“Both of you stop.” I pull on Vincent’s arm. I manage to wiggle my way in front of him. His arm comes down over the top of my breasts. He tugs me so my back is flush with his front. The man is so freaking big compared to me that now Ian’s bow is pointed at the center of my forehead, because that’s where Vincent’s heart is.
“Are you trying to get yourself killed?” Ian asks as he lifts his bow higher to aim at Vincent’s face.
“I don’t know what happened!” I say honestly.
“Let her go,” Ian orders again. I lift my hands to grip Vincent’s forearm from across my chest, but I don’t try to pull at it. Not that it would matter. I’m not going anywhere if he doesn’t want me to. I already know I’m no match for his strength.
“She’s mine. She’s not going anywhere.”
“Why don’t we all calm down and talk about this for a minute?” I swear Ian looks at me like I’ve lost my damn mind.
“You want me to have a civilized conversation with a blood-sucking killer who was about to make you his next meal?”
“He wasn’t going to hurt me.” In fact I think he was about to do the opposite of hurt. Not to mention, I was the one who bit him. I can still taste his blood in my mouth. I don’t know what came over me. The need to bite him was the only thing I could think about once I was close. Even now, I want to do it again. He tasted sweet to me. Weird and ew, but also … hot?
“Evy!” Ian shouts my name. I jerk my head up, realizing I was about to sink my teeth into Vincent’s arm that's wrapped around me. “The fuck are you doing?”
“It’s my safety you should really be worried about.” Vincent smirks at Ian.
“You were going to let her bite you?” Ian’s brows pull together.
“Wouldn't be the first time.”
“Hey! Who else do you let bite you?” I yank at his arm trying to get away from him. An explosion of unexpected jealousy hits me hard. I have no idea where the heck that came from.
“You, poppet. You've bitten me already.”
“Right.” I lick my lips.
“You let her bite you?” Ian repeats as he lowers his bow a bit. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the expression Ian is wearing at the moment.
“Is that bad?” I ask.
“Vamps don’t share their blood.”
“I don’t know if he is a vampire.” Even now I can feel Vincent’s heart beating. “His heart. It’s beating.”
Ian takes a step back and then another. “When did that start?” he asks.
“Yesterday,” Vincent replies.
“No.” Ian shakes his head. I swear he looks a little pale at Vincent’s admission. “She can’t be.”
“Can’t be what?” I ask. Ian clearly knows something I don’t.
“You know why this is happening to me?”
“Maybe.” Ian puts his crossbow the rest of the way down. “I’m not going to take her from you.” Vincent’s body relaxes a fraction. “Do you even want to come with me, Evy?”
I open and close my mouth. I finally shake my head.
“I should stay and make sure he doesn’t kill anyone,” I suggest.
“Brilliant plan, poppet. I’ll help you find the real killer.”
I peek over my shoulder at him. “You really didn’t kill them?” Hope blooms inside me. I want him to be innocent, but vampires are all bad. Right?
“No. That would be a bit too close to home.”
True, but vamps are crazy. They don’t care. They’re usually driven by their hunger and the need to sate it.
“All right. You keep an eye on her,” Ian says in a strange turnabout. “That includes keeping your fangs out of her. Evy can’t afford to lose any more blood.”
“I won’t harm even a hair on her head.”
“You want her blood.”
“I do.” Vincent runs his tongue across his teeth. I picture him sinking those fangs into my thigh. “Poppet,” Vincent growls.
“Don’t read my mind!”
“I can smell you.” His nose flares.
“He can’t read your mind,” Ian informs me.
“He definitely uses mind control on me,” I accuse.
“No, he doesn’t.” Ian shakes his head.
“What?” Both Vincent and I say at the same time.
“Not if this is what I think it is. If you did what he told you it’s because you wanted to.”
“Oh.” I duck my head. “Wait! Why is his heart beating?” I drop my voice. “He’s hard too. I thought vampires didn't….” I trail off.
“I need to check on some things. I’ll get back to you both. In the meantime, keep your fangs and other things out of her.”
“Hey. I can do other things.” Did I really say that?
“I don’t think Vincent has enough control to manage not to bite you in the act, Evy. Especially if he smells your blood.”
“Ian!” I hiss. “You just told him I’m a virgin.” I cover my face with my hands.