Microsoft Word - Blood and Sex from CE.rtf (20 page)

“Yeah?”

“Thank you for taking care of me.”

He didn’t answer, but he didn’t need to. She could feel his pride and concern even this far from him.

She flipped on the light, letting her eyes adjust slowly, then closed the door behind her before she looked in the mirror. Good gods, she was hideous! Blood stained the corner of her mouth where it looked like she’d been drooling. Her blond hair was a matted mess with blood staining the first inch or so from her scalp. Had she been sweating in her sleep? And her skin had a strange pale blue tinge that only happened when she was on the edge of starving from either not eating or trying to live on animal blood.

“As the saying goes, I look like death warmed over.”

Blane chuckled and yelled back from the bedroom. “That’s because you are, Princess.”

She smiled and turned on the shower, then sat on the edge of the claw-foot tub waiting for the hot water to arrive while he paced outside the door.

The worry was evident even with a door separating them.

“I’m all right, Blane.”

109

“I’ll believe it when I’ve seen you drink.”

Christiana smiled wider and stepped into the shower. Hot water had steamed the room by the time she’d finished, and the luxurious heat poured down her. She huddled under the stream and closed her eyes. It took two washes to get her hair clean, and another to make her feel like it really was.

Blane was right. She was getting hungry, and her mouth was beginning to water. But it wasn’t a human she wanted to taste. It was him. His blood had been potent and sweet. Taking a human right now would be like eating a piece of chicken when what she really wanted was steak.

Nothing else would do.

She clenched her teeth and turned off the water. What she really needed was a swift kick in the head. She’d already taken too much from Blane. First the accidental sex, then last night.

The corner of her mouth pulled up at memory of the look on his face when she’d knelt in front of him.

Christiana started to towel off. She’d really let herself go. Every woman had a fling at some point. This had to be hers. Blane was absolutely the wrong guy. From the green hair to the fact that he wasn’t even half her age, nothing about him matched the requirements of a suitor to someone of her station. He was rude, common, and, worst of all, a
vampiro
soldier. They were thugs, at best.

But he made her heart pound. There was something about Blane. He had an uncanny way of making her want him, even when he was calling her
Princess
. She smiled wider at the thought of his deep voice saying the name.

She was not falling for him.

That bit of blood was going to her head, making her feel some sort of heady infatuation

110

with him. The bite hadn’t bonded them. She’d only drunk from him, so the circle was incomplete. Besides, there was no
trucchi
, no blood magic in their coupling to bind her to him, even if the idea was starting to appeal to her.

She shook her head. Khalil would never go for it. He’d always demanded that any suitor of hers have his own territory so he could keep her in the life she was accustomed to. To Khalil and the older ones, territory meant power. With power came security. Which was exactly why he would consider Maximilliano.

Christiana’s stomach twisted as she grabbed the white terry robe from the hanger on the door and wrapped it around her. With one last glance in the mirror to check her hair, she pulled open the door.

Blane stood in front of her, his arms crossed over his chest, muscles flexed. A chewed toothpick hung from the corner of his mouth. The odd humanlike habit was beginning to be attractive. Her body reacted immediately, that familiar throbbing between her legs that came with the moisture.

But his emotion didn’t match hers. He was fully wrapped in anxiety and agitation. “I was about to come in after you.”

She tried to hide the smile that came along with the thought of him coming into the shower with her. “Sorry.”

“Get dressed, Princess. We’re going hunting.”

111

“Where are we going? I still haven’t talked to Khalil.” Christiana pulled the long crimson coat tight and buttoned one button to keep it on in the stiff wind.

Blane had dressed the way he always did, in jeans and a black shirt. He turned the corner of the building, heading away from Grand Canal. “No need. I already told him I didn’t think it was safe for you to go tonight.”

“And he was okay with that?”

Blane grinned and took her hand. “Come on.” He pulled her down the alley and into the darkness. If he’d have been any other vampire, she would have resisted. Humans weren’t the only ones who had things to fear in dark alleys.

“Your hand’s icy.” He winked back at her. “But we’ll fix that in just a minute. What are you in the mood for?”

Christiana smirked. Like she was going to tell him. “Oh. Uh. Whatever is fine.”

He glanced back at her as they moved down the narrow corridor between buildings, then stopped so fast that she almost ran into him. “What’s wrong? You’ve been acting strangely since we left the room.”

“Nothing.” She pushed past him and toward the scent of a human man that was close.

Blane caught her arm and turned her toward him. She tried to pull away, but he pushed her back against the bricks and put a hand squarely on each side of her head. He leaned in close.

“I don’t have the same gifts you do, but my instincts are good. I know you’re hiding something.”

A nervous laugh slipped out.

“Spill it.”

112

“I can’t.”

“Why come into my room like that, then act like you’re being forced to come with me now?”

“I’m not acting like I’m being forced.”

“Really? ’Cause I thought that was me who just spent thirty minutes talking you out of the room.”

“I just didn’t want to go hunting.”

“Why?”

She groaned and glanced down the alley, then back up into his green eyes. Beneath that insane hair, he was handsome. Powerful, even. And it made her teeth ache.

Christiana took a steadying breath. “I don’t want to talk about it, Blane.”

“You’re going to before we take another step.”

“I just don’t have an appetite for hu—him.”

His eyebrow perked up. “You started to say human. What are y—
Oh
.” A sly grin pulled up at the corners of his mouth. He pressed his body in closer to hers, that hard predatory stance melting slowly into a seductive bowing of torso until his hips were pressing her against the wall.

“Well, all you had to do was say so.”

She closed her eyes and dropped her head. That was exactly what she was afraid he’d say. “Let’s just finish this and go up to the room.”

His brows went up, but he didn’t move away. “You’re going to pass me up for a human?”

“I’m not feeding from you tonight, Blane.”

“Why?”

“I’ve taken enough.”

113

“What?”

She sighed. Telling him now was just as good as telling him later, when she’d regret it more. “This can’t go farther than it already has. Khalil’s promised me to someone else. I shouldn’t have come into your room last night. It was wrong of me.”

He leaned back, his eyes narrowing. “Just say what you’re thinking.”

“We’re not right for each other.”

“You mean, I’m not good enough for you. Right, Princess?”

“That’s not what I said.”

“No, but it’s exactly what I see in your face.” He tapped on his temple. “I might not have your gift, but I’m twice as fucking smart as any other vampire you’ve known. It didn’t take me long to figure you out.”

“Really.” She folded her arms over her chest to push their bodies apart. “Then why don’t you tell me?”

“You’re too caught up in this world of Khalil’s to see how normal people live. And you’ve spent too much time with our kind to know what real human emotions are when you feel them.”

She glanced away. It was exactly that. She’d been afraid she didn’t understand human emotions, but even Khalil told her it wasn’t true.

Blane leaned in close enough to smash her arms into her chest and back her against the brick wall. His voice was a whisper. “And it’s not Vincenzo you’re thinking about when you’re lying in bed with your hand between your legs. Is it, Princess?”

She gasped. “I do—”

“Don’t lie to me.” He wrapped one hand in her hair and pulled her head just to the side.