“And what is his name?” Beckham demanded.
“What? Why?” she asked, snapping out of her trance.
“I won’t have anyone threatening you. You are very valuable.”
Valuable. Like a diamond or a piece of art. An object. Not a human at all.
She turned away from him, the words stinging. “It doesn’t matter.”
“Don’t turn away from me.”
Her body stiffened at the command. She swallowed hard, worried that the fierce predator would return and he’d start looking at her as if he was going to break her in half.
“We’re not finished here,” he told her, forcing her to look back up at him. “We have to lay some more ground rules. I can’t let you leave the building unless you are with my driver at all times. Additionally, I want to be informed of where you are going, not just that you are leaving.”
“I don’t need a minder.”
“You’ve proven that to be false.”
Reyna sighed. Though she wanted to be angry that she had these additional restrictions placed on her, she couldn’t manage it. He had seemed so concerned, in his own way, with her safety. She almost felt a little guilty for scaring him. She could have laughed at the absurdity of it all.
She had scared a vampire.
“I’m sorry,” she finally whispered.
She hadn’t been before. She had been angry. Now she felt bad about her actions. She had needed to see her brothers, but she hadn’t thought it was possible to upset Beckham. Not that he looked upset exactly. It was just a feeling she got from him.
“I accept your apology. That’s all.”
He strode back toward the hall as if that was the end of everything for the evening.
“Excuse me,” she whispered. “Didn’t you want to speak with me about something? Or was that all?”
He stopped walking, but didn’t turn toward her. “Actually, yes. We have plans tomorrow morning. Be ready to go by eight.”
“Plans?” She lifted an eyebrow in question.
“There have been some developments.”
He finally looked at her across the distance, and she tried not to get lost all over again. How were his eyes so hypnotic? Was that some kind of vampire sense? He still made her nervous, yet she couldn’t look away.
“You’ll be informed in the morning now that I know that you’re safe,” Beckham said.
She opened her mouth to ask another question, but then quickly snapped it shut. Some other time.
“Was there something else?” he asked.
The few feet of distance between them felt like an eternity. He was so close and yet so far, and she felt reluctant to ask the one question she had regarding their situation. The one question she dreaded.
“I read through your schedule and didn’t see anything on there about eating,” she whispered. “I didn’t know if it was a mistake or when…” Her voice trailed off as she watched the hungry glint in his eye reappear. Why the hell had she brought this up again?
“Why?” he asked, taking unhurried steps toward her. “Are you so ready to give your blood to me, Little One?”
Reyna stood stark still, uncertain how to respond. She wasn’t eager. She just wanted to be prepared. But the way he was looking at her set her blood to boil. She had never been looked at like that before.
“Well?”
He was directly in front of her now, and she couldn’t hide her racing heartbeat. She had unlocked Pandora’s box. Any minute now she would feel what it was like to have a vampire take from her. She felt shaky and afraid and like she couldn’t breathe, all at once.
Beckham raised his hand and slid it through her hair. Her eyes automatically closed at the feel of his large hands taking control of her. She realized it was the first time he had actually touched her, and it made her so very aware of how powerful he truly was. This was what she always saw brimming under the surface. With the weight of it directed at her, she felt as weak as a lamb beneath his fingertips.
Slowly he ran his hand down the curve of her neck to the vein beating fiercely against her skin. She opened her eyes and was certain fear reflected back into them. Here were her fears magnified tenfold.
His head dipped down to the soft skin. She inhaled deeply as his lips caressed the tender skin. Her eyes fluttered closed again, and all thoughts seemed to flee her mind.
This wasn’t what she had expected. Terror, stark terror. That was all she had anticipated. Not this. Whatever this was fluttering around in her stomach and heating her lower body at his nearness. Some part of her mind told her to pull away; that this was the last thing she wanted…she would give her blood out of necessity. She wouldn’t like it. But it was quickly silenced by the soft kisses trailing up her neck.