She would be his salvation, but what would he become to her? Certainly not some predator who took from her without consent. Such high handedness, no matter how rightfully his, could change the way she viewed him.
How did she view him? He didn’t know. They hadn’t had enough time together, away from interruptions and others. His desire for these things, this ... closeness, complicated matters. It would slow their courtship and delay the bonding. But he sensed an emotional connection was necessary. And if it wasn’t, he wanted it anyway.
Dawn was gaining on the night and he needed to seek shelter. The longer he stayed here, the more danger he invited. Dangerous for him and dangerous for her.
His grandfather’s warnings echoed in his head. There came a precarious brink between hard-earned control and natural instinct. He felt the animal inside of him battling the gentleman and he wanted her to know he would always be gentle with her.
Fighting back the ache of desire, he swept the hair away from her face and stared at her angelic mouth. The mental tug of war ripped him in two, a physical sting to pull away from her, but he took pride in his ability to do so. Denying his own personal satisfaction to ensure her trust would prove that an honorable male still existed inside of him, more than any beast.
He forbade himself to fall beyond redemption. Soon enough, their time would come, and his patience will prove him deserving of her sacrifice to save him.
“Sleep well, my sweet Annalise.”
Leaning close, he brushed his lips to her ear and stilled. The flutter of her pulse jumped at the contact and she moaned against his cheek. His eyes closed, regret pouring through his veins as he felt his resolute determination to leave her, shift into something greedy and uncontrolled.
Sit up. Leave her now. You must.
“Your heart calls to mine.” His hand chased down her side, closing over her hip and his body hardened. Keeping his weight off her, he dragged himself down her front, the tease of her hardened nipples pressing through the cotton of her shirt and dragging along his nose as he pulled his face past her breasts.
“I feel your desire the way you feel mine, ainsicht.”
He slid lower, until his hands cupped her hips and his lips hovered over the swatch of material covering her sex. A spot of arousal dampened the material. Her femoral artery called to him.
His body throbbed. “Open your legs for me.”
Her skin rasped against the bedding as her thighs slowly parted. Warm breath hissed past his fangs as he watched the delicate flutter of her pulse dance beneath her skin.
“This will only hurt for a moment.” His jaw unhinged a split second before his fangs plunged into her thigh, piercing her flesh and embedding deeply in the artery. Her soft gasp added to his arousal as hot blood flooded his mouth, seeping from her vein as her heart pumped frantically.
He tasted her adrenaline, the razor thin slice of fear cutting into her blood like a drug and lacing her ecstasy with pure endorphins. Her blood flowed like wine. The unrefined, hot press of nectar feeding his soul and awakening dark hungers from within.
His hips pressed into the bedding as his tongue lapped up her taste. Until now, he hadn’t realized how weak he’d become, but no more. Sweet euphoria poured down his throat as his lips sealed his mouth to her supple flesh and pulled with greedy need. His rock hard cock wanted inside of her, but the fraying thread of his conscience refused to take her while she lay unconscious.
As he fed, his eagerness climbed, rocking the bed as he imagined plunging into her welcoming heat. She arched and moaned the deeper he drank, each pull of his mouth igniting a cellular desire inside of her, deeper than intimacy a human could experience on their own.
Her breathing labored and her delicate gyrations seduced his senses, putting him under a drunken spell of lust and hunger. He savored the rich sustenance her body offered but forced himself to stop when her heart rate slowed.
Panting, he withdrew his fangs and licked away the last few drops that clung to his lips and teeth. He’d never tasted such perfection, but any more and she’d be left too weak for the day ahead.
With a swipe of his tongue, he closed the puncture wound and slid off the bed. The fading twilight cast her pale limbs in a telling light as reality set in. What had he done?
He’d only meant to kiss her goodnight, and he’d fed from her, glutted himself. Far more intimate than any sexual act, he’d behaved hastily, without conscious thought to the consequences. How could he be so reckless? So careless?
Though there would be no visible proof, she’d suffer slight anemia. He shouldn’t care. She belonged to him. Her blood was meant to save him. Yet his mouth only tasted of bitter betrayal.