Page 11 of A Bond Beyond Blood

But I nodded instead, acutely aware that if I spoke now, my words would come out too breathy—or too weak—both of which could spur something primal in Vinny.

Something I may not be able to escape.

Or want to.

Gah!

When I reached the door that led to the locker rooms, I opened it without taking my eyes off my trainer, then I sidestepped and slipped through the narrow opening, closing the door quickly behind me.

I rested my forehead against the cool metal and breathed deeply.

In spending three nights a week with him for months, I’d gotten too close to Vinny.I’d begun to humanize him, to see more than just the monster, but the man he used to be.I’d allowed myself to see something akin to friendship somewhere in the midst of this working relationship, and now the lines were blurred.Ienjoyedour sessions, looked forward to them.

I enjoyedhim.

But I needed to get my shit together.Vinny was a vampire.

I paid him to teach me how to fight, nothing more.

Giving my head a quick shake, I pushed off the door.“Stupid, fucking girl,” I growled as I hurried toward the woman’s half of the locker room to grab my stuff.

Stupid hormones, more like it.I hadn’t had sex since Gannon ghosted me just days after my father’s funeral, and the dry spell was obviously clouding my better judgment.“Just say no to sex with vamps,” I reminded myself as quietly as possible, lest Vinny hear me through the walls.

I unsheathed my practice stakes from the holster and tossed them into the empty locker, then shouldered my bag and slammed the door, freezing when the sound of Vinny’s low chuckle echoed through the locker room.

That innately vampiric ability to remain impossibly silent while creeping up on prey was beyond unfair.

As was the way his nearness made my body react with another hot rush of desire.

I cursed under my breath and scanned the darkness for him.

“Careful, little Fiorino,” he warned.His voice was everywhere and nowhere all at once, echoing in the space and sending goosebumps over my skin.“I might start to think you’re coming around.”

With a huff, I rolled my eyes.“Fat chance.”

“Which one of us are you trying to convince?”he teased, his voice a near purr that spiked my temperature and sent my pulse into overdrive.

I couldn’t see him, but I didn’t need to.His deep laugh followed me all the way to the door like a sensuous caress, and I half-expected—wanted?—him to reach me before I made it outside, grab me by the neck, and haul me backwards against the deliciously hard lines of his body.

I’d fantasized about Vinny too many times to count, and though I was reluctant to admit it, the fantasy often involved him taking charge—and taking the decision away from me altogether.Too many times to count, I’d awakened from fantasies of him sinking his cock inside me as he sank his fangs into my neck—

The wind whipped against my heated cheeks with the force of a slap, snapping me out of my torrid thoughts as I stepped outside.

Thankfully, the chill of the night air was the onlybiteI would experience tonight.

I’d chalk up that uncomfortable twist in my belly to hunger pains,notdisappointment.

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