“You need to feed, Jill,” Slade demanded.
Frustrated beyond belief, Jill felt all the rage of being turned and losing everything come bubbling to the surface. “I know that, dammit. Don’t you think I fucking know that?” She threw her good arm in the air. “But who the hell do I have to feed from? The other half-breeds have those bitches they feed from. All those women want is to mate with a Warrior; they want nothing to do with me, and believe me, the feeling is mutual. I got the message loud and clear when I went to them the first time to feed.”
“But that’s their job. They get paid by the council to take care of…”
“Male Warriors and half-breeds, not some chick that’s trying to keep up with the boys,” Jill shot back.
“Then they need to be fired,” Slade replied with an angry sneer.
“Oh, yeah. That will make me popular with the unmated males around here,” Jill snorted. “Get rid of the hot, sexy blood banks because the poor little half-breed girl is whining about it. No, I don’t think so.”
She missed the grin that tipped his lips. “But that is their job, to supply blood,” Slade added again.
“Why can’t they have hot, sexy male blood banks walking around for the women? Huh? I mean how would you feel latching your lips on Sid or Jared?” Her eyes finally shot to his in time to see him shiver with revulsion. “Yeah, that’s what I thought.”
“You should have gone to Duncan with this.” Some of Slade’s irritation had left his tone.
“For three months, Duncan has not been here. Even when he was sitting behind his desk, he wasn’t here. Pam’s disappearance was more than enough for him to handle, not my little problem.” When he started to open his mouth, she shook her head knowing what he was going to stay next.
“This is not a little problem,” Slade argued staring into her mismatched eyes.
“I learned a hard lesson after I was turned. Once you become a problem, you’re put out. When I was turned, I went home, but it was too much for my family, so I left. They were afraid of me, but I was still me. If I become a problem here, I have nowhere else to go.” She looked away from his eyes, feeling uncertain. “If I leave now, I can still keep the friends I’ve made here. I wasn’t that lucky with my family.”
Slade was quiet for what seemed like forever. With a sigh, he took off his shirt. “You can feed from me tonight.” He tossed his shirt on his jacket. “I will find someone male you can count on to feed from in the future.”
Her eyes traveled the expansion of his chest down to the fine hairs that disappeared into the waistband of his jeans. His body was carved to perfection making Jill swallow hard.
“Uhm, that’s okay.” Jill pulled her eyes away from his body feeling like a sex fiend teenager that had never seen a man’s bare chest. She had seen plenty of bare chests, but none like Slade Buchanan’s. “I’m good.”
“Oh, really? If you’re fine, why did you almost attack an innocent at the hospital?” He walked toward her putting his hands on both sides of her legs caging her on the table. He cocked his eyebrow at her before tilting his neck. “Feed. Make sure you hit the vein.”
Jill took a deep breath closing her eyes wondering how she got herself into these messes. Nervously, she opened her mouth and eyes at the same time, but just stared at the vein in his muscular neck.
“Jill?” Slade’s voice broke the silence.
“Huh?” She still stared at the vein, her mouth and eyes wide open.
“Is there a problem?”
“Na uh.”
Before he could move to see what she was doing, her sharp fangs broke his skin sinking into his vein. A hiss escaped him, but he stopped her when she started to pull away, putting his hand on the back of her head. “Don’t stop.”
She honestly didn’t know if she could stop if she wanted to. His blood was warm with a hint of spice. She’d had a small amount of blood before, but never had it tasted like this. Her hand went to the other side of his neck, her fingers splayed apart, her thumb slowly moving back and forth across his skin. Never had she taken blood from someone’s neck. It had always been the wrist. Her body was coming alive with feelings that were new to her and she was liking it…a lot. She felt lost in the moment, her body pressed closer to his as she took her fill.
Not having any idea the effect she was having on Slade, her body pressed closer as the tug of her mouth seductively took pulls of his skin. Moans reached her ears, but she didn’t know if they were her own. She didn’t care. Not really knowing how much she should take, she reluctantly pulled her mouth from his, licking the two puncture wounds taking the rest of his weeping blood.
“Is that enough?” Slade’s voice was rough and low.