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“Tens of thousands!”

“Well, I had to eat, and it was preferable to violence.”

“But you’ve never had anyone like me before? Someone you fed from repeatedly?”

“No, never. Some vampires do, of course, but not me. It was important for me to hide what I was, and I was uncomfortable with the idea of keeping humans around for food.”

“Hm, you don’t seem to have a problem now,” he said, his tone teasing.

“This is different,” I said. “At least, I’d like to think so.”

“Thousands. Thousands of first dates. That sounds terrible. A new person each night, never truly getting to know anyone.”

“It wasn’t so bad. I had friends and other vampires to spend time with. However, we are mostly solitary creatures unless we are mated.”

“Did you ever have a mate?”

“No. I had a few lovers on and off over the years—vampires. I only occasionally slept with the humans I fed from,” I said, giving Julian a pointed look. “But no, I was never mated.”

“It sounds lonely,” he said, then let the subject drop.

The conversations weren’t the only change. Feeding took on a new rhythm as well, and in his gentle torture of me, Julian was relentless. True to his word, he didn’t make things easy. Yet I never asked him to stop. Privately, I began to crave Julian’s touch and enjoyed the constant flirting and even the intrusive questioning. I tried my best to avoid responding in kind. I still believed that a physical relationship would unnecessarily complicate things. But oh, how I wanted to.

I sat on the couch one night, a book in my hand, when I looked up to find Julian eyeing me from the other end of the sofa. “What?” I asked, almost afraid of the answer.

“Can I see them?”

“Excuse me? Can you see what?”

“Your teeth.”

“You want to see my teeth?”

“It’s only fair. I let you put them in me; I should be allowed to see them,” he said.

I sighed. “Okay, I suppose you have a point.” I leaned forward and opened my mouth.

Julian scooted closer and reached a hand toward my face. I raised an eyebrow but didn’t stop him, so he continued.

Julian pressed a finger against my upper lip, giving him a better view of my canine teeth. Usually, they were slightly longer than a human’s. But the closeness of Julian’s skin was too much. Combined with his warm scent, I couldn’t control my body’s natural reaction. As Julian watched, my teeth lengthened to their fullest, primed to feed. I didn’t pull away. Julian wanted to know, so I held steady and tried not to inhale his heady scent.

I noticed Julian was holding his breath, too. “I had no idea they did that,” Julian said, slowly pulling his hand back.

I swallowed and waited for my teeth to retract before speaking. “They do. Didn’t you ever notice?”

“No, I can’t see your mouth when you feed. They only do that when you eat?”

I nodded. “Usually, just when I’m about to feed or fight, or if I’m very hungry.”

“Are you hungry now?” he asked.

“I’m always hungry,” I said, without meaning to.

Julian leaned back on the sofa, his hand drifting to the collar of his shirt. He pulled it aside, tilted his chin up, and locked his heated gaze on me. “I would feed you,” he said, his voice deep and seductive.

I stared back at him, trying to stay still. A low rumble filled the room. After a few moments, I realized I was growling and that my fangs were bared as I fought the urge to stare at Julian’s throat. I blinked and pushed myself back, but there was nowhere to go. Meanwhile, Julian sat perfectly still, holding my gaze. Waiting.

“You’re playing with fire,” I said, my voice accented by my teeth, my breathing rapid.