My skin felt warm and my abs clenched. Heat collected low in my stomach. “Now I’m using it,” he said, his voice husky.
My breathing became shallow. “I can tell.” I backed up against the nearest wall, just so that something other than my legs could support me.
Our eyes locked, and I watched him move towards me, all coiled power and fluid movement. He invaded my personal space, only stopping once our chests touched.
His hand brushed my neck, and his thumb caressed the artery that lay just below the skin. The look he gave me was so much more than just lust. He gazed at me as though I was his salvation.
This isn’t real. This isn’t real.
He slid a leg between mine and leaned in to nuzzle my neck.
Oh sweet mercy. I was beyond caring whether this was real or not.
My legs buckled and if Andre hadn’t moved in and wrapped an arm around my waist, I’d have collapsed on the ground. I was going to die of overheating, or start taking off his clothes, whichever happened sooner.
“While you are captivating prey, your fangs will naturally unsheathe.” His breath tickled along the skin of my neck as he spoke.
“Mmm.”
“From there, instinct will take over.”
He kissed my neck where my pulse pounded, his hair tickling the exposed skin of my chest. I felt a prick of pain.
“Oh my God.” I lit up like a Christmas tree. No really, my skin began to glow and I arched my back, pushing myself further into him. My body was hyperaware of itself, every square inch of me tingling. I seriously hoped sex felt as good as this because this felt ah-mazing.
A little voice at the back of my mind was telling me it was not normal for people to glow, and that this situation was going to get way out of hand, but I told that little voice to shove it.
I ran my hands over Andre’s back, moving them lower and lower until they found the edge of his shirt. They dipped underneath and my fingertips stroked the dips and rises of Andre’s muscular back.
I tilted my mouth to his ear. “More.” I knew that voice was trouble. When it sounded less like words and more like a song, things always escalated further than they should.
His hands began to skim down my torso to the back of my thighs. He lifted me up and I locked my legs around his waist. Every square inch of me was alight with this tingly, euphoric sensation.
I threw my head back and laughed even as the room blurred and my eyesight dimmed. I continued to laugh until I passed out completely.
***
“Gabrielle wake up.”
I could hear Andre’s voice in the darkness. “Gabrielle, please, you have to wake up.”
My eyes fluttered open. Andre leaned over me, his eyes much too bright. A bloody tear had almost made its way over his cheekbone.
I lifted a finger and wiped it away. “Why are you crying?” It was strange to see a man as badass as Andre look vulnerable.
He gathered me to him, holding me tightly. “I’m so, so sorry,” he whispered. His voice sounded broken.
“For what?” My mind felt fuzzy, like I couldn’t remember what I’d been doing up to this point, so I gazed over his shoulder at my surroundings.
I took in rich furniture, that familiar wall of books, and the plush bed beneath me. We were back in Andre’s room.
Strange, I didn’t remember walking here.
“For taking things too far.”
I closed my eyes and rubbed my temples, feeling unusually tired.
Andre, sensing I needed a bit more help piecing together this evening, removed my hand from my face. “I bit you. Only I should’ve stopped much sooner than I did.”
The images of Andre biting me surfaced. I covered my mouth with my hand. “Whoops,” I said, remembering the siren coming out. “I think that might’ve been my fault.”
His eyes hardened and his jaw clenched. “That was not your fault. I knew better; I should’ve never agreed to it in the first place.”
I guess that meant we wouldn’t be doing that again. Too bad. That was like tasting chocolate chip cookies for the first time; once you tried them, you’d forever have a craving for them.
I sat up on the bed and heard the crinkle of plastic. Speaking of chocolate chip cookies, Andre had laid out a spread of sweets next to me.
“Just how long was I out?” I asked, wondering how long it would’ve taken Andre to move me from the study and lay out a dessert buffet.
Andre pushed away from the bed to pace the room, looking sexy-as-hell in the process. “You weren’t out that long. I keep food around for this sort of situation.”
Ew. I didn’t want to know—well I did, but I’d learned my lesson about asking loaded questions.
I picked up a plastic wrapped cookie and tore away the packaging. It appeared to be chalk full of preservatives and things that would give me cancer. Considering I’d be undead before I acquired said cancer, I figured it was safe to eat.