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“… For you to strip me and force a mating bond into my head?”
Kaien’s teeth ground together, picking up the fireplace tool to stack a log atop another. “You can’t force a mating bond into existence, vampire, nor did I strip you.”
“So, you’re saying that this—whatever this is between us—was inevitable?” Her accusation stung at him through both her irritated snipe and the weak pulse of the bond between them. “Excuse me if I don’t believe you, Raeth. I have no intent on making you—nor any man—my master.”
Rage bubbled over. “You think I want this? You think Iwantto be mated to you? The half feral wild child my sister accidentally created?”
He could see how much the sentiment stung her as she shrank back from him, but his words continued to spill out of his mouth without inhibition.
“Think again, Blair. Neither of us wants this.”
“Then how the hell do we get rid of it?” Blair threw her hands up, but Kaien would be remiss if he didn’t notice the wince that accompanied the movement. “I won’t be trapped into some prehistoric romance just because your instincts are telling you I’m yours.”
But shewashis.
Kaien stiffened at the unexpected thought. “I don’t know.”
And truly, he didn’t. He’d never heard of a mating bond developing between two people who were more dissimilar, nor having been brought about by the exchange of blood. Typically, bonds appeared between a male and female as they gradually spent more time together—as affection bloomed and spirits intertwined.
Blair and Kaien had known each other for centuries, and there was no love lost between them. Certainly, no deep-rooted affection that hinted at romance.
“We’ve known each other for hundreds of years.” Kaien shook his head, tightening his arms across his chest as they both looked at the fire. “Perhaps your bite kickstarted the process.”
“If you’re looking for an apology, you won’t get one. I don’t take kindly to manhandling.”
“Noted.”
A pregnant pause before she inclined her head to look him square in the eye. “I need blood.”
Kaien had known it was coming, but he still couldn’t stop the hungry anticipation that bloomed in his gut. Nor could he squelch the instantaneous desire that rose to the surface at the thought of her taking nourishment from him. Her lips on his skin, her body wrapped around his in an intimacy of shared longing.
When he didn’t speak, Blair scoffed. “You’re the one who brought a vampire to a cabin in the middle of nowhere, Kaien. For that, you’re going to be my own personal juice box.”
Chapter Eight
Blairwatchedthemanout of the corner of her eye, judging every microscopic reaction that briefly flitted across his features. Even now, her fangs were sharpening, the hunger in her gut churning ominously.
But that wasn’t what most affected her.
No, she was starving for this man in another way. She could barely contain her loathsome excitement to taste his blood, to take from him while she captured the sculpted panes of his chest in her palms. This wasn’t merely hunger; no, this was desire.
“Take from my neck,” Kaien reluctantly said into the waning silence. “I can’t afford to have my wrists compromised when I need to chop firewood tomorrow.”
Blair stepped toward him as anticipation sent shivers over her skin. Refusing to make eye contact, she breached his personal space. His heat crashed against her in an intimacy they’d never before shared. Up close, his formidable height was even more intimidating. Thankfully, her perfect balance was maintained when she stood on her tip toes to reach his neck.
Instead of asking, her fingers met the rugged jawline that was shadowed with sandy blond hair and tilted it upward to expose the corded muscle of his neck. Electricity arched between them, tingles shooting through her fingertips at the contact. Her heartbeat pulsed beneath her skin, and her mouth watered.
For a predator, Kaien was remarkably calm in the face of his own vulnerability. His luscious scent swamped her senses as her mouth opened and her fangs sunk into the salty sweetness of his skin.
Ambrosia exploded across her tongue, the savory taste of his blood a nectar that could easily become addicting. Groaning at the unexpected delicacy, her arms wrapped around him intimately, dragging her frame closer to his.
Kaien’s warrior body pressed into her soft curves as she beat back the desire that instantly engulfed her. The lick of heat that coursed through her veins drummed in her quickening pulse.
Blair wanted him.
Not only for blood, but to fully possess the man who’d graciously let her drink from his lifeblood. With every pull at his vein, she grew deeper and deeper in lust with him. In the back of her mind, she was barely conscious that the mating bond which ghosted between them was strengthening, weaving together in a deeper, more brilliant cord.
She didn’t care.
