“And if I don’t?”
My back was pressed against the wall before I could blink, and Disco’s body went flush against me. A jolt of electricity traveled the length of my spine, sparked by his nearness. There wasn’t a soft inch on him, every solid muscle that held me in place firm and defined. He had his hands on either side of my head, giving the illusion I was enclosed. I wanted to hate the way my body reacted to his nearness. My heart rate increased, it was hard to breathe, and I felt a warm flood between my legs.
Love and hate. Revulsion and attraction.
No wonder my life is so fucked up.
“You’ll give him what he wants. I won’t allow you to do anything else. I’ll protect you even if you hate me for it. Your safety means more to me than anything else. Marius isn’t the scary one, Rhiannon. Haven’t you figured it out? He’s trying to protect you from his maker. If you fear him, you’ll do as you’re told. If you don’t, Revenald will come. Marius knows I’ll try to defend you. He knows the lengths I’ll go to keep you at my side, even if it kills me.” He wrapped his fingers into my hair and tugged, forcing me to look at him. “Do you understand now, love? Am I finally getting through to you?”
“Let go.” Even when I said it, I hoped he wouldn’t listen, that he’d stay right where he was. My mind was a haze of confusion. I wanted to pull him close but push him away, to kiss him hard but slap him across the face.
“No, I don’t think so. I no longer carry your scent. That’s unacceptable.” He lowered his head, nuzzled my chin, and brought his lips to the unmarked side of my neck. I wasn’t sure what he was up to until he did something he’d only done once in our entire relationship.
He bit me.
God, it hurt. A horrible crunch echoed in my ears, informing me the muscle and tissue had been torn through. When his fangs hit my vein, scored it, and got a steady flow of blood, he pulled his teeth from my skin. It was the strangest sensation: sexy in a perverse way despite being agonizing. Hard sucks followed the puncturing of my neck, deep draws on my flesh that ached but no longer burned with a fiery passion.
“Disco,” I whispered as the room started to spin.
Goose had told me a vampire could drain a person in just over a minute if they wanted to. Seven pints of blood gone that quickly. How much had he taken? How much would he take? Did he want me dead now? What the hell was going on?
Panic suffocated me, and Marigold Vesta’s amulet was there as always, begging me to call on its power, to use it as a tool to protect myself. Before I could accept the power the stone provided, Disco was finished at my throat. He brought his hand up, bit into his wrist, and placed the bloody wound to my mouth.
“Take it.”
Even though I was woozy, I was still sane. “No.”
“Marius can smell a trace of Paine on you, but not me.” I could hear possessiveness behind the statement, his anger that another’s scent mingled with mine. He brushed his skin against my lips. “Take it.”
So that was what this was about. Disco wanted to make his place known, to ensure Marius knew that no matter what transpired between me and Paine, Disco was the primary vampire in my life. Was I surprised? No. He’d made it clear how he felt about me—about us. No matter how I felt about it, his determination to see us back together hadn’t changed.