Page 13 of Dark

In answer, I arched up off the counter, craning my neck as far as the leash of my hair would allow. When I released a strangled sound, Ethan slipped a finger inside me, pushing deep, eyes darkening as each sweet invasion drew his name from my lips.

And… oh God. It was suddenly too much. The heat of his lips. The shiver of teeth. Breath, hot and wet against skin. The way he stared down at me with hooded eyes like he was the hunter and I was his prey leaving me so raw, so naked I felt it down to the tips of my toes.

He bit the crease of my throat, a bite that was like none of the others that had come before. Carnal. Possessive. All animal. And from deep within me, a primitive voice responded, pleasure and pain snaking together at the thought of being claimed. I shattered, bursting like a wild swirl of dandelion seeds caught in a spring gust.

For as violently, gloriously as it had risen, the fire in my blood cooled just as quickly, the unbearable weight that had been clawing at my mind since sunset miraculously lifted. I blinked. Ethan stood braced over me, the hard frame of his shoulders silhouetted against the lights overhead.

“Shit.” He scrubbed a hand over his face. “Are you—"

I sat up, fumbling to straighten my clothes. For the first time since the moon had come out, the buzzing in my head was clear. It was as if the universe was waving its arms, trying to get my attention before I made a complete fool out of myself.

Again.

Because this? This was what I swore from the start I wouldn’t do. Let myself get drawn in by the lure of chemistry and connection, two things Ethan Caldwell and I might have had in spades, but that would never amount to anything. I’d learned that lesson once before.

“I’m fine.”

He dragged his shirt on and raked a hand through his hair.

“That… shouldn’t have happened. I’m sorry.”

I wrapped my arms around myself, suddenly uncomfortable. “It’s okay. I—"

“You were too messed up to consent. I know you asked, but it was the wolf talking, the bond. I shouldn’t have lost control. Shouldn’t have let things go that far.”

Closing my eyes, I squashed every last hopeful feeling one by one. “Bond?”

The thing tethering us flared, simmering dark as a summer storm. I frowned. Ethan rubbed the back of his neck.

“Yeah, so when you bit me, you triggered the wolf’s instinctual mating response.”

“Um, me? I remember someone else’s teeth getting in on the action, too.”

His cheeks darkened. “Sorry about that. Things got pretty intense.”

I traced the scar at my throat, the one thrumming in time with his pulse. At the touch of my fingers, Ethan closed his eyes, swaying in place. My traitorous heart fluttered. Could he feel my pulse slamming in his veins, too?

“And now we’re bonded?”

“It’s just temporary,” he said hastily. “Shifters hook up all the time, bite each other for the high, then go their separate ways. Should wear off—"

“How long?” I rubbed my arms, the awkwardness in the room suddenly at like, an eleven. “I mean, are we going to be like—"

“I don’t know,” Ethan said at last. “And no, I think that was just the initial rush of pheromones. I mean, I’ve never—”

“Never?”

He rubbed the back of his neck, fingers tickling over a half-crescent mark left by my teeth. Because, oh God. I’d done that. At this rate, Ellie would need to vaccinate me for rabies. “You, uh, with anyone?”

“No.” I stared stonily back at him. “Why?”

Going to the refrigerator, he pulled out two bottles of water and tossed me one. “Because I’d feel better knowing I didn’t just fool around with someone who’s in a relationship.”

I crossed my arms. “Are you—”

“No.”

A feeling I wouldn’t allow myself to examine swelled in my chest. I forced it down. “I need information. I’ve spent four weeks avoiding hospitals because of a message scrawled on my arm, scared shitless it was vampires and I was going to rise again as one of the undead. And now I’m almost certain the person who attacked me is following me.”