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Especially when he hadn’t said it back.
He didn’t say it now, either, but he did kiss my shoulder.
“I’m a vampire, angel. We’re safe here in my apartment, and security is on alert that we may have been infiltrated by a dhampir slayer. And even if the dhampir somehow makes it this far, they won’t take me. I don’t care how good they are. I’m a pureblood—faster and stronger than any dhampir, and most vampires, too.”
His tone was matter of fact. He wasn’t boasting, simply stating the truth as he saw it. That didn’t mean he wasn’t vulnerable.
“Just…be careful, okay?”
“Of course. Now, how about a bath?”
I was abruptly conscious of how rank I smelled. To Brien, the odor would be even stronger. “If you’re sure there’s nothing I can do right now...”
“I’m sure.” Gathering me in his arms, he carried me into the bathroom.
Like the bedroom, it was decorated in copper and black and teak. “Bathroom candlelight ambiance on,” he said, and tiny lights embedded in the black marble walls glowed on like stars in the nighttime sky.
He set me down on a fluffy rug so he could turn on the faucet of a sunken jacuzzi bathtub. The muted lighting painted his sleek muscles a warm gold. Even for a vampire, the man was beautiful. Ripped abs. Toned ass. Shark tattoos snaking around his cut right deltoid.
I swallowed. “Brien?”
He crossed the tiled floor to me, stopping a few inches away. “What?”
He was fully erect, his craving palpable, like he needed me so bad it hurt. But he kept his hands by his sides.
I stroked my palms over his hard pecs. “Touch me.”
He took me by the upper arms and pulled me up on my toes. His mouth came to mine, but instead of kissing me, he caught my lower lip between his teeth, hard enough to make me suck in a breath, before releasing it. “Is this your way of apologizing?”
“No. I already apologized. This is my way of making it up to you.”
His face hardened. “With sex?”
“No.” I smoothed his hair back from his face. “I mean, it’s not just about sex. I’m not trying to manipulate you. I just need to touch you. Okay?”
It was the truth. I did need to touch him. I ached to repair the connection between us, and sex seemed like a good place to start.
He released my arm and stepped back, raking his gaze down my body like he owned me. A gush of heat dampened my panties.
I wasn’t quite certain what he’d do next. But the not knowing—that edge of danger—added to my excitement.
“You’re overdressed,” he said flatly.
I immediately dragged off the T-shirt he’d lent me. But when I started to remove the cropped tee underneath, he brushed my hands away.
“Let me.” He drew the tee up and over my head. My bra followed a second after.
He brushed his thumbs over my nipples, sending more heat rippling through me. Then, to my shock, he lowered to his knees and touched his lips to my stomach above the waistband of my shorts.
“You’re my weakness,” he confessed against my skin. “I’d do just about anything to keep you.”
My heart clenched. I dug my fingers into his shoulder muscles. “You’d better win this fucking challenge.”
He nipped my belly. “I will.”
Leaning over, I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and rested my cheek against his temple. “I wouldn’t have done it, you know. Not even for my halmoni. If I’d really wanted to, I could’ve done it that night up on the curtain wall. We were alone, and no one knew where we were. But I couldn’t. I just…couldn’t.”
His arms tightened around my hips. “You should’ve told me. I have to be able to trust you.”
