Page 10 of The Vampire's Hunter

And this devil clearly meant for her to play along.

Tofakeas if she wanted him.

For all watching eyes to see.

How did he not realize shewantedhim to hold her close?

She’d never have to fake it. Not with him.

“Now, for the sake of my reputation, do try to moan,” he whispered, causing her to shiver as his hand dipped beneath her dress to the supple skin of her thigh below. “I promise to keep my hands thoroughly to myself after this.”

“Please don’t,” she whispered.

Whether he thought she was pleading for him to stop or that she was begging him for more, she’d never be certain. All Dani knew then was sensation, feeling.

The sudden press of Corbin’s hot mouth at her throat. The brush of hardened fang against the tender skin of her ear. The weight of his muscled body as he settled over her, his shoulders broad and heavy, his hips narrow, and the rough brush of his fingers as he toyed with the laced edge of her panties whilst his lips caressed her. Good Lord, she was in over her head.

Dani bucked her hips forward, nudging against him eagerly in a feeble attempt to guide his hand lower, but still, he didn’t touch her. Not where she truly wanted him to.

Because none of this was real, of course.

It was all for show. Meant to turn heads and inspire whispers.

Like everything Corbin did.

But hecouldhave touched her there, if he wanted to, if he chose. He could have slipped inside her and taken and taken and taken and still she would have been eager to give more. Hell, if she’d even had so much as half a mind to stop him, there would have been little she could do to resist. If he’d wanted to take advantage, he could have glamoured her into submission. She’d experienced it with Cillian more than once before.

But he didn’t.

Instead, Corbin held her close, only touching her above her clothes in ways that benefitted them both, in ways that could easily be forgiven, situation considered. Enough to put on a show to protect her without ever fully crossing the line, out of respect for them both.

And somehow, that only made Dani want him more.

She let out a needy, little keen, something wanton between a whimper and a moan. She hadn’t felt this way in months, longer even. She bucked her hips forward again, unexpectedly eager. His hand and his fingers were so close to where she wanted him. So ridiculously close.

And yet…

The space between them may as well have been a chasm for how he dared not cross it.

Not without her permission.

“Please,” she begged. “Touch me, Corbin.”

At the sound of his name on her lips, Corbin froze. He stayed like that for a long beat, his body utterly still, as if it were a struggle to maintain control, before slowly he pulled back to look at her, staring down from where he’d been lavishing her throat. His dark eyes were ablaze in a way she’d never seen before, a sharp and piercing red, his mouth no more than hairsbreadth away.

So close.

Something violent sparked in his gaze then. Something harsh and crimson and feral.

“You’re playing a dangerous game, Dani,” he whispered.

Yes, yes, she was, but she’d known that when she’d decided to come here, hadn’t she? She was intimately familiar with the threat vampires posed, and yet, she’d came anyway.

She’d never claimed to have much in the way of self-preservation.

Corbin’s thumb traced over the lace edge of her undergarments once more, seductive and warm. To the unknowing eye, it appeared as if he were pleasuring her, but it was only an illusion. Not nearly enough to satisfy.

“Please,” she whispered again, unable to say anything more.

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