“Can we just f**king do this and be done with it?” I demanded. I wanted to snap and snarl at the both of them.
Harley sprung into action. In a bold move, he reached for me, brushing my hair aside. Damn him, I knew he would go for the neck. He didn’t pause or wait for an indication that I was ready. I expected as much.
He moved fast, biting into my exposed throat. I flinched but didn’t make a sound. It definitely wasn’t a welcome bite like it was with Arys or Kale. I hated everything about it. Still, it wasn’t anything I couldn’t handle.
Pain seared a scorching path down my neck, burning in its intensity. It was a battle to keep from crying out. This bite held no pleasure, no desire. It was all agony. My pain was mirrored on Arys’ gorgeous face. His eyes were riveted to the place where Harley’s fangs made my blood flow. Horror was etched in his fiery blue orbs.
I closed my eyes, unwilling to witness Arys’ reaction any longer. I just wanted this moment over. Harley held me with both hands, one on my waist and the other buried in my hair. It was intimate in a way that made me ill. Unlike the last time he’d bit me, when I’d reacted to him with lust and hunger, I now felt sickened by his touch.
Arys’ energy shook with anger and something else … jealousy. After the recent conflict between us, I found that satisfying, even somewhat reassuring.
Harley sucked on the two punctures, drawing my blood into him. My every instinct commanded that I fight him off. I clenched my hands into fists, my clawed nails cut into my palms. My heartbeat was strong and steady, but I gasped for breath as adrenaline crashed through me.
Time seemed to crawl by. Every second seemed to drag on. I could feel the power building in my core, and I ached to throw Harley off me. Arys’ thrumming energy grew like a blazing inferno as it reached for me. The mix of vampire and werewolf power coiled inside me was drawn to him, always seeking that connection with him.
“Enough, Harley.” Arys’ voice was strained and low. It sounded far calmer than he was. I could feel him, ready to break. Was the sight of Harley feeding from me really so bothersome to him? Good.
Placing a hand on Harley’s chest, I pushed against him firmly. He didn’t budge. The sensation of his lips and tongue licking and sucking at my neck made me all the more eager to get him off me. I shuddered when he grew more aggressive.
Harley’s power pulsed and throbbed, assaulting me. My wolf leaped against my insides, threatening to break free. A low growl rumbled in my throat. I’d given him more than enough, and I wanted nothing more than to be free of him. I shoved at him again, harder this time. He resisted, holding tight as he pulled harder at the wound.
I threw my hands up in defense, instinct guiding my power as it slammed into him. It tore him from me as he hurled through the air, hitting the opposite wall hard enough to rattle the door on its hinges. Arys put himself between us, facing Harley with an expression so ablaze with fury that I’m sure it could have boiled water.
A peal of laughter erupted from Harley as he gathered himself. “Oh calm down, Arys. You’re incredibly uptight. I didn’t do your lady any harm.”
“You’re a disrespectful bastard,” Arys replied, the struggle for self-control evident in his tone.
“Spare me.” Harley’s tongue snaked out to catch a drop of my blood as it dripped off his lower lip. His pupils were huge; his dark eyes, glassy. He was high on my blood and power. It disgusted me.
I touched the punctures that decorated my flesh. They still bled, but it was slowing already. I had no desire to stay and argue matters of respect with these two. We were all monsters in our own right. I didn’t expect anything better than that from Harley.
Grabbing my coat from the back of my chair, I headed for the door without a word to either vampire. Arys called my name, but I kept walking, knowing that to stop would be a mistake.
My wolf raged inside me like a caged animal, demanding that we kill Harley here and now. Not yet, I told myself. A better time would come. Then, I would be the one laughing in a euphoric stupor as I took all Harley had to give, until there was nothing left.
Chapter Sixteen
I didn’t get far before my dark vampire was hot on my heels; my name, a hushed command on his lips. I kept walking, focusing on calming breaths and putting one foot in front of the other. It was almost physically painful to deny the need that insisted I tear Harley’s throat out.
I was fully anticipating it when Arys caught my arm and spun me to face him. He backed me up against the hallway wall, and I let him.
“What?” I snapped, my patience severely being tested. I wasn’t in the mood to get into it with him again, especially not here.
Arys’ midnight blue eyes were almost as black as Harley’s. It was impossible to raise the kind of power the three of us had and not be affected.