“So, I just run? For how long?”
“Just until I can take care of him.” And he realized at that moment that he meant every word. He would take on Jaz. He would take on the entire coven if it meant keeping Devon safe. He didn’t know when it had happened, or how. Maybe that night at the club when the bullets were flying and all he could see was her. Maybe it was before that, when he saw her on the news, so beaten down and fragile and yet so fucking brave. Maybe it was after the attack last night, and the discovery that even the dragon was falling for her. But she was suddenly very precious to him. And he was not willing to give her up so easily.
“What if you took more? What if you bit me and took more? Would you have a higher claim to me or whatever?”
He held back a groan. Why was she doing this to him? “Yes, technically. But…”
“But, what?”
Her asking him to drink from her aroused him to a whole new level.
No. He shook his head. “I can’t, Devon. I can’t do that.” Not without having a conversation about what that would mean.
“Is it against vampire law, or something?”
“Not exactly. It’s more an unspoken rule not to move on another vampire’s territory, one that could have unpleasant consequences, depending on the situation.”
Knowing if they stayed like this any longer his vow to himself would mean nothing, he forced himself to move off of her.
She sat up, too, catching his hand before he could leave her. “But, I want you to do it.”
Despite the intense effort it took him to be this close to her and still control himself, especially with the open wound in her throat, he gently pushed a stray curl from her face with a trembling hand. “We need to talk about things before this happens. There’s a lot we need to talk about, Devon.”
Her jaw clenched. “I don’t care about any of that. Not if it’s with you.”
“Let’s say I do this. Let’s just say I do. You’ll only be free of Jaz, the vampire who attacked you.” He left the rest of it unspoken. She was a smart woman. She would know what that meant.
Her lips pressed into a thin line. “But it would be you.”
God, she was stubborn. He gave up trying to get through to her. He just didn’t have it in him right now. “Devon, please.”
“Kohl, what will happen if you don’t?”
He didn’t even want to think about that. But it was simple. “He’ll hunt you, because it will be fun for him and because he can. If you try to run, it will only make the game more interesting. He’ll be able to find you anywhere.”
“And what will happen if he does? What then?”
“Devon…”
“What then, Kohl?”
He rubbed the back of his neck, not missing the way her eyes followed his movements in the dark. “Then he’ll either kill you, on purpose or accidentally, or take you back to the coven and do whatever the fuck he wants to you. And no one will stop him.”
“Because he claimed me.” There was a weighted pause. “Except I’m not his. I’m yours.”
Kohl dropped his hand to his thigh. “Fucking hell,” he growled.
She reached for him, but seemed to rethink her decision and dropped her arm.
He caught it before it hit the ground. Turning her hand over in his, he brought it to his mouth and softly kissed the center of her palm. He couldn’t think straight lying here like this with her. They needed to get the hell out of there. He played with her fingers as he said, “I’m not doing this in the middle of a field.”
“Kohl, we don’t have time.”
But he kissed her hand again. “We have time enough to get you out of the cold. Come with me.” Getting to his feet, he pulled her up with him and took her hand. As they started to walk through the damp grass, he glanced back over his shoulder. “And don’t be staring at my ass.”
Devon burst out laughing, and Kohl couldn’t help but smile as he tightened his grip on her fingers and helped her along behind him.
He’d known where he was as soon as he’d woken up. The beast always brought him back to this place, and it was both good and bad. Good because it was a place to land away from seeing eyes, and it was near friends who knew who and what he was. Bad because the damned thing loved to settle down for the night in the middle of an open field. Or worse, sunbathe in that same field if it was still daylight. Kohl had had more than one close call when he’d shifted back while the sun was up, because the dragon loved to bask in the heat of the day. The vampire, however, would burn alive within seconds. It was a cruel twist of nature that had allowed a creation such as him to survive—a male who longed for the warmth of the sun but could only enjoy it in a form he had no memory of.
