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And damn if that didn’t make my inner thighs tingle.
Down, girl. The bad vampire is looking at you with darkness in his eyes.
“Hm.” He shrugged out of his suit jacket, dropped it on a chair.
I scowled. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
A shrug. “Maybe you should be afraid. That’s why you ran, isn’t it?
I pressed my lips together. Why should I care what he thought? But it stung, that he believed I was such a coward that I’d run rather than tell him straight out that I wouldn’t accept his blood bond.
“Believe what you want.” I swung around, not sure where I was going. I just wanted to get away.
“Answer me, Mila.” His eyes shimmered ice blue, and suddenly, he was right in front of me, blocking my way.
8
Gabriel
Mila looked like a goddess in that lipstick-red dress. A long-legged, earthy, incredibly fuckable goddess.
I stalked forward, drawn by something as powerful and unbreakable as the moon’s lure for the tide. She gulped and dug her fingers into the spandex skirt, tearing it further.
My gaze locked on those flirty red-and-black panties. Had she worn those for me? My dick pressed painfully against my zipper.
She hurriedly smoothed down the dress—and made the rip larger.
My lips twitched. I pressed them together.
I wasnotgoing to be amused by Mila.
I wasnotgoing to notice how, now that we were beneath the living room’s bright overhead light, I could see she was not only thinner, but hollow-eyed from exhaustion.
Most of all, I wasnotgoing to give into the tenderness that kept tugging at me, especially when she muttered, “Stupid dress,” under her breath.
“Answer me,” I repeated in a soft,obey-me-nowvoice. I stepped closer, deliberately invading her space. I was six inches taller and a good seventy-five pounds heavier, and I wanted her to understand just who—and what—she was dealing with.
Her eyes widened, but she squared her shoulders and stared back.
The gods help me, that pleased my vampire half. Easy prey was boring.
“No,” she gritted. “I didn’t leave because I was afraid.”
“Then why?”
She shrugged a slim shoulder.
My jaw tightened. I was the Kral crown prince. Very few people—vampire, dhampir or human—dared stand up to me, and to shrug off a flat-out demand was almost unheard of.
But this woman—thishuman—dared. She stared up at me, lush mouth set in stubborn lines.
I hesitated. I could compel her to tell me the truth, but I couldn’t quite bring myself to do it. Because the day I compelled Mila to do anything was the day I’d lose her for good.
Oh, maybe I’d have her body and her blood, but I’d seen what happened to those thralls bound to power-drunk vampires who used compulsion more than absolutely necessary. I’d have an empty-eyed shell of a lover.
The ocean breeze had done its work on her updo. Wavy chestnut wisps framed her face, and the clip looked like it would fall off any second.
I brought my hand up. She flinched, which bothered me on some primal level, even though my darker side wanted her afraid. Wanted her to suffer for leaving me without even a fucking goodbye.
