Page 91 of The Howl
“You didn't get any sleep at all. I'm not going to take over your cabin again.”
“We could share.”
I shook my head before he even finished talking.
“Too dangerous. My guard is down when I sleep.” Obviously, my guard was lacking when I was tired, too.
“And what do you think will happen?” he asked.
“With the way you smell, probably the worst thing possible.”
“I can’t read your mind. What’s the worst thing possible?”
“That I’ll feed from you.”
“I was thinking murdered in my sleep by a sex-crazed brownie because I took his goddess away from him, so I’m not sure how a feeding would be the worst thing possible.”
“I’m not Piepen’s goddess, and feeding from you would be horrible.”
He tapped his knee with his thumb.
“If I smell good, I assume I’d taste good. I’m struggling to connect the horrible.”
“Horrible for you. Why are we even talking about this?”
“Because you’re tired and need a place to crash, and you’re being stubborn.”
“You don’t understand what a feeding could do to you. You saw how obsessed Eugene was after an almost feeding. You’d be a mindless slave if I fed from you.”
He snorted.
“It’s not funny.”
“It kinda is. You already almost fed from me twice. Have I acted any differently around you? To you?”
“Well, no.”
“Then why are you worrying? We both know that different creatures have different levels of susceptibility to each other. My kind does the whole fated mates thing, right? So maybe you can’t persuade me because my genetics just aren’t interested in anyone who’s not my mate.”
Hadn’t Mom said something similar in the restaurant? Not that I was considering feeding from him, I quickly told myself. It would just be nice to know I wouldn’t hurt him if I did slip.
“But what if you’re wrong?”
“I don’t think I am. You can’t hurt me, Eliana. Trust me.”
I sighed and thought of a nap in his cabin with him still there. My hunger slithered under my skin, more responsive than it was the day before. Maybe it was because I was tired. That just made sleeping at his cabin more dangerous.
My brain was saying no, but my eyes were saying yes with each tired blink. When I reached his road, I knew I’d need to sleep before driving home even if it was just in the car.
I parked and cut the engine.
“I can see you’re going to say no. What kind of friend would I be to let you drive home like this?”
“The kind that let me drive here.”
“Come on, chicken. I promise not to bite.”
My insides went hot at the thought of Fenris biting, nibbling his way up my leg.
