“Yes,” Mira replied, having joined us. “But you have to remember that she’s from a time when humans had rights. Those are hard habits to break.”
I frowned at her. “What are you talking about?”
“See?” she prompted.
“Yes. Unfortunately, I do.” He sounded disgusted, his cultured tones flatter than I’d ever heard them.
“Cam,” I whispered, not understanding any of this. Not understanding him. It was definitely my Cam, but it wasn’t at the same time. I couldn’t hear him. I couldn’t feel him. And I’d never had him look at me in a such a way, as though he couldn’t stand the thought of touching me.
“Why do I keep her?” he asked, again talking to Mira and not to me.
“You like the way she tastes,” Mira replied. “And you enjoy the challenge.”
He grunted. “Sometimes I question my own sanity.”
“What the hell is going on?” I demanded, looking between him and Mira, then noting the men behind Cam. “What’s wrong with you?”
“How do I shut her up?” Cam asked.
“Typically with your teeth.” Even Mira sounded wrong, like she didn’t have a care in the world. Which wasn’t the female I knew at all.
Have I fallen into another universe? A different realm? Is this just a bad dream?
“Hmm, all right,” Cam hummed, his palm snagging my nape. “I am hungry.”
“Cam!” I cried out, trying to free myself from his hold.
“Quiet,” he snapped back.
My lips parted on a sound that turned into a scream as his fangs sank into my throat.
There was nothing gentle about this.
Just a vampire indulging his inner beast.
No endorphins. Only pain.
I clawed at his shoulders, trying to force him to see reason while shrieking at him through our bond.What are you doing? Why are you doing this? Cam! Stop!
He didn’t reply.
Because he couldn’t hear me.
I was blocked from his mind.
When I tried to speak out loud, he used his free hand to cover my mouth as his feeding turned violent. There was no care or finesse. No sweet words. No soothing touch. Just a savage mouth taking far too much from my veins.
You’re… you’re… you’re killing me…I told him, stunned.Why, Cam? What’s happening? Talk to me!
Tears streaked down my cheeks, my sight blinking in and out between strange dots of black and white.
I… I’d never died before.
I knew our link would bring me back.
But I didn’t understand.
He’d never bitten me like this. Had never before withheld the endorphins.
