"But mentally? That's possible?"
"Anything's possible, Eve. But not likely. You're too strong."
I step closer, not yet convinced I need to feed yet. "You're not going to make me do the crawl on my knees thing again, are you?"
"Not unless you want to." He smiles, just a quirk on one side of his mouth.
"I'm not into the worship scene. I'm an atheist."
He tilts his head to one side. "Still don't believe in God?"
"Why would I? There's no evidence. I tend to need evidence before I accept something is real." I step a bit closer, enjoying just looking at him sitting there bare-chested. Behind him, his wings are unfurled. The place where I'd fed the previous night has healed.
"What evidence would you accept?"
I take another step in front of him, considering the question only half-seriously.
"A very powerful smite of some kind, I suppose. Maybe a big booming voice from the heavens saying 'I am the I am'." I grin and he smiles back, shaking his head.
"Even those could be manufactured."
"I was joking."
"I wasn't," he says and pats his knee. "Come."
"I see you haven't brought me a vial of your blood again."
I sit on his lap, my arms slipping around his neck. He looks in my eyes.
"There will be no vials of blood between us."
"You like it when I feed off your body." When I say it, desire surges through me, surprising me with its intensity.
"So do you," he says, his voice dropping to a lower register. "I guarantee drinking blood out of a vial would be a pale substitute for the real thing." He brushes my hair away from my neck and when he licks the skin over the original wound Julien made and over which he bit me, I feel a jolt of desire. It's healed quite well – faster than normal, but there's still a pair of marks where he bit me.
"I need something as well," he says.
I stiffen and pull away.
"Do you think it's wise? Am I well enough to lose more blood?"
"Yes," he says, lowering the strap of my nightgown to expose my shoulder and breast. "You've recovered. You have my blood in you. You'll heal much more quickly and replace your blood volume more rapidly than normal."
His words don't calm my fears.
"Don't you have some donor blood? I don't know if I feel right about this…"
I try to stand, but he stops me.
"Don't be afraid," he says. "What happened the other night won't happen again. I promise you."
I hold a hand over the wound on my neck, unsure.
"How do I know that Soren hasn't compelled you to kill me to punish you?"
"That's not his endgame."
"What is?"