Every ignored order proved his skewed allegiance.
So why did part of him want to obey this shadow now?
He regained control of his limbs slowly. Cracks spread through the concrete as he pulled his hands away. He realized he would have killed her.
He did not want to kill her.
He wanted to crush her. Pin her. Hold her.
Breathe her in.
She smelled like cherries. He gritted his teeth. He remembered the way she had felt. Would her soft flesh give easily beneath his touch? How hard would he have to pull to rend her limbs away from her torso? Would her blood look like red cherries, and would strings of her flesh cling together, unwilling to be torn?
Kit’s head fell back in a moment of weakness.
He stepped back toward the door. He turned and found the shadowed arm was gone. Another step back. Another.
It was quiet above in the rafters. He imagined her frozen up there like he had been frozen. Vulnerable.
Would she cry if he tore her apart?
Kit did not like that thought.
He forced his feet to move. Some forgotten part in his brain screamed at him to leave her alone as he stepped over limbs and blood. He sprinted out into the night and far from the warehouse.
He did not stop until he found himself in the woods miles away. Only then did he fall to his knees, grip his hair with his hands, and scream to the sky.
"I think he’s gone,"Rin whispered. It had been utterly silent for a while now. She kept her palm pressed firmly against herthigh, as if she wanted the blood to be forced back into her veins—anything to stop Rhyden from looking at her like she was his next meal.
Rhyden had moved as far from her as he could. His taut back was to her as he breathed shallowly.
"Rhyden," Rin prodded, shifting just an inch—and she heard his harsh inhale, the way he groaned.
"Goddammit, Vesperin." Rhyden gave a tortured, masculine sound, and it made warmth drip down her spine and settle heavily between her legs. She’d never heard him say her name quite like that before. He barely turned his head, enough for her to see his profile, illuminated in the moonlight. His red eyes glowed, nostrils flaring. The blood on her palm grew slicker, making her hand slide from where she pressed it to her thigh. Blood splattered on the concrete beneath her.
Rin had wondered why Rhyden was the only one to come tonight—sure, he brought her, but ultimately, he had been on his own. He didn’t even give her a weapon until he’d been practically forced to. She’d wondered how he felt secure enough to handle what could have been dozens of armed men.
In this moment, as he turned in a flash and was upon her before she could fully register it, she realized the pure, vampiric strength simmering beneath his immortal flesh.
Rhyden caged her against the wall, and half of her back pressed into the window frame. She felt the breeze against her back as she was almost pushed out of the window. She didn’t look down, not wanting to break his gaze and signal weakness.
Rhyden pressed his nose to her cheek, and she felt his fangs against her jaw.
"I could eat you up, drink you alive."
Rin shoved at him. He felt so good against her…
"Rhyden." She tried to make her voice firm. He didn’t budge. She said his name again. Then again.
"Sounds so sweet when you say my name. I want you to fucking scream it," he growled in her ear.
Pleading wouldn’t work, then. Her nails scratched at his chest, and he finally pulled his head away from where he’d tucked it against her neck, meeting her eyes. His pupils were blown, the red like a neon warning sign.
"Get off of me," she demanded, but he just laughed like her fear was adorable.
She remembered how she’d tied him up, taken what she wanted. The only way to win against a predator was to become a bigger one. She didn’t have immortal strength. But she was good at faking it until everyone around her never knew how insecure and weak she felt on the inside.
"If you want me, this is hardly the place for it. I didn’t know you were so weak, Rhyden."
