Page 28 of Bite Marks & Broken Hearts

The predator in me purred at Flynn’s proximity. His scent wrapped around me like a physical caress. My fangs pressed harder against my gums, desperate to extend. His pulse beckoned, calling to me like the tide pulls the moon, and my throat burned with need. The vein in his neck jumped with each heartbeat, and I tracked the movement like a cat watching a mouse. The hunger clawed at my insides, demanding satisfaction. If I just leaned forward slightly…

“I’m fine.” The words came out rougher than intended, my voice thick with barely contained need. I gripped the counter edge, hard. “Perfectly fine.”

Flynn stepped even closer, concern etched across his features. Sweet, innocent Flynn, who had no idea he was drawing nearer to a starving beast. The monster inside me stretched, reaching for him with phantom claws.Just one taste,it whispered.

The sound of footsteps made Flynn shuffle back from me, consciously or unconsciously.

Kit poked his head in, glaring at us. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to head home now.”

Ah. I’d forgotten to tell him I’d returned.

“Of course. Go home, Kit. Thank you.”

Flynn looked between us. “I should get some sleep too.”

Once they’d both left, I sagged against the counter. The canvas bag, containing the bags of blood wedged between ice packs, sat waiting by my feet.

I retrieved a glass from the cupboard, hands trembling slightly as I tore open one of the medical bags. The blood was chilled—which always tasted worse—but I couldn’t wait any longer. Not after being so close to Flynn, breathing in his scent, hearing his pulse…

The first swallow hit my system like lightning. My fangs extended fully as I drained the glass, and then another.

One bag already gone.

The desperate hunger dulled. For now.

My hands itched to tear open a second bag, but I restrained myself.

It would have to be enough.

7

Flynn

“So, Dolly… how’s your morning going so far?”

The life-sized Victorian doll perched behind the reception desk fixed me with her painted-on smile.

“Oh, that bad, huh? Well, let me tell you, I bet it’s not as bad as mine.” I slumped against the desk, chin propped in my hands. “First off, I woke up in this bizarre hotel where I’m practically a fucking prisoner. I mean, sure, there’s the whole ‘we’re protecting you from demons’ thing, but still.”

Her porcelain face maintained that unnervingly cheerful expression.

“Then I spent ages wandering these empty corridors looking for any sign of life. You’d think in a place this size there’d be someone about, but no. Just creepy noises coming from half the rooms.” I drummed my fingers on the worn wooden desk. “And the cherry on top? I can’t even go down to the basement because I don’t have the code. So I’m stuck up here on the first floor, talking to—”

I paused, giving her a slight smile.

“Well, at least I’ve got you, Dolly!”

The doll didn’t even blink.Rude.

“Flynn! Get down here!”

Priya’s voice screeched down a corridor, making me jump. I shot Dolly an apologetic look.

“We can see you talking to Dolly on camera. I’m glad the two of you are getting to know each other,” she shouted.

Heat crept up my neck. Brilliant. Not only had they caught me chatting with a bloody doll, but they’d been watching me do it. Still, afterwandering these empty corridors like a lost ghost, even the prospect of mockery seemed better than more silence.

The basement door finally opened, and I bounded down the stairs two at a time, nearly tripping over my own feet in my eagerness for actual human contact.

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