She rolled her eyes. “I am neither tragic virgin nor one to tolerate abuse. And you’re not a creep. But you are a hungry fledgling.”
He looked ready to tip over, helplessly leaning into her for support. His lips turned up in a snarl, his eyes scrunched shut as he nuzzled into her neck.
“Now, Bennett, before it’s too late. I trust you.”
“You shouldn’t,” he murmured. Piercing into her skin, his teeth made two small incisions. Sipping, soft and easy, he wrapped his fingers in her hair and massaged.
Growing stronger by the second, he came to life in her arms. He wrapped his hands around her backside and hauled her onto his lap, clutching her tight against him. At first, she felt the thrall her victims had succumb to, the drugging arousal as the vampire fed. With Bennett, it was so much more intense, as if both could finally satisfy the craving for each other she knew they’d both suffered.
Sweet morphed into urgent, and then into something much more dangerous.
Faster, the frenzy overtaking him, he gripped her tight and gulped.
Cheeks numb as she felt herself fading away, she said, “Bennett. Stop.”
Withdrawing in an instant, he panted and leaned into her, then soothed the wound with a delicate kiss. His lips trailed up to her jaw. She was lightheaded from the exchange and wrapped her arms around him for support.
Unable to pull away, as if she were the one under the thrall, she shifted and pressed her mouth to his. Warm and pliant, his lips took hers as if savoring a delicacy. Deepening the kiss, he caressed her tongue, tangy and alive, equally spellbound.
Rocking against him, she held tight, already taking back what she’d given him with each kiss, with each touch.
His body relaxing, he rested his forehead on hers. “You okay?”
“I’m good,” she lulled, her voice sleepier than she’d realized. “Told you.”
As she opened her eyes, she found his equally heavy. He smiled softly. “Wasn’t easy, stopping like that. I’m fucking exhausted.”
Adair tugged her dress over her head and climbed into the bed. “You and me both.”
Breath shuddering as he watched her climb into his bed with breasts uncovered, wearing nothing but a wisp of panties. Bennett gulped and climbed in next to her. “Pity I’m too sleepy to get it up. You are so beautiful.”
“You know, I see where vampire legends get the whole sex-association with feeding. It’s always been more of a nutritional thing, but I rather enjoyed your mouth on me. Just not the whole you-sucking-the-life-out-of-me aspect.”
“Honestly, I’m going to need more. I’m so sorry. I hate this. I’d rather have my mouth on you in so many better ways.” He pulled her backside up against him and wrapped the blankets around them. Tenderly, he kissed her shoulder. “Without taking. Only giving.”
***
Every few hours, he’d awoken with the same ache deep in his muscles, thirsting like nothing he’d imagined before. Each feeding had been a little easier than the one before, as her vampire blood both fed the cravings and restored the damage from his own demon blood fighting to drive out the vampire. Hours, days, all a big fucking blur, but he eventually felt complete, the vampire having fully innervated every cell in his body.
It was fucking bizarre, the sensation humming under his skin as he laid awake in bed, the sun hiding behind the dense curtains. The demon hunter was still who he was, still filled his veins, but it had become laced with a darkness. As much as he felt settled, there was an edge he couldn’t tame.
Not taking too much or too hard had been a challenge every time. With the mountain of willpower it had taken to stop each time? No wonder vampires rarely sired any spawn. Like a mantra, he’d chanted her name in his mind. Only once did she have to twist his ear to get him to stop when he was too ravenous and lost control.
And she’d granted him another kiss each time he released her. And another look at her glorious body.
A soft knock on the door interrupted his lamenting. He slipped out of bed, leaving Adair to finish recovering from the last feeding. His team had been incredible, bringing in blood and food for Adair every few hours to help refuel what he’d taken.
Already, he’d become the monster he feared. Adair at least knew the risks. She knew what he was capable of. He’d have to track down that security guard and find a way to make it up to him… or to his family if he hadn’t made it. Last he checked the obituaries, nothing has popped up, so he held onto the hope that he hadn’t betrayed his duty as a demon hunter.
He opened the closet that was already stocked with the clothes he’d left at Quinn’s apartment ages ago that she’d simply brought to the new place. Enough bedrooms for the whole team, she’d insisted they keep stuff here, so they always had a place to crash. Hell, he still had a box of her stuff at his place that he had yet to return.
He pulled on the nearest jeans and shirt and eased open the door. Padding out, his feet eerily silent on the tile floor, he found Quinn waiting in the hall.
She said softly, “You look so much better.”
“Not going to say I feel better… I mean, I do. But it’s not normal. I can see every speck of dirt on the floor, can hear every creak of the walls settling. I’d say your pulse is about seventy beats per minute. Fucking unreal.”
“Ouch. So I don’t clean well enough, and there will never be another secret around here?”
