Either way, I don’t turn around to check.
Chapter 10
Darius
I’mnotmybrother.I don’t lose control.
Where he’s quick to anger, I’m calm and alert. Where he’s flimsy, I’m a steel rod.
Where he’s reckless, I’m reasonable.
He’s about brawn and I’m about books. It only stands to reason that I step into the Historical Society.
But Alard women—there must be something in their blood to make them appealing to men like my brother and me, to Rodin men. And it seems to be about more than just their association with vampiric families through the years.
I’ve got books upon books about vampire-human interactions. I can easily peruse them for an answer. I can seek solace in the facts rather than mourn the illogical. Whatever she’s done to me can be undone. I’m sure of it.
That way I’ll never lose control again.
And I won’t compromise my application.
Oh.
The hurt in her voice was unmistakable. Betrayal sat there. Perhaps disgust. I feel the same for the way I reacted to her.
It barely took a split second for me to become aroused. She’s unleashed something in me, a beast intent on exploring her every crevice. As delicious as it was to feel her come—twice if I’m correct—I can’t do it again.
The safety of the study can’t be influenced by her wiles. But can’t it? Like every reaction, it’s simply part of the study. I can barely keep my head on straight when I’m with her. I can’t even record properly.
I frown.Maybe that’s the point.
She’s up to something. I know she’s up to something. She’s like her sister.
Alard women, I thought bitterly while cracking open a tome.Like plague rats. Sneaky.
She’ll pay for it too. Especially if I’m in power, however brief.
Things haven’t been the same for ages. What courts did in the past isn’t necessarily written in stone today, but we do have traditions to uphold. Our father sleeps for another fifty years. We don’t want him to wake up to another mess.
Or worse, be awakenedbeforehis proper time.
Pages crackle. Words blur together. I focus as best I can on the research in front of me, the original outlines of everything that’s ever been recorded on bloodbags and their feeders. Many things remain true. Some things are more contextual or individual.
But, for the most part, sexual arousal simply has never been a side effect of such a thing.
So, how the hell can it happen in two different bloodbags with two different vampires?
I hum, dragging my finger down the page to speed read.Maybe it’s the familial relationship.
Amber and Tessa are sisters. Quinn and I are brothers. Has it something to do with blood?
I huff when I hear a steady tap at the window. “Go away.”
More tapping. It’s insistent. Much like how my brother taps when he’s got an important message.
My head snaps up.
My brother.