Rose sighed. As much as she might want to tell Julian to screw off, this wasn’t the time. She didn’t want to drag a human into her battle with the panther. So she pulled free of the blond and went to Julian’s side, frowning all the while. I’m not happy, Julian. Not happy at all.
“Good choice,” Julian praised, then he slammed the back door shut on the blond’s startled face. “Good fucking choice.” He locked his fingers around her wrist and hauled her toward the back of the building. “We have to get out of here, now.”
She dug in her heels. A quick peek behind her showed that the blond wasn’t following. Good for him. “Do you like hurting me?”
Julian immediately froze. Then he whirled, stared at her a moment, as if shocked, then he freed her wrist. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to hold so tight, I—”
She grabbed him and shoved him against the brick wall of the club. “I am starving, Julian. Starving.” Because she’d had a truly hellish last few months. She’d been captured by a covert government group who’d lured her in with the promise of helping her, only then they’d started playing torture games. She’d been trapped with them until recently…when she’d learned that her asshole of a brother had been the one to set up that twisted group in the first place. She’d just gotten her freedom and she needed to feed. Badly.
She did not need to be throat-blocked by Julian.
“You need blood?” He blinked. “You can have mine.” He tilted his head, offering his neck to her.
Only there was one big problem with drinking from Julian. He was a shifter—and shifter blood was incredibly powerful. Add that power boost to the animal attraction that she still felt for him—despite everything that had gone wrong between them—and, yes, that equaled a very big problem. Or maybe it equaled a whole lot of big problems.
He’s trouble. Bad trouble for me.
“Take my blood,” he said, still staring down at her. “Then we have to get the hell out of here because you’re not safe.”
What?
“Take it,” he gritted. He wasn’t touching her. She was the one who had her hands slammed onto his chest. “Hurry.”
She glanced around. No one else was in the alley. She didn’t see anyone in the shadows.
“Do I need to do this myself?”
She felt his muscles shift beneath her hands. She glanced back and saw that he’d lifted his left hand to his throat and his claws were out. Those claws still made her nervous. “Julian, what are you—”
He cut his throat. Not too deep, just a little slice and the blood began to drip down his throat. The smell hit her instantly and her fangs shot out to fill her mouth. She rose onto her toes and licked that little trickle of blood. And at that first taste, the surge of power hit her.
Shifter power. It was like a high, a rush from the best drug in the world. It filled every inch of her body and she just wanted to take and take.
The first time she’d had Julian’s blood, she’d been scared out of her mind. The rush had left her shaken and she’d run from him.
She’d been running ever since.
But right then, her hands were tight on him. Her high heels dug into the cement and her teeth sank into him. His hands flew up and locked around her hips and he pulled her even closer to him.
“Missed you…” His gruff whisper. Words that she must have just imagined because there was no way he would ever say that to her. He’d changed her, he’d left her, and he’d nearly destroyed her.
“There she is!” A sharp voice called out, barely penetrating the fog of her blood lust.
“Got to stop, love,” Julian told her as he gently pushed her away from his throat. “I’ll give you more later. Promise.”
She was dazed, still riding that incredible high, but he moved quickly, shoving her behind him just as—
Bam!
Bam!
Those were the terrible noises that still filled her worst dreams. Gunfire. The blasts coming to wreck her life. But this wasn’t a nightmare. This was reality. And…this time, the bullets didn’t hit her.
They sank into Julian’s chest. He’d pushed her behind him and the shots had hit him.
“No!” The scream tore from her but Julian…he wasn’t falling. He lunged forward and rushed at the two men who’d snuck into the little alley. He slashed out with his claws and raked across the chest of one man, sending him falling to the ground as blood sprayed into the air.
The second man lifted his weapon and fired again, but Julian just laughed. “What is that shit supposed to do? Barely even stings.”
The guy stared at his weapon in shock. “It…it knocks out vamps. The tranq is supposed to take vamps down—”
Julian yanked the weapon out of the guy’s hand and threw it against the nearest brick wall. The gun shattered. “Your bad luck, mate,” he curtly announced. “I’m no vamp.” He slammed his head into the other man’s. Julian heard the crunch of bones and the shooter went down.
He didn’t get up.
Julian looked back at Rose. She’d frozen against the wall. Julian’s blood still dripped down his throat. As she stared at him, he raised his hand and held it out to her, beckoning.