Chapter Three
Kael gazed down at the dark head locked against his arm and experienced the same twist in his guts as when he had first seen her. He hadn’t meant to do this; his kind had always found the vampires’ kiss too seductive. That first lick of her small, catlike tongue had sent shivers spiraling down his spine. The mouth at his wrist tugged at places deep within his body. Heat coiled low in his belly, and his cock hardened inside his jeans. He shifted, and she glanced up from her concentration and caught him in the gaze of those strange eyes. She continued to feed as she watched him, and she was healing as she fed. The bruises fading from her skin, leaving it white and flawless. His head fell back, and he knew he needed to stop her.
But for a moment longer he allowed himself to enjoy the sensations coursing through his body. Allowed himself to think, at last, of what he had come here to do. His body hardened further at the thought, and he closed his eyes and savored the feeling.
Would she cooperate? It had to be done, and he would prefer it to be by her consent. Rape was inconceivable to him, and, if he were truthful, he didn’t want to add further to her suffering. But he had thought it through carefully, considered every option. This was the only way he could be sure that once she was out of here the Council would not call for her sacrifice.
Now he realized something he hadn’t expected. He wanted her quite desperately, and the notion seemed somehow wrong, as though he should have no thought of taking pleasure from such an act.
He was no celibate. He took human women when the need was on him, but he never formed relationships, never allowed himself to get close. He suspected, where Raven was concerned, it was already too late. He stared down at her, studying her.
What made her different?
She was beautiful, strange and exotic, but there was more. She stirred something inside him that he’d believed had died long ago with his people.
He swayed, lightheaded from the lack of blood. Just as he thought he would have to pull her off, she released him. She stroked her velvet tongue once over the already-healing cut, then she sighed. Her head fell back, and he could see the rapid rise and fall of her breasts beneath the thin cotton as she dragged the air into her lungs. She no longer appeared gaunt, and her pale skin shone. The claw marks were gone from her breast and the nipples stood out hard and swollen. When he breathed in, the scent of her arousal filled his nostrils, seeping into his mind, and his body responded to that scent, so he had to force himself to stand up and back away.
***
Holy shit.
She was going to explode with the power coursing through her blood. It throbbed in her veins as though she had the force to overcome anything. The meager amounts of human blood she had taken in the past had never tasted this good, had never made her feel like this. What was he?
She felt heavy, languorous, her nipples tight, her sex soft and swollen, her skin so sensitive that the minutest movements of the chill air sent frissons of sensation rippling through her.
She glanced up. Kael was leaning against the wall, arms folded across his body. He was watching her closely. There was a sleepy, almost sated expression on his face as though it was he who had fed, not her. His eyes moved leisurely over her body and she glanced down. The scars and bruising had vanished, leaving her skin clear, smooth.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
Her eyes flew back to his face and she nodded. “Your blood tastes different, feels different.”
He smiled. “I am different. You’ve only ever drunk human blood.” He looked at her sharply. “Unless you fed from the fire-demons?”
Raven shuddered in revulsion. “At first, they tried to make me. But I threw up all over them and they stopped trying.” The last years would have been far easier if she had been able to feed from them. It would have saved her so much heartache and guilt. “That was when they started to bring the humans.”
Everything seemed different, and she realized it was the absence of pain and hunger. Closing her eyes, she allowed herself a few moments to savor the feeling. When she opened them again, he was still watching her.
“Thank you,” she said.
“It was my pleasure.”
She stared at him, wanting to ask a question but scared of the answer. He appeared so big, so strong-looking, that she found it hard to believe that she could cause him pain, but she needed to know. “Did I hurt you?”
He smiled then. “It felt good.”
“Good?”
“My people have always avoided the kiss of the vampire. We find it addictive. Now I know why.”
She studied him, trying to see what he was. But he looked human. “Your people? What are you? Your blood tastes of magic.”
Kael shrugged. “My people are gone. I am all that’s left. I am a shape-shifter.”
“Like a werewolf?”
He shook his head. “Not really. Werewolves start out as human, they’re infected by the bite of another wolf. We are one of the immortal races and are born into our powers.”
“But you can change?”
