks beautiful and tempting. With her skin flushed and blood dripping between the valley of her exposed breasts, she licks her parted lips. She is my drug of choice beckoning me home.
Memories of all the times Gina took advantage of me barrel through my head, and my skin feels too tight stretched over my bones. Despite my mind splintering through time, my body still wants more. My own arousal is fueled by the adrenaline firing through my veins, and I’m no longer the prey, but the predator again.
She wants my body? She wants the bite? Then I’ll give her what she wants. I’ll give it until she cries in agony.
No!the sliver of sanity inside me screams.This is Callie. You love Callie. Accident. This is an accident.
Horrified with myself, my voice shakes as I whisper, “No, I don’t want this. Not with you.”
The words are out before I can consider other interpretations of what they could mean, and they are like ice water to Callie’s happy buzz.
“Oh God,” she shrieks, scrambling away and grabbing one of the pillows to cover herself. “I’m so sorry, Nolan. I didn’t mean to—”
“I know. I know!” I do my best to assure her, but it’s coming out hysterical and wrong.
My mouth is dry, my heart keeps getting louder in my ears, and my mind won’t stop twisting my thoughts—blurring the lines of the now, with Callie, and the past, with Gina—and yet, I still want her. To be inside her. Me. Not the predator. One side of me wants to punish her. The other wants to drown in her. I’m disgusted with myself.
Needing to get her away from me before I do something unforgivable, I tug the comforter from my stupidly large bed and drag the enormous thing around my waist, moving at supernatural speed to my walk-in closet.
Quickly, I tug on sweats and a t-shirt then dig through my drawers to find something appropriate for Callie, ripping the drawers from the built-in dresser and throwing them to the floor.Her legs are too short for my pants, my thoughts supply with another pair of sweats in my hands. Like an animal, I fling my clothes around the closet until I come across a pair of long, drawstring workout shorts that should at least go to her calves and a long-sleeved shirt. Using my vampire speed, I run out and drop the clothes at her side. Feeling dirty, I race to the bathroom, slamming the door behind me.
I can hear Callie crying, but I’m too much of a coward to go back out. My mind is already twisting this night into a monstrous one. Each touch is changing from her wonderful hands to Gina’s invasive fondling, and I want to rip my skin from my flesh. I turn on the shower, setting the water as hot as I can stand it.
It’s my fault,my mind screams as the two worlds fully mesh together.I started this. I wanted it.
No. No, I don’t! She made me. She tempted me with her blood. It’s her fault. I hate her.
I love her.
Unable to bear the struggling nightmare that’s consuming me, I punch the mirror with such speed that it cracks like a spiderweb. Bits of glass stick to my fist as I pull back, and blood dribbles from my knuckles. It’s not enough to break the panic’s hold on me.
Sliding my back down the bathroom door, I wrap my arms around my stomach, staining my clothes with crimson streams, while my whole body shakes painfully. Tears burn my eyes, and I feel so cold when I felt hot only moments ago. The sounds of sniffles make their way through the walls, and I’m momentarily furious because Gina has no right to cry after what she’s done to me.
Bitch, I’ll give you a reason to cry.
Then there’s a tiny knock on the door. “Nolan, I’m so sorry. I… It was an accident,” Callie apologizes, her voice full of punishing remorse. “Nolan, please, talk to me. I heard glass breaking. Please, just tell me if you’re okay.”
Callie. Callie is the one crying. I made her cry. It’s my fault.
