Richard Tomlinson, my stepfather.The demon king.
“Now do you get it?”he asks.
My ass throbs.But it’s a good throb.Good pain.Pain I needed.
“Okay,” I say.“Anyone aligned with that evil bastard deserves what they get.But you still claim you were defending your pack when you killed them.Who in particular were you defending?”
“Does it matter?”
“Yes.It matters to me.”
“Why?If those two rogue vamps were aligned with your stepfather, why do you care who I was defending?”
“I don’t care about the two vamps,” I say.“What I care about is you, Rogan.I want to know why you killed them.I want to know how you got into a situation where you were defending your pack from those two.”
“I will always defend my pack, princess.I will always have their backs.Every single one of them.”
“Even those who aren’t worthy?”
“Blood is forever.”
His words stick inside me like flies trapped in a spiderweb.Blood.Fucking blood.I haven’t fed in a while, and I’m hungry.Starving.
But I must stay in control.
So I’m surprised when Rogan slides next to me, offers me his carotid.“Feed.You need it.I can tell.”
How does he know me so well?
The pulse in his neck beats rapidly, chanting to me.
Take me. Take me. Take me.
And I lunge, sinking my fangs into his hard and pulsating flesh, sucking the red nectar from his carotid, and sating myself.
Dark chocolate, black raspberry, cinnamon, and clove.
It tastes even more delicious than normal—this elixir, this nectar made in Rogan’s body.
I feed, and I feed, and I feed…letting his blood slide down my throat, nourish me, comfort me.
“Princess, that’s enough.”
But I sink my teeth farther into him, and the blood flows into me, strengthens me.
“Princess!”Rogan yanks away from me, blood trickling down his neck.
Damn, the carotid!I scramble from the bed and lick his wounds closed.“Did I take too much?”
“I’ll live.”
I’m sorry.The words hover on the tip of my tongue, but they do not come forth.
Hannah Bates doesn’t know those words.
“I’ll be fine for a while now,” I say.“But I took a lot.You should rest.”
“Well, then.It won’t hurt us to stay here for a little while.”He smirks at me.