Page 15 of Sweet Inferno

And I wanted him to.

What the hell is wrong with me?

Vampires and witches were a no go. We didn’t mix. We weren’t supposed to be cordial, let alone intimately connected, but that was exactly what I wanted.

“Why does it have to be me?”

His mood shifted, jaw tight, fists clenched at his sides. I moved back but he followed and I made contact with one of the metal supply racks. His hands went to the rack near my head and his lowered. The warmth of his breath ghosted over the side of my face right before his nose trailed down my neck.

“It’s been a week and a half.”

The words landed in the pit of my stomach. The mental math came easy. Was he saying I was his last encounter?

“Me…” rushed out before I followed with. “You haven’t since me?”

“Nobody, since you,” he admitted.

“There was a club full of women who paid for the experience. Just feed from one of them.”

His lips brushed my neck. “Trust me, I tried. I’ve been back several times since that night. I was looking for you.”

“I wasn’t coming back,” I stated adamantly.

He growled. “I’m aware. Pissed me off when I couldn’t find you but I decided that’s how shit goes, so I invited another woman.”

Jealousy twisted in my stomach when it shouldn’t have.

“She sat on my lap, offered her throat.” His teeth grazed my skin. “The exact same way you did. I felt her body on mine, smelled her blood and her pussy, heard her heart beating wildly with anticipation, but none of that shit appealed to me. I wanted you and she wasn’t you. I left.”

My pulse thumped erratically. He licked the vein in my neck then pulled away so I had access to the orange glow of his eyes. They were now rimmed in red.

“I don’t get it.”

“Neither do I.”

“Then what are you saying? Why can’t you feed from anyone else?”

The muscles in his jaw flexed as the veins moving from his neck began to illuminate more.

“It’s rare but shit like this happens. All it takes is one taste…”

“I’m not your mate,” I said firmly.

He smirked, exposing platinum fangs. “Nah, you’re not. You just rejected me and I didn’t feel pain. At least not like that, but I do feel hunger. I want you. I recognize something in your blood. It’s calling to me, screaming that I need you. I’m drawn to you, connected in a way that creates a need no one else can satisfy. There’s no other option for me after tasting you. I don’t want anyone else.”

“This is crazy.”

“Probably, but you feel it too.”

“You don’t know me.”

I almost jumped out of my skin when he lifted a hand and the pad of his thumb moved over the bite mark on my neck. It was barely showing anymore but I felt it throbbing the second he made contact.

“What I know is I want you. It’s all I can think about.” His voice grew deeper. “Can I have you?”

Why the hell aren’t you scared, Uri?

I should have been terrified and wasn’t. I had been thinking about him since that night too but didn’t allow my thoughts to go too far because I was afraid of ending up in this exact situation.