Page 25 of Donovan
And then he jerked back suddenly with a sharp inhale, breaking the kiss. His fingers lifted to his lip, swiping at a single bead of blood.
“Ow,” he muttered.
I froze. The scent of his blood hit me like a hammer. It was strong. My senses sharpened, my vision narrowing, my body coiling tight.
The hunger, the very thing I thought I had pushed away, lunged forward again, vicious and eager. Then Donovan laughed.
A soft chuckle at first, then deeper, more amused, like he actually found something funny in all of this. And to my absolute disbelief, I laughed too. It was sharp, broken, but real.
Because what else could I do?
I had been drowning in hunger, in rage, in fear. I had been so sure I was a lost cause.
But now, with Donovan cursing at his own clumsiness and me realizing I hadn’t ripped him apart in a blind frenzy? It was ridiculous.
It was just a bandaid. A temporary fix for something much, much worse. But for now? For the first time in what felt like forever, I felt like myselfagain.
CHAPTER SIX
DONOVAN
After our kiss,Declan had finally calmed. With the sun creeping over the horizon, I somehow managed to coax him into sleep.
The day passed in uneasy silence, free of incident. But the moment night fell and I stepped back into the room, I knew something was wrong.
Declan was always awake at night. He sat on the edge of the bed, hunched forward, his hands buried in his hair. His entire body was tense, shoulders tight like coiled springs.
And the air around him felt charged, thick with something dark and dangerous. I didn’t have to see his face to know his eyes were glowing with hunger.
“Declan,” I said, carefully, keeping my voice steady. “You need to stay inside.”
His fingers tightened in his hair, his jaw clenching so hard I thought he might crack his own teeth.
“I can’t do this, Donovan.” His voice was rough, ragged with strain. “I feel like I’m losing myself.”
I took a step closer. “You’re not.”
His head snapped up, and for a second, I froze.
His eyes locked onto mine, burning with hunger, with need. But beneath that, I saw the war raging inside him. He was still in there, fighting. He hadn’t given in. Not yet.
“I can hear everything,” he whispered. “The animals outside, their hearts beating. The blood rushing through their veins. I can smell it.”
He swallowed hard, hands trembling as he clenched them into fists. “It’s driving me insane.”
If he thought those words would scare me, he was wrong. I knelt in front of him, gripping his wrists. “You’re stronger than this.”
He let out a bitter laugh. “Am I? Because right now, I feel like I’m barely holding on.”
The air between us was heavy. He was getting steadily worse. Closer to breaking.
The thought of him losing control, of him doing something he’d never forgive himself for, made my stomach twist with something close to fear.
I squeezed his wrists. “I won’t let you lose yourself.”
For a second, his hands flexed, and I swore he was about to grip me back. But he didn’t. He pulled away, raking a hand through his already messy hair.
“You don’t get it,” he muttered. “This hunger… it’s hard to describe.”
