Page 60 of Taste of Death

“Just stop, Novak.” She tried to roll to her other side, facing away from me but I wouldn’t let her.

“Why do you think I’m lying?” I demanded. “I’m ridiculously attracted to you. How could you not know that?”

“How can you be attracted to eyes like this?” She pointed at hers.

I took the opportunity to pull her close again, so close that my forehead and nose nudged hers.

“I love your eyes,” I said. “I always think of them as two galaxies. There’s so much depth and beauty to them.”

Amy’s breath shuddered as I wiped more tears. “I wasdead, Novak. A literal corpse that came back to life. How does that not gross you out? How can you think I’m anything but monstrous?”

“Vampires are already monstrous in the eyes of humans, for one.” I stroked my knuckle across her cheek. “Half of Sanguine believes I infected my own clan with Rathka’s Curse. If we’re going off of what other people think, I’m ten times the monster you are.”

Amy blinked and sniffed. “But that’s not true.”

“Neither is the fact that you’re anything but beautiful.” I placed a kiss between her brows. “As for the other part, Temkra spoke to you and brought you back. She decided you weren’t finished with life. Our goddesschoseyou, Amy.” I traced her lips with my thumb. “And I can’t help but think she wanted us to find each other.”

Amy didn’t respond. But she stopped crying, and her gaze fixated on my mouth, hovering only inches away from hers.

I closed the distance with the intention of making the kiss gentle, comforting. But the first taste of her hit me like the first drop of blood after a long drought. No, she tasted better than blood. Even through the flavor of salt from her tears, she was Amy. Pure and sweet andmine.

She went from pushing me to pulling me, her hands diving into my hair as her mouth opened, deepening the kiss. Our tongues surged and explored, our fangs adding a level of pressure that only elevated my desire. She rolled to her back and I followed, refusing to disconnect from her for any reason.

Her body fit below me like she was made for me, warm and responsive. I lowered enough to feel her without crushing her, needing contact with every beautiful swell and curve.

A tiny prick of pain bloomed on my lower lip, and Amy broke away abruptly. “Oh, I’m sorry.” She covered her mouth as if ashamed of her fangs, the culprits that nicked me.

I took her hand and pinned it to the side of her head, hovering my mouth just over hers. A drop of blood fell from my lip to hers, and watching her tongue lick it away was almost too much to bear.

“Don’t ever apologize for drawing blood,” I whispered. “It’s what we do, what we’re made for. Use those cute little teeth on me all you like. If you want a taste of me while you kiss me, then take it. Take all you need, akra.”

Amy turned her face to the side, breaking eye contact, but the bashful smile and lack of tears told me she was feeling better. I kissed her cheek and the corner of her jaw, fighting the urge to move lower to her neck. I would not be able to keep my fangs out of her veins, and she hadn’t given me consent to drink from her yet.

“You don’t actually think my teeth are cute,” she said.

“Yes, I do.” I kissed her temple. “They’re smaller than vampire fangs and I think they’re adorable. I love when you laugh because that’s when I can see them most clearly.”

I tickled her ribs, earning a bright peal of laughter. She faced me again with that smile that I loved, and some of the brightness in her eyes had returned. Her hand came around my nape and I lowered my mouth to hers, lost in kissing her again.

She licked the already-healing cut on my lip, drawing a moan from deep inside my chest. I wanted her blood and her body so fucking badly. Her pulse hummed in my senses, just as much a comfort as it was a distraction. It wasn’t enough. I was desperate to have her across all of my senses, to just drown in her.

But this was not the time to take what I wanted. She needed me to give. I still didn’t know what happened in Sapien, but it was abundantly clear that she needed to be seen, appreciated, adored.

Even loved.

“I do have a confession to make,” I said when we parted for a breath.

Amy’s brow pinched, looking worried. Her hands on my back stopped moving. “Okay. What?” She looked like she was bracing herself for a rejection and that broke my heart.

“Akra is not actually your name in my language.” I kissed the bridge of her nose. “It means something else.”

“What does it mean?”

“It’s a term of endearment, sometimes between family but most often between lovers.” I brushed a piece of hair off her forehead. “The English equivalent would be like, darling or sweetheart.”

Her brow furrowed deeper like she was confused. “But you’ve called me that since the beginning.”

“I know.” I kissed her brow until it relaxed under my lips. “You were dear to me then. Ever since you told off Blood ‘til Dawn for searching me like a criminal. Probably before that, actually.”

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