Page 21 of Demon Hunger
After a long moment, he stretched to his full height, his breath trembling as he exhaled. For a moment, I thought that would be the end of it, but I was wrong.
“Dammit!” He whirled in my direction and grabbed me by the shoulders. “I know you don’t want to hear it. I know you would rather if I disappeared from your life, but I can’t hold it in any longer. I love you, Lucia.” His golden eyes glowed slightly, a silver line of tears along the bottom edge. “I’m in love with you. From the first time my lips touched yours, I fell. Hard. This feeling…” He placed a hand on his chest, then didn’t seem to know how to go on.
And I was glad for it because the words had stunned me, making me dizzy and nauseous. I knew that there was an intense attraction between us, but I never imagined that he could… love me.
Before I saw his monstrous form, I’d thought myself in love with him, and if it had seemed ridiculous at the time, now, it seemed impossible.
I stepped away from him as far as the small room would allow.
“Please, Lucia, don’t push me away,” he begged.
Inhaling deeply and arming myself with all the courage I possessed, I said the most difficult thing I ever had. “Whatever you thought that telling me this would accomplish, you were mistaken. Love cannot exist between you and me. It has no future.”
“Why not? I know you feel something. That night you were ready to—”
“To what?” I interrupted him. “To make a mistake by giving myself to someone I don’t even know.”
“You know me. Thisisme.” He pointed at his chest. “My soul.” A single tear slid down his cheek, and he batted it away with an angry hand.
“The person I know lies. The person I know can’t be trusted. That is hardly the basis for any type of love.”
“Give me a second chance,” he said.
“No.”
I walked to my shoes and stuffed my feet into them.
“You must, Lucia.”
I whirled on him. “I’ve given you the chance to talk, Drevan. I’ve listened to everything you had to say, even though I didn’t have to. There’s nothing Imustdo.”
He took a step closer, looming over me, his mouth inches from mine. His fiery eyes drilled into my own. His sweet breath filled my senses. “You’re mine. You know you are.”
“Don’t flatter yourself.”
“Sage will never be enough for you. No one ever will. I can feel you tremble when I’m near, just like you are doing now.”
“Have you considered the possibility that it might be from fear?”
Concern flashed over his features, but he disguised it quickly. “You only fear your feelings for me, the passion that you’ve never felt with anyone else.”
“Whatever you say. There’s no point in arguing with a narcissist.” I started to head toward the door, but he pressed a hand to my cheek, his thumb pulling down my lower lip as he grinned, showing me a hint of his pointed canines.
“Let me prove you wrong. One kiss, just one.”
No!That was what the voice of reason screamed inside my head.
I stood firm, refusing to be intimidated. He must have taken this as permission because he wrapped an arm around my waist, pulled me to him, and pressed his mouth to mine.
At first, I resisted, pressing my lips together, but when his tongue licked the seam of my lower lip and a rush of warmth hit my chest and shivered its way down my body, any opposition I had mustered turned to dust. With a soft moan, I opened my mouth to his. My tongue swept against his, and a thrill of desire thundered to my core.
He slid a hand up my neck and tangled his fingers in my hair, pulling back to lift my head and gain better access to kiss me as he pleased. The tug on my hair was possessive, a claiming that I should have despised but that, instead, made me ready to take him in every possible way. He devoured me with my permission, my body weak to oppose him in any way.
But my weakness didn’t make any of this right.
I placed both hands against his hard chest and managed to push him away. I had to gather all my willpower, but I did it. I broke the kiss.
He pulled away, though only slightly, his hands still on my waist and the back of my head. He let out a tremulous exhale, his eyes closed. His chest shuddered under my hands, and I felt the truth of his feelings. Except, I didn’t want to accept them. How could he be in love with me? I might have welcomed the news a few weeks ago, but now…
