Excerpt
Savard
watched her delicate jaw drop at the sight of his fangs. Never in his long life
had he shown a human what kind of creature lurked behind the visage of a man.
He waited for her scream, expected her terrified flight or even a fainting spell.
Instead of acting like a normal human, she just sat there, taking it all in,
processing, and then out of the blue, the minx slugged him in the shoulder.
He
groaned, not so much from her punch, but from stabilizing his core muscles to
keep his body upright. Through gritted teeth, Savard asked, “What the hell was
that for?”
“Give
it a guess,” she huffed, not frightened, and certainly not shying away. “You
can speak. Just say what you are. You didn’t need to threaten me with the pointy
teeth.”
“Wasn’t
a threat…won’t bite,” he mumbled. He knew he was behaving poorly, but his body
ached, his hunger beat a heavy cadence against his tongue, and this woman had
ruined his plans for a quick death.
His
eyelids drifted shut, his head tilted back against the cushion. He was getting
worse. The pain was there, but not exactly excruciating, making it easier to
speak. His body was numbing out, going cold on the inside. Sensation was slipping
away, along with life.
“If
you’re what I think you are, then…” her soft voice trailed off, as if
redirecting her question.
“What
can I do? Be honest.”
“Nothing
you’d be willing to do,” Savard said, cracking one eye open to observe her
reaction, and when she shifted closer, he suddenly realized she still held his
hand. In fact, her grip had never wavered. Even after he’d bared his fangs.
“Like
letting you bite me? How can you be sure I wouldn’t?”
“I’m
not asking.”
“But
if it would help you…” Her delicate eyebrows scrunched together, and she asked
in earnest,
“Would
it help you? And would it hurt?”
His
lips twitched, the beginnings of a smile that never fully formed. For some
reason, he found explaining the nuances of a vampire’s bite to this innocent
human amusing. “Blood heals. A bite is more pleasure than pain.”
“I
wouldn’t turn into a…”
“No.”
“When
you bite someone…” Her voice was hesitant, the first subtle hint of trepidation
he’d found in her. “Do they die?”
“No.
Life is precious,” he said quietly.
Deafening
silence surrounded him and he closed his eyes again, the calm lulling him. Several
minutes passed, or perhaps more, and then he unexpectedly caught her scent. The
soft, delicate flesh of this woman had a scent all its own, and he opened his
eyes to see her leaning close to him, her hand pulling that fluffy white-blonde
mass of randomly braided hair away from her neck. Savard growled, closing his
eyes against the temptation, and turned away from her.
“Why
not?” she asked, her steady voice sending shivers through his battered body.
Teeth
clenched, he said, “You should have left me there.”
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