Page 45 of Love Bites Hard

With the comforting darkness surrounding me, I fell asleep fast. Thankfully, I slept through the night.

The next morning,I heard the door open while I was still in bed with the canopy down. I had spent the last two hours buried in the pack link, even though my head ached with hunger.

I still needed to figure out who the people were who wanted me dead.

And how much danger I was in.

They seemed to have figured out how to keep their plans quieter, though, because I barely felt their whispers. I couldn’t find the consciousnesses behind the plots like I had before, and couldn’t track them back to the source.

It was endlessly frustrating, and made me feel like I was starving.

“That doesn’t look right,” Porter said, his voice low and gravelly. I heard him open what sounded like the cover over the wiring part I hadn’t even come close to figuring out.

I debated letting him know I was awake and getting out of bed, but didn’t want to fight with him again. So I stayed quiet, lingering in the pack’s bond.

My attention was split between the alpha and the pack as Porter quietly figured out the wiring and got it working properly. It hadprobably been an hour when he finally used the button outside to lift the canopy.

I opened my eyes slowly, feigning sleep, and couldn’t help but notice the way his gaze softened as it moved over me.

“Good morning,” he said.

“Morning,” I murmured.

Part of me waited for him to bring up what he’d done for me and use it against me or something.

Instead, he said, “I didn’t feed you long enough last night.”

I blinked.

Right.

That’s what he was there for.

I’d be glad to get free of my headache, but part of me was disappointed that he hadn’t just shown up because he wanted to see me or something.

That part of me was ridiculous, so I stuffed it down.

“Yeah,” I finally said.

He sat down on the edge of the bed and offered me his hand. “We shouldn’t have to kiss for you to feed now that we’re mated.”

“Right.”

I put my hand on his arm and tried to use my magic the way I usually did when I kissed people. It sprang to life immediately, and my eyes shut automatically as his intense, dark emotions hit me again.

The man was a drug, and I was his willing addict.

He pulled away when he couldn’t handle it anymore, and left the room before I could thank him.

I collapsed on the pillow, panting as I stared up at the ceiling.

What would it feel like to live in a mind that dark?

Would I be any kinder, more involved, or more enthusiastic than he was if I did?

My anger toward him faded a little as I considered it… because no. I wouldn’t be.

If I was barely clinging to my sanity the way he was, I would be just as bad as him.

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