Page 47 of Bloody Temptations

“Uh, yeah. I think I probably had one too many of those blood-apple martinis. I’m a bit tired.” Licking my lips, I try to give him a smile, but it feels uncomfortable on my face. His fingers squeeze mine and I know he has to go back to work. “I should go.”

His fingers tighten around mine, not letting me slip away. “Why don’t I sneak you out the back? I finish in a couple of hours. You can rest here and come home with me?”

“Ugh.” I groan—genuinely disappointed, because there is nothing I want more thanthat. Our schedules really do suck. It’s one of the reasons why that job would have been perfect. “Ireallycan’t. I have an early tomorrow, and won’t be able to get to work on time from yours.I just came by to see you. And apologise for being a massive twat and running out the other morning. That was super shitty of me.”

He looks away when he nods, and this time it’s me squeezing his hand, not letting go.

“But the night after tomorrow, yeah? We’ll get together?” I add, desperate to not leave him feeling as shitty as I feel.

“Yeah, of course. I can wait two nights to have you alone again.” He cocks his head to the side, eyes falling to half mast. “Maybe.”

Gods, whose life did I steal to have him look at me like that?

“Well, if you get inspired to make another video…”

Oh boy. That does the trick. His eyes flare and his fang digs into his lower full lip.

“Oh, Finn, I thought you’d never ask.”

“Yo, can I get three beers and a half a dozen vampire kiss shots, thanks?”

And just like that the moment’s over. I wave goodbye but he’s busy juggling three bottles of liquor in the air.

It’s a long bus ride home, with just me and my thoughts for company. I spend the whole time replaying the night, mentally kicking myself for getting in my own head and for disappointing Kai, for not being able to be… better.

My laptop is still sitting on my dining table when I get in the door. It wakes up when I bump the table, moving the mouse. The email is still open, taunting me with its rejection. I stare at words on the screen for the Gods know how long before I delete it and snap the laptop shut.

The black out blinds are already secure from this evening, so there is nothing to worry about. I curl up on my couch, pulling a blanket over my legs, tucked to my chest, eyes focused in the direction of the TV. There’s infomercials on, I think. My blood is cold, directly fromthe fridge. It’s the ogre blood again. But I’m too numb to taste it. The seconds tick by, along with the commercials until finally dawn comes and the night is over.

***

“I feel like I should have taken you somewhere else,” Kai says, leaning in so close his lips brush my ear. “You’re going to think I’ve only got one move.”

Naturally, my flustered laugh means I snort a little. Kai chuckles at the sound, and the throaty sound reverberates right down to my balls.

“Don’t worry, I am very aware you have moves, Kai. Plenty of them.” Is that my husky voice flirting back with him?

It is, because the other night was nothing more than a blip. A teeny, insignificant blip. Kai’s nose trails along my cheek, his hand coasting down my chest and over the fullness of my groin to grip my hip. I can’t help but sink back on the arm of the couch, as Kai’s lips tease me with torturous butterfly kisses over my face. His other hand cradles my head, fingers massaging my scalp.

In the pseudo-privacy of the little booths of ReSanguinated, it is getting really hard to control the impulse to let him do what he wants with me, right here. Though the patrons on the other side of the cane walls may not appreciate it. It’s not exactly like the sheer, drapey curtains are there for soundproofing. Though the wards should keep them from hearing…

Nope, no, absolutely not.

“You been thinking about my moves, Finn?” Kai pulls back just enough to look at me. This close, he is all I can see. Which is pretty apt, all things considered.

“Maybe once or twice.” I shrug, and roll my lips over my teeth to stop from smiling. Or admitting the truth. Because I feel like I think about his moves all night long. I probably think about them when I’m dead too.

He chuckles again, his lips ghosting over mine. His hand squeezes my hip as he presses down onto me. We’re on an awkward angle here, so I can’t feel his hard length, but fuck, I want to.

I need it.

“How about we go back to your place?” His suggestion has the horny brain mush in my head solidifying and hitting the panic stations. My place? Abso-fucking-lutely not. I can’t even picture him in that place. What would he even think? Definitely not.

There is a slight flex in his brow when he feels me tense beneath him.

“Your place is closer,” I rush out. Things are still fragile in the wake of my last two cock ups—leaving in the evening like I did and then my weird freakout the other night at the bar. I’m determined to not strike out with Kai. “We’ll get there quicker that way. And I don’t have work tomorrow so I don’t have to rush off in the evening.”

Kai’s lips claim mine again and negotiations cease while his tongue invades my mouth, tasting the remnants of the catuvezo blood and chocolate. I whimper against him, and he swallows it down, grunting and deepening the kiss until we are completely lost in it.

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