The question stopped me cold.
She stood there with her hands tucked behind her back, her head tilted slightly. My clothes swallowed her whole, the sleeves hanging past her hands while my sweats bunched around her ankles. Her dark braid rested over one shoulder, and those newly crimson eyes watched me with open curiosity.
Not fear. Not disgust. Relief loosened something tight in my chest.
“I was just…” I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly. “Feeling a little peckish.”
My eyes drifted down to those rosy red lips, and my heart pumped harder.Don’t look at her.Moving my gaze over her shoulder, I desperately clung to the notion that I shouldn’t lean down and kiss her. Distance. That was what I needed.
Forcing my attention elsewhere, I practically teleported around her toward the fridge. I grabbed a blood bag and jabbed my fangs into the plastic as fast as I could, draining it all in one pull.
Olivia’s eyes widened.
“Oh shit! We can do that?”
Her whole face lit up instantly.
“That’s way easier than a mug and a straw!”
Before I could answer, she darted toward me, moving far too fast. In a second, she hit me full force straight in the chest.
I barely caught us in time, locking my arms around her waist and twisting sharply to keep her from crashing onto the floor.
The impact knocked the breath from her lungs. Her fingers immediately grabbed fistfuls of my shirt while she steadied herself against me and looked down at me from above.
Her scent wrapped around me, warm roses and sugar, something that was uniquely Olivia’s. My grip tightened before I could stop it.
Mine.
The thought slithered through my head, dark and possessive.
Take her. Keep her.
She fit there too perfectly.
Her fingers flexed against my chest, and she tipped her head up toward me, those red eyes blinking wide while her lips parted slightly in surprise. A soft little sigh slipped from her lips and brushed against my throat. Every muscle in my body reacted instantly.
For one terrifying second, I almost pushed up and kissed her anyway.
Goosebumps raced down my arms while heat slammed low into my stomach hard enough to make me grip her waist tighter for half a second too long. My mind betrayed me immediately, picturing Olivia spread out across the kitchen island, my mouth on her skin, blood and pleasure mixing together while she writhed beneath me.
Fuck. Will she taste different now that she’s a vampire?The thought alone nearly unraveled me.
“I’m so sorry,” she rushed out breathlessly, her fingers still curled in my shirt. “I just wanted to see how the speed thing worked and?—”
I shut my eyes briefly before I did something stupid.
“It’s fine,” I managed, though my voice came out rougher than intended. “You just need practice.”
Reluctantly, painfully, I let my hands slide from her waist and put her upright. I had to step back before my self-control completely snapped.
Distance. Need distance.
The second space opened between us, my eyes landed on her stomach and another image shoved its way into my head instead.
Olivia bleeding out on my bed. A hole in her stomach. The way her pulse had almost vanished beneath my hands.
The possessive hunger vanished beneath a wave of fury so sharp my jaw tightened.
