"Sure."
I held out my hand.
"Careful." Alex stood and placed his hands on her shoulders. "If he gets you alone, you may not get breakfast…"
"Hilarious." I rolled my eyes.
"If he's hungry, I don't mind feeding him." Genesis's smoldering gaze met mine.
I swayed a bit on my feet as my fangs dug into my lower lip. I could actually feel my blood soar from my chest out to my fingertips as I anticipated her taste. Hell, I was in deep. My hands started to shake.
"Careful with your promises, human." Alex's lips curved into a smile. "He may just take you up on it."
Genesis took my hand, ignoring Alex, thank God, and squeezed.
We made it as far as the hallway.
I'd like to think I had enough self-control to make it further than that. I was old, controlled — but I'd never had her before.
And she made all the difference.
My fingers dug into the skin on her wrist as I tried to think of a sentence — any sentence — that would make sense, that I could say.
All I had was "Look, a hallway."
It was Genesis, the meek, brave little human, who stopped, lifted her head and said, "I don't mind."
Three words.
I don't mind.
Three words. They weren't romantic. They held no lust, no desire, nothing — but to me it was trust. It was her trying.
So I gently pushed her against the wall and took her mouth with all the slowness she deserved.
Blood soared through her veins.
I'd only taken small amounts, enough to satisfy, enough to taste, enough to complete the bond.
I'd only planned on taking another few drops.
But she turned her head, causing my fangs to graze down her neck.
Blood dripped.
So I licked, savoring the feel of her warmth on my tongue.
And when I accidentally grazed her again…
I bit.
Genesis
The minute he bit down — I knew-I'd just done something I couldn't undo… experienced something I would never, in all my days, be able to forget.
He said I'd know when he bit.
What he'd meant was I'd know when he finally gave into his instincts. It wasn't fast, like I'd expected, where he greedily sucked, pulled from my life source until I was drained.
Instead, the minute his teeth slid into my neck…
The world stopped.
Time stopped.
I closed my eyes, only to open them again and watch the world go by me in slow motion. Dust flicked in front of my face. The clock on the far side of the hallway moved… slower. Everything was slowed, even my heartbeat, and for those brief seconds or maybe even minutes…
I felt every single part of him.
Every stretch of muscle.
Every breath.
His pleasure was mine. It was almost hard to breathe because my senses were so overwhelmed with not only him, but with the world around me. The world I'd always known to be normal… was anything but normal.
The color of the wall had been blue.
Now it was electric blue.
Even Ethan's skin looked different, almost transparent as he clung to my body, his fingers digging into my flesh.
It was indescribable, and I was failing at trying to soak everything in.
His tongue swirled across my neck, and then I felt him draw a little bit more; this time the feeling changed, and suddenly all I could smell was burnt sugar — like Christmas, only better.
My body felt heavy; it pulsed in perfect cadence with him.
Ethan sighed against my neck, and the world returned to normal bland colors. The clock finally made it to the next minute.
And I had to fight to keep myself from crying out for him to keep going.
"I'm sorry." His voice was so low, so hoarse it was almost hard to understand his words. "I — you—" He cursed and pulled back.
His eyes were so green that I looked away. I had to because I was afraid if I kept staring, they would somehow burn my irises, blinding me.
"Don't be," I whispered. "I offered. Besides, you pulled me from my dream last night. It was the least I could do, right?"
"You have no idea," his lips lingered in front of mine, grazing my mouth with each word he spoke, "how good you feel — how wonderful you taste."
I leaned forward; the temptation to kiss him was too much.
A throat cleared. "Uh, do you still want eggs?"
I pushed against Ethan's chest, taking a step back, and glanced at Mason. His eyes betrayed nothing, so I wasn't sure if he'd seen us, or if he'd just assumed I'd been offering up myself as Ethan's breakfast.
"Yes," Ethan answered for me. "She's lacking protein."
"Huh?" I asked, dumbfounded. "How would you know…?"
He smirked.
"How's my iron?"
"Perfectly balanced."
We shared a smile. It felt good to talk to him like he didn't hate me, yet I still felt like I had no choice but to keep my guard up. It was a tie between wanting to open up to him, yet knowing that if I did and he rejected me again, I'd have no one to blame but myself.