Gray clears his throat, bringing me back to the moment. “Millie. Who bit you?”
My focus moves from my hand to his face. He looks angry, but more than that, he looks worried. I’m sure anyone would be concerned about a bunch of rampant vampires harassing people, but this feels personal. Is he worried about me?
“He said his name was Dante.” Even saying his name makes me cringe. A too beautiful man with a cruel agenda. I’ve known men like him, only their bark was worse than their bite. And Dante is all bite.
“What did you say?” Gray freezes—stone-still like a marble statue.
“Dante,” I repeat. “He was a real asshole, too.”
“No,” he says simply, almost ignoring me outright. “Impossible.”
“Believe it.”
“I have to go,” he snarls, jumping up from his knees to his feet. Startled by his immediate change in attitude, I jumped,too, grabbing his arm. For a moment, we stare at each other, surprised.
“Let go.” He looks down at where I'm holding him and blinks. “I have to find him.”
“Don’t,” I say fiercely. Not only is that a terrible idea, but if he leaves me alone now, I’m afraid of what will happen. There’s no saying that my stalker—or Dante—didn’t follow us home. This could be some kind of trap, and I’m the bait to lure him away. Who’s to say they aren’t waiting for him to leave?
“I said let go,” he repeats.
I give him a hard tug and tighten my grip. “And I said don’t.”
“He bit you.” His voice is deeper now, and his face, which is still strikingly handsome, appears harsher. He looks less like a person and more like, well, a vampire. Sunken eyes, hollowed cheeks, and a beauty so otherworldly that it both scares and excites me. There’s something else, too. The white sclera of his eyes is pitch black. Like two blood moons in a night sky, his eyes have also shifted.
“Yes,” I breathe, “but that’s not even the worst part.”
Gray’s red eyes narrow. “What do you mean?”
“My stalker was there.” I sway on my feet. My head feels a little less clear as I go on. “I don’t know how, but I swear to you, he was there, too.”
The pleasant feeling is starting to wear off. All the good tingles I was feeling are now aching and prickling.
“Is that why you were running?” Gray asks.
“I think I saw him before tonight, too.” I recall the morning I went to Dax’s and how it felt like I was being followed, then again at the Black Box with the shadow at the window. I’m positive it wasn’t my imagination. It felt deliberate, just like tonight. I can’t shake the feeling that these instances are linked. If that’s true, then not only do I have to worry about Dante, but I have to worry about a new vampire following up on old business.
“Fuck,” Gray mutters under his breath.
My hand falls away from his arm as the first hard pulse of pain courses through my body. Just like before, it’s like someone has poured molten lava into my pores, sinking through my skin to every sensitive muscle and joint holding me together.
“Gray?” His name flutters from lips on a barely there breath. His eyes widen as I teeter sideways, surging forward with his insane speed to catch me before I go down. The water splashes around the both of us, puddling on the ground as he drags meout.
“Are you in pain?” His voice is soft, like a feather caressing my cheek. Arms tighten around my body as he holds me close. The parts of his skin that are touching mine feel like a pack of ice on a bad burn.
“Yes,” I gasp in between tiny breaths. Tears fall away from my eyes when I blink. “Make it stop.”
Relief rushes over me when Gray’s mouth seals over mine, soft and questioning. His touch tamps down the pain, and all I can feel is the pleasure riding low beneath it. The yawning desire I have to be closer to him, to have every part of his body touching mine, is an ache I can’t describe. All I know is that I need him closer, so I tilt my head to meet him the rest of the way. That’s consent enough for him.
Gray lifts me by my legs, gripping right under my butt, and carries me over to the sink, our mouths still connected. Knocking everything out of the way first, he then sets me down, and cages me in his arms. Mine have nowhere to go but around him, so I tug at his shirt and slip my hands underneath. He moans into my mouth, as if my touch has the same effect on him as his does on me. It’s a thought driven by the euphoria I feel at having him pressed so close.
I scoot to the edge of the counter, thrilled by the bump I feel pressing against his pants. I move my hips as best as I can against him. The friction it creates is a splendid little reward for my efforts. He’s hard, which makes me wetter knowing I’ve turned on an incredibly hot vampire.
“Naughty girl,” he says, nipping at my bottom lip. Peppering kisses along my jaw, he moves down to my neck and licks the spot where I’d been bitten. Each kiss leaves behind a cool trail that tames the flame beneath my skin. I never noticed how much colder his skin was until now.He is technically dead, after all.
“How did you know where to find me?” I ask, breathless as his lips suckle the tender skin.
He pulls away, and with a pointed, heady look, says, “I have your scent.”
