CHAPTER4
Henry
I see the sudden panic in Brittany's eyes. She's not just fighting me out of stubbornness anymore. No, this is something different. A deep-seated fear inside her. I see the silent cry for help in her desperate eyes as they latch onto mine as if I'm her lifeline.
I move on instinct. I don't know what power of the universe is telling me what to do, but I follow it without thinking.
I crash my lips down to hers, finally, finally tasting those sweet, puffy pink lips. This isn't because of lust, though. This is the kiss of a male seeking to ease the suffering of his mate.
I kiss her deeply, stroking my tongue soothingly in and out of her mouth.
She instantly quiets beneath me, going lax and pliant in my arms, melting up into me.
And while this kiss didn't begin with lust at the forefront of my mind, it quickly takes over when I register just how honey sweet her lips are. Every cell in my dead body surges to vibrant, pulsing life as I kiss her.
This is more than a kiss, though. It's a spiritual rebirthing. I feel like I'm a Phoenix being reborn from the ashes when Britney's tentative tongue moves against mine, kissing me back. A surge of victory crashes through my chest, and my arms tighten about her possessively.
All I can think is more and more and more. I need to taste hermore.
I carry her over to the wingback chair in the corner of my cavern and settle her in my lap so that she's straddling me.
I fist my hands in the silky tresses of her golden waves and angle her head up. Even with her sitting in my lap, her head still doesn't come quite up to my own height, and I'd be lying if I said a part of me don’t thrill at the fact that she's so tiny against me. Something about it causes every protective instinct within me to surge to hot, pulsing life.
She's mine and I'll kill anyone who tries to take her from me. I feel my fangs pushing against my gum line, begging to descend.
I pull back from her just long enough to fight back the urge to let them descend. I refuse to drink her blood right now. That's not what this is about.
She's breathing heavily against me, her breath coming out in little pants, fanning my lips with her sweetness.
She shakes her head dazedly as she blinks up at me. "What is this, Henry? What is this feeling? I've never…" she trails off.
"I know," I agree with her, dropping my forehead against hers. I've never felt like this before either.
I take in a deep breath before I tell her, “It's because we're fated, Britney."
I tilt her chin up to look at me, willing her eyes to meet mine and understand what I'm telling her.
She looks up at me and bites her lips uncertainly. I groan when I see the puffy pink flesh give way under her perfectly white teeth.
"I don't understand any of this," she whispers. "It doesn't make any sense. Everything I thought made sense is suddenly just the opposite. What's happening to me?" She looks up at me, and she looks so endearingly lost. My chest squeezes.
I hold my hand against the back of her neck as I look into her eyes and reassure her. "You don't have to worry about anything ever again. I'm going to take care of everything. I'm going to take care of you."
She opens her mouth, and I can already anticipate the feminist bullshit that's about to pass her lips.
"That's not me being a chauvinistic pig either. I can assure you, Britney, I'm not trying to take away your independence or control you. It's just that I come from a time when men protected what was theirs. And make no mistake of it." I whisper right against her ear now. I feel the shiver pass through her when my lips softly skate across her ear. "You are mine, Britney. There's no changing that fact. I knew it from the first moment I saw you across my dance floor. You can fight this seduction as much as you want to, but in the end, you will succumb to me," I promise her.
Her breath hitches as her beautiful blue eyes stare up at me.
"I…" She begins to speak, but she never gets the chance to finish her thought because suddenly there's a rip in the air as bright light flashes forward.
I'm standing in an instant and pushing Britney down into the seat behind me, shielding her with my body.
Mortimer, the mage over the entire Department of Paranormal Entities, is suddenly standing behind Glenda with a knife pressed against her throat.
"I'm so sorry, Henry. I'm so sorry. I didn't tell him anything, I swear," Glenda babbles.
"But I read her mind," Mortimer replies dryly as he smirks at me. That is one of the unfortunate skills the mages have. They can read the minds of anyone. Well,almostanyone. They can't read a vampire's mind, which is part of why Mortimer has been so adamant about me turning my people under his rule. We're the one species he can't control, and it's killing him.