Page 74 of Taste of Death

Her head went back on a soft, musical laugh and I leaned in to kiss the long, pretty stretch of her throat. I could spend hours just exploring her neck, finding all the tiny blood vessels and sensitive areas that made her gasp.

“I just don’t want to overstay my welcome.” She kissed my brow, hand sliding around my waist until her fingertips stroked my spine. “Being with you is like staying in a dream I don’t want to wake up from.”

“You’re always welcome here.” My thumb rolled circles alongside her knee. “Come and go as you please. If you need space, take it.” My lips rested on her forehead. “As long as you come back,” I amended.

Her answering smile was slow, coy. Sexy. “As if you could keep me away.”

That would have been the right time to spill my secrets, to inform her of the ravenous undead monster in my basement, as well as Carpe Noctem’s chain around my neck, even though the agreement was null and void in my eyes.Also, surprise! I’m literally, biologically, dependent on your blood to survive.

Amy deserved to know everything and make her own choices based on that knowledge. But right then, wrapped up in each other, in the warmth of my bed, it made the most sense to kiss her and not ruin the perfection of this moment.

She sighed contently into my mouth, our lips moving with slow, unhurried friction. My eyes closed so I could take her in with my other senses. This did feel like a dream, the best kind. And I wanted to prolong this for as long as possible.

Her leg slid farther over my hip, toes grazing my calf. The closer proximity brought more contact to my thickening cock, the organ trapped between our pelvises as we wound tighter around each other.

Amy made soft, eager noises through our kisses, her lower body beginning to rub against me more insistently. I grabbed her ass and pulled her closer until we were flush, her leg spread wide and my erection grinding against her core.

The friction was maddening through our underwear. I wanted skin-to-skin contact, to see her beautiful naked form wearing nothing but my bite marks. I grabbed the hem of her T-shirt and began to pull it up?—

“No, don’t!”

Amy reacted faster that I could comprehend, swinging her arm down to stop me from bringing her shirt up. It was so unexpected that the fabric slipped from my fingers.

In an instant, the mood changed. Playful and passionate became tense and guarded. Amy held the shirt down so low, the collar stretched at her neck. Her eyes were wide with panic.

“Darling, I’m sorry.” Hesitantly, I reached a hand toward her face. She let me touch her cheek but the stiffness didn’t leave her body. “I thought we were… fuck, it doesn’t matter. Are you all right?”

She let out a long, slow breath, her body relaxing a fraction. “I… don’t like being naked. I didn’t mean to freak out, I just… panicked.”

Her voice was so small, like she was ashamed.

My mind immediately took off, speculating all the possible reasons why on Temkra’s soil she would ever feel that way. Did it have anything to do with that filth of a human male who broke her heart?

One day I’d find out the reason, but now was not the time.

“I’m really not a prude. I just don’t like having my top off.” Amy grimaced with shame. “I’m sorry. We were having fun and I ruined it.”

“Stop. You didn’t ruin anything.” I leaned in, caressing her cheek as I kissed her forehead, brow, and nose. “It doesn’t matter what we’re doing. I’m satisfied as long as you’re enjoying yourself.”

She didn’t look convinced. “You’re sweet, but you don’t have to lie. I know I’m weird.”

“I like weird. Especially when it shows up on my doorstep with the prettiest eyes I’ve ever seen.” That finally got the smallest curve of a smile on her lips, and I seized the opportunity to kiss them. “Seriously, akra, I’ll never do anything you don’t want. Your sense of safety is of utmost importance to me.”

A sigh of relief left her lips and her hand wrapped around my nape, fingers tangling in my hair. “Thank you, Novak. You’re amazing.”

“You are,” I breathed into her mouth.

We fell into lazy, slow kissing again, but a thought nagged at the back of my mind. She still didn’t fully trust me, and why should she? The whole time she’d been open and vulnerable with me, I’d been holding back. Keeping secrets.

A gust of wind howled and made the house creak. I could imagine the creature downstairs snarling at the noise, dragging his skeletal fingers along the bars of his cell. Talk about overstaying his welcome. I’d kept him here for probably fifty years too long.

But it wasn’t like I could set him loose, not even to the deep forests of the Crown. He, like his cursed brethren, would make his way to the towns and villages of that region, following the scent of living flesh.

A nip on my neck pulled my focus back to Amy and her sharp little fangs.

“Where did your mind go?” she asked, softly mouthing at my neck. “Thinking about what a weirdo you’ve got in your bed?”

I pulled away and leaned back against the headboard, too deep in my fucked-up thoughts to lose myself in her. “You’re perfect as you are, akra, but I haven’t told you everything about my research. And I should. It’s only right for you to know if we’re going to be… involved.”

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