The word echoed through my head with absolute certainty.
I should have pulled away. Should have given her just enough to stabilize her and then put some distance between us before I did something we couldn't take back. Like pin her against the nearest wall and show her exactly what her mouth on my skin was doing to me right there in front of Killian.
Instead, I shifted her closer, cradling her against my chest like something precious and breakable, even as she consumed me.
"Elias." Killian's voice cut through the haze. Warning. Careful.
I growled. Actually growled at my master, my oldest friend, because he'd dared to interrupt this moment. The sound was feral enough that Killian took a step back, hands raised in surrender.
"Easy now. I'm just saying ye should probably stop her before she takes too much. Yer not at full strength right now."
He was right. I knew he was right. But the feel of her mouth on my wrist, the soft pleasurable sounds she made as she drank, the way her body was warming against mine. Gods, it was everything I'd been denying myself for days. Days of starvation and emptiness and pretending I could function without this.
Without her.
Another strong pull. This one sent pleasure spiking through me so sharp it bordered on pain. My hips jerked involuntarily, and I bared my fangs with a hiss of pleasure.
"Talin." My voice was strangled. "Little witch… you need to stop."
She didn't. Couldn't, maybe. Her own instincts had taken over, her body recognizing what it needed to heal and taking it without question or restraint.
I understood the feeling.
"Talin." Firmer this time, though it cost me. I stroked her hair with my free hand, trying to gentle her, to bring her back to herself. "Come on, beautiful. Come back to me."
Her rhythm stuttered. Slowed. One more pull, lighter than the others, and then her mouth released my wrist with a soft, wet sound that went straight to my groin.
Fuck me.
I pressed my wrist to my mouth, tongue sealing the wound as I watched her. Her eyes were still closed, lashes dark against her cheeks, lips parted and stained deep red. A drop of blood clung to the corner of her mouth, and I wiped it away with my thumb, then sucked it off.
"How is she?" Killian asked, moving closer now that I'd stopped acting like a rabid animal.
"She'll be okay." I shifted her carefully, checking her color, her breathing. Both were stronger now. Normal.
Her eyes fluttered open, the bright green orbs unfocused at first, then gradually sharpening. They found mine and held, and something in my chest cracked wide open at the relief I saw there.
"Elias." My name on her lips was barely a whisper, but I felt it everywhere.
"I'm here." My arms tightened around her. "I've got you."
"Marcus—" She tried to sit up, panic flashing across her features.
"Gone. You scared him off." I helped her sit upright but kept one arm around her waist, not ready to let go. Not sure I ever would be. "What the hell were you thinking, coming here alone? He could have killed you."
"I felt you." Her hand pressed against her chest, right over her heart. "Felt you fighting. Felt you hurt." Her eyes searched my face, taking in the blood at the corner of my mouth, the bruises already fading thanks to vampire healing. "I couldn't just… I had to?—"
"I know." Because I did. I understood that bone-deep need to protect, to claim, to defend what was yours even if it meant walking into danger. "But you can't do that again. Promise me."
"I can't promise that." She pulled back slightly, her chin lifting in that stubborn way that made me want to kiss her and shake her in equal measure. "Not if you're in danger."
"Talin—"
"No." Strength was returning to her voice.
Lifting my head, I glanced around and realized we were alone. It didn't help control the lust raging inside of me. "We need to get out of here."
She nodded, and I helped her stand. "Elias?"
