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“I certainly don’t miss it.”
We talked a little while longer, but we touched no more heavy topics. It was idle chatter, really. She then helped me clear the table and load the dishwasher, despite my assuring her it wasn’t necessary. It was such an inane thing, but I liked it. Liked the rhythm we had. It was easy. Comfortable.
“I better head home,” she declared once we were done. “Thank you for keeping me occupied and making sure I ate. I have to admit, I probably wouldn’t have done otherwise.”
“You don’t have to thank me.” I closed the space between us in two strides. “I want you to do one more thing before you go.” Something she probably wouldn’t want to do. Something that probably wasn’t wise, given how quickly heat could build between us.
“What?”
“Feed from me.”
(Maya)
I blinked, startled. “What?”
“You have dark circles under your eyes, Maya. I don’t know when the last time was that you drank pure blood, but I don’t think it was recent.”
Actually, I’d fed from someone last … Fuck, I couldn’t even remember. Possibly not since before Ryder returned to The Hollow.
“You’ve spent night after night hunting and killing. If you try to survive on just solid food and NSTs, you won’t be at full-strength. That’s not acceptable to me, and I doubt it’s acceptable to you.”
“I appreciate your concern but—”
“Don’t blow this off, baby. We’re talking about your health here. Please tell me you’re not depriving yourself of what you need out of guilt.”
“Guilt?”
“Intellectually, you have to know that it would have been cruel to let those animals live.”
I couldn’t hold back the wince. I wasn’t punishing myself for what I’d had to do by going without pure blood but, yeah, I felt guilty as hell. “Intellectually, I do know that. And I know I need to feed from someone. I will, I—”
“Maya, just drink from me.”
He said it like it’d be nothing. No big deal. And to him, maybe that was the case. For me, it wasn’t that easy. Not when I’d never fed from him in a nonsexual context before.
He caught my nape and drew me closer. “Don’t overthink it. Just do it.”
“Ryder—”
“Do it.” He tucked my face into the crook of his neck. “You know you want to,” he said, all soft and sinful.
I did want to. Especially now, when his pulse beat so close to my mouth. I could hear his blood pumping through his veins, and it made the back of my throat burn from thirst.
I rested my hands on his upper arms and, without thought, flicked out my tongue to lick the life-giving vein in his throat.
“That’s it, baby.” He palmed the back of my head, his fingers delving into my hair. “Feed from me. Take what you need.”
I shouldn’t, but … Fuck it. I bit down hard, humming as his warm blood flowed into my mouth.
He groaned. “Fuck yeah, that’s it.” He held me almost uncomfortably tight, his cock thickening until it dug aggressively into my lower stomach.
My body came to life in a rush. Heated, tightened, ignited. Hell. I pulled back and licked over the bite, but he didn’t let me go. And I didn’t ask him to. Well we’d already established that I was decidedly weak where Ryder Kingsley was concerned.
I lifted my gaze to his, and my stomach did a little flip at the dark glitter of need in those eyes. More, my heartbeat kicked up, and my breathing got a little shaky.
“It shouldn’t always be this hard,” he said, his voice thick.
“What?”
“To let you go.” He briefly squeezed his eyes shut. “I told you I wasn’t bringing you here to have my way with you. I meant it.”
I knew he had. I wouldn’t have come here with him if I’d thought it was all just some plot to get into my panties.
He dropped his forehead to mine and bunched both hands in my hair. “The first time I saw you, I thought you were the most beautiful fucking thing I’d ever seen. I’ve never wanted a woman the way I want you.”
My chest tightened. “Why tell me that?”
“Because then maybe you’ll understand.”
“Understand what?”
“Why I have to do this.” He swooped down and took my mouth with a growl. His tongue boldly sank inside like it had every right. His grip on my hair tightened to the point of pain. And, deciding to ignore that this would be an insanely bad idea, I didn’t push him away.
The kiss was hungry and devastating and thrillingly possessive. I wasn’t sure who went for whose fly first, but both zippers were soon lowered. Jeans were kicked off, tees were tossed aside, underwear was discarded.
He backed me into the fridge and dropped to his knees. I licked my lips. “You said in the gardens that you only wanted one more taste.”
