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“Don’t fucking touch her,” warned Tyler from where he and Colt remained, poised to intervene if necessary. His charcoal eyes collided with Callan’s. One. Slow. Blink.
Callan let out a quiet chuckle but extended his hand toward me anyway. I watched it, as if in slow motion, until his icy finger landed on my neck. He drew a line along my skin until he stopped at my pulse point, pressing lightly. I shivered at the contact.
“Here is where he would bite you.” His finger didn’t move, his eyes not wavering from mine. “With a bite comes pain, but it would quickly turn to pleasure if you don’t fight it.”
“Pleasure?” I whispered, not understanding my need to keep that detail between myself and a vampire. I couldn’t fathom how being bitten could be anything other than painful.
Callan’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed. A slow nod. “Yes. A pleasure you have not experienced before.” His lips parted slightly on a smile. “An all-consuming, suffocating, pleasure.”
My mouth went dry. My heartbeat kicked up a notch. “You’re telling me I could save his life, and it would be pleasurable?”
A cruel smile this time. “Yes.”
I was mind blown. Terrified. Yet curious.
I veered my gaze to the guys, and Colt shrugged. He knew no more than me.
“And he will live a normal life if I do this?” I questioned, inspecting him for any sign of a lie. There was none.
Callan nodded. “If you are his sole blood source.”
Colt’s voice came from down the hall, the leather book splayed open in front of him. “It says here he should not feel the need to hunt or kill. He will live like a normal witch if he can feed off…” He shook his head, unable to speak the words.
His fated mate.
“Me,” I said, speaking the word he couldn’t.
I could barely breathe.
I swung my gaze back to Callan. “The first time you bit someone. Were you scared?”
He laughed softly. “Terrified.”
“Then why did you do it?”
His smile disappeared. “I did not choose to.”
Those five words reminded me of how volatile this situation really was, but one terrifying question still burned in my mind. One I’d not wanted to consider. “How will I know if he’s losing control of his…” Gods, I didn’t even know how to say it.
“Thirst?” Callan finished for me.
I nodded.
“He’ll stop asking.”
Bile pooled in the base of my throat.
“If he can control this first feed, he should be able to control the rest,” he added.
The hallway seemed to press against me.
“Calm your racing heart,” Callan said softly, taking a few steps away from me.
Although he was very much in control of his thirst, the sound of my heart still affected him.
Callan slid his hands back into his suit pants. He motioned to the door.
From here on, I was on my own. My choice. My decision. I made a last-ditch effort to slow my breathing and pull myself together.
