Page 41 of Nightshade

He made a desperate sound, his hand clenching hard around mine before he dragged it behind my back. I don’t think he meant to pin my arm down, only that he didn’t want to let me go while he pulled me closer, and his free arm was occupied by his basket. For some reason, the hold didn’t make me panic, as any hint of restraint had started doing over the years since my rebirth from death. Our hands pressed into my back, and he bent to kiss me.

His mouth was all searing heat. The wet tease of his tongue across the seam of my lips sent sparks of life dancing from the corner of my jaw all the way down my spine.

I opened, and he did too, letting me inside. He was so soft beneath my tongue, questing to map every inch of him as my eyes fluttered shut.

Perfect. He was so perfect and warm and alive, and I might’ve sobbed for it if I could stand to stop kissing him. Instead I twisted my hand in his clothes and plastered myself against his front.

And I moaned.

That was my mistake—a quiet sound, almost swallowed by the breeze in the dry leaves above, but enough for a werewolf to hear.

Before either of us knew what was happening, Katya’s back door slammed open and Viktor stood as a hulking shadow in front of the candlelit interior.

Leo flinched, and I staggered back, my hand slipping out of his. The second I pulled away, he let me go. Maybe that was why his hold didn’t bother me—I knew, innately, that all it’d take was an uncomfortable twitch from me and he’d release me at once.

But it wasn’t for his sake or my own that I pulled away. It was Viktor, and how sure I was that if I didn’t part us, he’d do it for me.

In the light that fell over us, I saw that Leo’s face was pink and flushed. His lips were slightly swollen, enough that I wanted to bite them. And he was glaring up at the porch like his brother had spent the day stepping on puppy tails.

“It’s suppertime,” Viktor announced, sounding every bit as put out as Leo looked.

“We’ll be in in a minute,” Leo growled back.

Viktor walked off the porch, ignoring his brother entirely. “You’ll go in now,” he said. “I need to talk to the leech.”

Leo shoved his way between the two of us. “His name is Altair.”

Viktor’s glare only landed on his brother for a second before returning to me. “Then I need to talk to Altair.”

I straightened the shirt I wore—Leo’s shirt—and lifted my chin. “It’s fine, Leo. I’m happy to talk to your brother.”

Leo’s nose flared in annoyance. He didn’t want to leave us alone, and I . . . I didn’t want him in the middle of this conflict. Viktor had a problem with me. It was nothing to split their family up over.

That’d only hurt . . . it’d hurt Leo. And strangely enough, that was the last thing I wanted. It felt wrong, to take more from him than all he’d already given.

I just didn’t know why I cared. Vampires weren’t imbued with genuine emotion the way that the living were. Ivan said we had evolved past such pitiful impulses.

“Really,” I insisted. “Go ahead and eat. We’ll be in in a moment, won’t we, Viktor?”

Viktor glared at me like he wanted to flick my head off and send it flying back into the forest.

Leo shoved his brother’s shoulder. “I’m not going anywhere unless you promise me he’s safe. Are you planning to hurt him?”

Viktor sighed hard, but his shoulders slumped. “I won’t do anything to the vampire that he doesn’t start, but I’d have a word.”

“See?” I grinned at Leo. “We’re fine. Let Viktor say his piece, and we’ll be right in.”

Leo frowned. Clearly, he didn’t like it, but that just made me smile harder. We’d be fine. He didn’t need to worry.

He looked between me and his brother a few times before he swallowed, nodded, and stepped back.

“A few minutes,” he muttered.

My head bobbed. “No problems here.”

I wasn’t sure if that was entirely true, but Viktor granted his assent.

And the second Leo was inside, Viktor’s lips pulled back from his teeth. “Keep your fangs away from my brother.”