Page 28 of Dark Fire Kiss

A predator. And it had me in its sights.

I waited for him to lurch forward. To display some of that inhuman speed.

But he stayed still—just as he’d promised. His arms remained outstretched, but now he held a broken chunk of concrete in one hand. Smaller bits of stone floated in the water around us. He’d broken it as I fed from him? Actually snapped the edge of the pool off?

“Don’t…stop,” he said, his chest heaving. He seemed bigger, his muscles more defined. Drops of water clung to his chest, and for a wild second I imagined myself leaning forward and licking them off.

I stumbled back, sloshing water as I went. “I have to go.” If I stayed near him, there was no telling what I’d do. With his blood singing in my veins, I splashed to the stairs and made a clumsy exit from the pool. My wet soles slapped across the smooth concrete.

“Halina.”

I froze, waiting for the sound of pursuit or the firm grasp of his hand on my arm. If he chose, he could reach me before I even realized he’d moved…

“Look at me,” he said softly.

Heart pounding, I turned just enough to meet his gaze.

He remained in the pool, but the look in his eyes was so hot it was a miracle the water didn’t boil around him. “Run if you must, but know this: One day you’re going to beg me to catch you. I’m in your veins now, and I’m going to be everywhere else, too.”

I held my breath as his rumbled promise seemed to reverberate in the aching place between my thighs.

“Now go,” he said. “And let me leave you with one word, lass. Soon.”

Chapter Nine

FERGUS

The problem with making broad declaratory statements was you ended up looking like a complete fucking idiot when you were proved wrong. Case in point: I’d promised Halina she’d soon come begging for my touch.

And yet here I was two days later nursing a tub of salted caramel and peanut. With nary a lust-crazed dhampir in sight.

After she’d fed from me, she retreated to her suite. Worse, she’d stopped opening the door when I knocked. I could take shadow form and enter in a thousand different places, but I wasn’t about to erode the trust I’d won by forcing my way into her space. I’d given her a vow and I intended to keep it—no matter how uncomfortable it got.

And right now it was pretty damn uncomfortable. The memory of her clothes plastered to her body in the pool tormented me. The second her lips had touched my neck, she’d transformed. The timid halfling had gone, replaced with a sultry temptress. Her breathy moans had filled my ears, and the feel of her little tongue lapping at my vein had nearly been my undoing. When she’d drawn back, her eyes had glowed an eerie blue.

Then she’d left the pool and the damp ends of her wine-red hair had teased the curves of her ass. I’d kept my control—barely.

But something had to give.

The door to my suite opened and Bram strode in. “I think she’s asleep. Her room’s quiet.” He took a seat on the sofa opposite mine in front of the hearth. “Ice cream at midnight?”

“It’s called eating your feelings,” I mumbled. I dug my spoon in and took another bite.

He folded his arms. “We have bowls in the kitchen. You don’t have to eat directly from the carton.”

“Aye, but I plan on eating the whole carton, so it’s not a problem.”

He pressed his lips together but didn’t comment. Which was hard for him, I knew. He’d grown up in King Cormac’s court, and he’d never shed his palace manners.

I hunted for a peanut and found one.

“Do you think it’s normal for her to be sleeping right now?” he asked. “It’s the middle of the night.”

“Dunno.” My spoon struck another peanut. Jackpot.

“Maybe she didn’t get enough blood. How much did she take from you?”

“Don’t know that, either.”

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