I should leave. Should walk away. Should do anything but stand here and watch like the worst kind of voyeur.
I wait for hurt or betrayal to rise, but there’s nothing. He told me, after all. He and Wolf are friends who are sometimes more. No matter what Malachi wants from me, he obviously wants Wolf, too. I don’t understand their history, don’t really get how they can be so antagonistic and still seem to care about each other.
Wolf turns his head and meets my gaze. His eyes are the same crimson they were in the library and he grins, flashing fang. He opens his mouth, but I don’t wait around to hear whatever he’s about to say.
I turn and flee.
Each step brings a recrimination with it. Coward. Fool. Weakling. I say I want Malachi, but then the second I get the hint of an invitation to join in and I’m fleeing like a scared little girl.
I stop short at the top of the stairs. What am I doing? I make a decision and then instantly backtrack? Is that really what I’m made of? I close my eyes and take several deep breaths. I’ll just talk to Malachi about it tomorrow like a reasonable person. That’s a logical way to proceed. A nice easy pace.
“What a little coward you are.”
I startle and start to tip down the stairs. My stomach goes weightless and I start to curl in on myself to minimize the damage I’m about to receive.
Rough hands grab my upper arms and yank me back to the relative safety of the third floor landing. Back against a naked chest. I don’t have to look to know it’s Wolf. He’s shorter and leaner than Malachi. And even after only one encounter with him, I recognize the casual cruelty in the amused tone of his voice.
“Let me go.”
“Is that any way to say thank you? You might be hardier than a human, but a broken neck is still a broken neck.” Wolf doesn’t release me. He buries his nose in my neck and inhales deeply. “Gods, you smell good. Or rather, your blood smells good. How you managed to survive this long while walking around like the best kind of candy is beyond me.” His lips brush my throat. “Someone should have sucked you dry by now.”
I swallow hard, the movement pressing my throat more firmly against his fangs. “Wolf.”
“I like the way you say my name, love.” He doesn’t move back, but he also doesn’t close that last minuscule distance between us to draw blood. “Makes me think I’ll like it even more if you say it while I’m inside you.”
I shiver. “You seemed busy.”
“I am. Malachi and I just hit pause for a brief moment.” He gentles his grip on my upper arm and then his thumbs brush the sides of my breasts. “It’d be a shame if you got the wrong idea. That look back there was an invitation.” He eases me back more firmly against his chest. His cock presses against my ass, which is right around the moment when I realize he’s still naked. “Join us.”
Join us.
Climb into bed with those superior predators and hope I lived long enough to enjoy the consummation. I lick my lips. The unforgivable dark part of me wants to do exactly that. I don’t think I like Wolf, and I’m not sure I trust Malachi, but my body doesn’t care. It craves pleasure in a way that scares me. One hit might be enough to chain me to them forever. I can’t risk it. I refuse to. “No.”
“Mmm.” He keeps stroking my arms, a relatively innocent touch if I could ignore the naked body and giant cock pressing against my back. “Malachi’s made his wishes clear. Your precariously short life is safe with me.” His lips brush my throat with each word. “Life. Body. Pleasure.”
The man weaves a spell with his words, and it’s like my pulse responds to him, each beat of my heart a surge of desire I don’t want to feel. If I didn’t know better…
I jerk away, and he releases me easily. The feeling doesn’t get better with a few feet of distance between us. It’s as if he’s stroking my body without touching me, sending heat to my breasts and pussy. I press my hand to my chest, realization dawning. “Blood.”
“Hmm?”
I stare. “You’re bloodline’s power is actually blood.” I suspected as much, but this confirmation staggers me. He could kill me so easily, all without raising a finger. A thought and he could send all the blood in my body surging free, draining me in seconds. I shudder. “Stop it.”
“If you insist.” He shrugs. “I hear it’s quite pleasurable.”
It is. That’s not the problem, though. I am outclassed and outmatched and every second I spend in this house only reconfirms the truth I’ll never have the upper hand. Malachi’s fire is scary enough. How can I battle against the very blood in my body? “Don’t do that again.”