His struggle, his indecision, was a nearly palpable thing, as was his burning fervor. I knew the instant that the first teetering domino fell and Bo lost the battle.
But his loss was my victory. It meant I got what I wanted.
In the blink of an eye, Bo’s resistance gave way to a flood of emotion, bathing me in what I yearned for most: his passion. It exploded onto me and stole my breath, setting my blood on fire.
Without hesitation, without caution, Bo’s tongue stormed my mouth, slipping inside to lick and tease mine. Gripping my waist with his big hands, Bo lifted me, guiding my body until I was straddling him.
Roving my back and my hips, Bo’s hands brought to burning life everything they touched. As he gripped my ribs, his thumbs grazed the sides of my br**sts, sending pulses of pleasure rocketing through my body to the place where our bodies touched most intimately.
He moved beneath me, his need violent. I wiggled atop him, dying to get closer, my need equal to his.
Then, as if he suddenly realized he was spiraling out of control, the tempo of his ardor changed, slowing to a sensually languorous onslaught.
Bo’s palms came to a rest on my hips, his fingertips sliding under the edge of my panties. As his tongue slid rhythmically in and out of my mouth, Bo’s hands dug into my flesh, pulling my soft body firmly against his harder one. My insides melted into boiling hot lava that pooled between my thighs.
I couldn’t contain the moan that flowed from my mouth into Bo’s. His answer was a deep purr that sounded in the back of his throat, vibrating along my nerves and stirring my very core. Goosebumps skittered across my skin.
Bo’s lips left mine and blazed a trail across my cheek and jaw, down to the tender spot beneath my left ear. I arched my back, begging for him to take what I knew he wanted. I could feel his thirst for me, for my blood, for my body, as if we’d never been apart, and I reveled in it.
And the flames raged on.
Against my neck, I felt the scrape of something sharp—his teeth. I knew that if I could see him, his eyes would be a pale, pale green and his skin would be nearly translucent, showing the fine network of vessels just beneath its surface. He would have four sharp canines, two on the top and two on the bottom, begging for the flesh of my throat, for the rich red fluid that pumped through my arteries.
Then suddenly, without warning, Bo pushed me away and I found myself sitting alone in the center of the bed, confused. Gone was Bo’s cool skin, his closeness, the wildfire of his passion.
I looked around my bedroom, searching for his shimmer. But again, I saw nothing.
“Bo?”
Though he didn’t answer, I knew he was still with me. Even if I hadn’t been able to hear his heavy breathing where he stood somewhere in the shadows, I would’ve known he was near. I could still feel his presence like pulses of sweet electricity humming through my veins, like some part of him was actually inside me.
“Bo, what’s wrong?”
“This is why I have to stay away,” he growled, every “s” a hiss in the quietness of the night.
“But why? I want this. I want you.”
“Because it’s not safe and I don’t want to put you in danger.”
His continued disregard of what I wanted, of what I cared about, of what I thought was best for me, got my hackles up for some reason.
“Then why did you come?” I snapped, coming angrily to my knees.
I heard Bo sigh as he moved nearer to where I knelt on the bed.
When he said nothing, I asked again. “Why? Why did you come to me then?”
There was a long pause before he answered.
“Because I can’t stay away,” he confessed softly, tucking a stray lock of hair behind my ear. “Even if you can’t see me, even if you don’t know I’m around, I have to be close to you. But tonight, I got too close. I wanted to touch you so badly that I- I…” He trailed off, regret evident in his voice.
I grabbed his wrist and pressed my cheek into his palm. “Can’t you understand that I feel the same way? It’s killing me not to see you or talk to you or touch you.”
Air hissed through Bo’s teeth with his sharp inhalation. “But I’m a danger to you like this. I’m weak right now and the smell of your blood, of your body all warm with desire.” He groaned. “I’m afraid I’ll hurt you.”
“You won’t hurt me, Bo. I trust you not to. Besides,” I said shuffling closer to him. “You won’t do anything to me that I don’t want you to.”
“That’s not the point, even though it should be. You should be afraid of me, of what my bite could do to you. But even if you’re not, if we exchange blood, it could put you in the crosshairs of whoever’s doing this to me. And I won’t have that. I can’t have that.”
Both his words and his tone were final. I knew there would be no changing his mind, no matter how much I argued.
“Why can’t you feed and come to me when you’re not so…so…thirsty.”
“For one thing, I don’t have a steady supply from the blood bank anymore.”
I thought about his mother, but I said nothing. I didn’t want to broach that deep and painful subject at the moment.
“Can’t Lucius get you some?”
“He might be able to spare a little, but I’ve stayed away to protect him, too.”
“Bo, you can’t do this alone. There are people who love you, who want to help you, and you have to let us.”
Bo rubbed his thumb across my lips and, though I couldn’t see him, I thought he was probably smiling, a tiny, sad quirk of the lips.
“You’re amazing, did you know that?”
“Bo, I’m serious.”
“I know you are, and I hope it won’t be much longer until we can be together.”
That brought me a modicum of consolation, but it still sounded like a goodbye-for-now kind of deal, which set off a pang of dread in my stomach.
“Don’t go,” I said, preempting him. “Stay. Just for a little while longer.”
“I can’t, Ridley. I can’t fight this much longer.”
I wanted to tell him not to, not to even try to fight it, but I knew it was no use.
His mind was made up and I’d just have to wait until he felt it was safe to come again.
“When will I see you again?”
“Soon,” he answered vaguely.