“Do you always feed on women?”
“I’ve fed from a man when necessary, butmostly women.”
“Did you have sex with all those women?”
“Not all of them.”
“But most of them?” she pressed.
This was a conversation they should have hadbefore she slept with him, but Aiden was like a tornado, once shegot caught up with him, she couldn’t get free. She’d gone on thepill when she started having sex with A.J. and never stopped as ithelped with her PMS. Aiden had said vampires couldn’t carrydiseases, but she should have been safer, and she should haveguarded her heart better against him.
“Many of them, yes,” he admitted.
“How many women have you been with?”
“It might be better to let this go.”
An icy chill raced down her spine. “Do youknow how many?”
“No.”
This time when she pulled on her fingers, hereleased her. “Could you guess?”
“Do you want me to?”
What good would it do either of them for himto guess at that? “No.”
She scooted to the edge of the bed. Minutesago, she’d been elated. Now she knew she was only one of hundredsof women, maybethousandsof them.
“I’ve never forced another,” he said. “AndI’ve never gone to a prostitute.”
“It’s always good to have standards.”
She had no idea what else to say tothat.
She gathered the sheet against her chest andwrapped it around her waist. It was ridiculous to cover herself nowwhen he’d already seen it all, but she suddenly felt vulnerablearound him in a way she hadn’t earlier.
She was about to rise from the bed when heseized her wrist. She jerked on it, but when he didn’t release her,she spun back to him. The anguish etching his features froze herfurious words on her tongue.
“It’s the past,” he said in a gravelly toneshe barely recognized. “It’s an existence Iloathedand willnever return to. You are my present, Maggie, and I hope you’llagree to be my future too.”
Her mouth fell open as he clasped her cheekwith his other hand. She should pull away from him, but she foundherself entranced by his words and his touch. Here came the damntornado again, and he could sweep her away as quickly as Dorothyhad been taken to Oz. She needed to get her hands on some rubyslippers; maybe they would help fortify her against him.
“It’s all over now,” he said. “Allofit.”
“But I won’t do to you what you asked Carhato do. I willnotinjure you in such a way, even if you askme to do it, even if youneedme to do it. And you can’tfeed on me multiple times during the day, and you’ll—” Sheswallowed before continuing. “—you’ll turn to other women tosatisfy your craving for sex.”
“No, I won’t. I don’t require those thingsnow that I have you. You’re all I need, if you’ll have me.”
“How can you say that?” she demanded as heranger returned. “You’ve spent years engrossed in your hungers andtrying to maintain control. You’ve spentthreedayswith me!”
“Since the second I heard your voice andinhaled your scent in that alley where we first met, you’re allI’ve wanted.”
“Your fingers twitched toward me when Ispoke,” she recalled.
“Yes.”
Maggie shook her head; her hand tightened onthe sheet. “So, you’ve replaced all your other obsessions with me?It makes no sense. Why me?”
