Page 12 of Blood Moon Bound

Everything had changed after that.

My thirst for revenge had overridden everything else. Proving what Douglas did, making him pay became everything.

And Delphine became my means to an end.

She’d become my way of tipping Douglas over the edge, of sending him into a rage, of making a mistake and publicly giving me the reason I needed to execute him.

Walking into that castle and taking Delphine—his stepdaughter, his most prized possession—from him, and right under his fucking nose, had felt as good as I’d hoped. The piece of shit had reacted as I’d predicted the moment he realized who had come for her. That the money and the accolades, the connections and rise in society he thought was coming to him when Delphine mated one of The Five, wouldn’t be coming.

Now he wanted me dead, so badly he’d sent an assassin after me the night of the ceremony, while I’d been fucking blood drunk on the taste of his sweet little stepdaughter. I should have been prepared for it. I still couldn’t believe I’d momentarily dropped my guard.

I couldn’t let it happen again. It was only a matter of time before Albertan sent someone else after me, giving me a reason, in the eyes of Vampire Court, to finally execute him.

I’d thought about all these things, planned for them. What I hadn’t thought about or planned for, was what would happen once I had Delphine here with me. I had no defense, no battle plan to fight the way I felt around her. Christ, feelings I hadn’t experienced in too long to remember were slowly but surely reawakening. The way I’d lost my damn mind when she’d straddled me and sunk her delicate little fangs into my vein, drinking from me for the first time. The way she got lost in the taste of my blood, of chasing the first flames of her desire.

Christ, that hadn’t been a mere awakening. Delphine had detonated in my arms. Pussy so drenched she’d soaked my pants, coming hard twice for me.

I shoved my fingers through my hair. I couldn’t allow myself to have this female. She’d never be my mate in truth, I wouldn’t allow it. The moment I had what I needed to destroy Douglas, I would leave. Leave her to get on with her own life.

The war may be over, but I was still a warrior. Taking a mate, that kind of life, it wasn’t for me. I’d given up that dream when Samara was murdered and I learned who was behind it.

I wouldn’t despoil her memory, not with the stepdaughter of the sadistic male who’d ended her life.

I’d never forgive myself for it.

* * *

It was early evening when I finally left my office. I needed a shower and some fucking sleep, but the clink of cutlery had me pausing outside the dining room, and though I knew who I’d see, I couldn’t resist stopping in the doorway for a greedy glimpse of her.

Delphine, wearing a bright dress, her dark hair shining, a long silken curtain hanging down her back, sat at my enormous mahogany table. Under the muted light, she looked like a bright and shining star in a dark and moody night sky.

Platters of food were spread out in front of her, more than she could eat on her own. Her plate had only a few things on it. I enjoyed a meal a few times a week, not because I required it but because I liked the taste. Delphine was still young enough that she needed to have human food more often, though.

As for blood, I craved it less than her thanks to several lifetimes of war and being forced to go without. I also had the kind of self-control that only came with age. When I needed to feed now, I went to The Vault, my brother Nero’s feeding club in the city, where people who wanted to be bitten offered themselves to blood drinkers. My gaze slid to Delphine’s slender throat, and my mouth went dry. The idea of feeding from anyone else, alarmingly, no longer appealed.

No, the little female, the memory of her taste, was fucking with that self-control and driving me near feral with hunger.

She glanced up then, spotting me watching her. Color hit her cheeks instantly, and she quickly looked down. Walk away. That’s what I should do, but my feet carried me into the room all on their own. Her innocence called to the predator in me, and the urge to play with my prey before I pounced, pounded through me.

And her refusal to look at me? It was making me insane. I didn’t know why, but I wanted, needed her eyes on me, even though I knew I’d see only fear and disgust.

Walk away, now.

I should listen to the voice in my head but instead I strode across the room and sat in the seat closest to her.

Her gaze darted up to me from under her lashes, then back down. “Good evening, Constantine.”

Her face was bright red and her voice shaky. Always so polite when she saw me, always so restrained and well behaved. But I knew if I offered her my vein now, instead of drinking it from the wineglass sitting in front of her, she’d detonate for me again, just as she had the first night. Yes, I wanted to feed her again, badly, but so far I’d resisted, letting blood for her instead, then giving it to Alice, my cook, to pour for her evening meal.

Her throat trembled and her gaze slid to the glass and back to her meal.

“Drink, Delphine,” I said, the monster rising to the surface.

Her gaze shot to me. “Oh, I…I’m not really thirsty—”

“Why are you lying to me?” Twisted anticipation filled my gut as I reached for a piece of steak, nice and bloody, the way I liked it, and dropped it on my plate. Yes, I found I had an appetite right now.

Her lashes fluttered as she looked everywhere but at me. I could see her mind racing behind her downcast eyes, searching for an excuse, then she stilled, like a pretty little mannequin when she realized her only option was the truth. “I’ve never really fed in front of anyone before,” she said.