Some of Elise's resolve wavered as Tegan came in behind her to his bedroom. There was a savage intensity in his slow steady stride and in the unblinking gaze trained on her. Suddenly she felt as if she were standing before a predator while it measured its options, preparing to close in for the kill.
How do you want... She let the words trail off, uncertain how to proceed now that she actually had him here. Where shall I...?
The bed, came his flat reply.
He began pulling off his black knit shirt, baring his glyph-marked torso. Their normal henna hue was deepening now, no longer the neutral shade indicating a placid mood, but blushing darker, the patterns beginning to saturate. Elise sat down on the very edge of the mattress and turned her head to avert her eyes from him. She heard the crush of fabric as Tegan set the shirt aside and came nearer to the bed.
You're overdressed, he said, his warm breath tickling the side of her bare neck. His presence so close to her was almost as startling as his words. Elise turned an anxious glance on him. You mean for me to disrobe? I don't see why I sh--
You will, he said, leaving no room for argument. If I were a cultured Darkhaven male and not the crude warrior that I am, I doubt you'd expect me to receive you fully clothed.
It was true. Respect for the act of blood- bonding between vampire and Breedmate demanded that both parties come to each other without concealment, coercion, or reservation. Naked in body, commitment, and intent.
Tegan reached down to unfasten the zipper on his low-slung blue jeans.
As they sagged on his trim pelvis, Elise's eyes fell unwillingly to the ridges of taut muscle that defined him, and to the trailing pattern of dermaglyphs that quite obviously continued all the way down to his naked, swelling groin. He wore nothing beneath, she realized in a state of instant panic.
Please, she gasped. Tegan, please. Will you...leave them on?
He didn't reply, but he slowly pulled the denim back together and dragged the zipper up. She couldn't help noticing that the button at the top stayed undone, baring a small vee of his smooth tawny skin.
That's the only request you get tonight, he said in a deep rasp. You still have time to reconsider. But not much. Now disrobe, or ask me nicely to let you leave.
He was testing her. She knew he was deliberately pushing her now, probably so sure that he could make her change her mind with a few menacing words. Really, she should be afraid. Not just of being alone with a warrior like Tegan, but also of the intimate, sacred act she was about to defile by drinking from a male she had no intention of taking as her mate. Truly, she degraded them both by asking Tegan to service her like this, and if he was disgusted by the thought--or by her--she could hardly blame him.
What's it going to be, Elise?
She stood up, too aware of him watching her, waiting for her to bolt. With only the slightest tremble in her fingers, she began to lift the hem of her tunic and drew it up over her head.
Tegan's warm breath ceased. He went utterly still beside her, but she could feel heat rolling off him as she set her top down on the bed.
She crossed her arms over the modest white cotton bra she wore, and turned a questioning look on him.
When Tegan finally spoke, his voice was thick, obstructed by the points of his gleaming white fangs. Your pants too. You can keep the rest on for now.
She stripped out of her jeans as quickly as she could, then sat back down on the edge of the bed.
Move to the middle, and face me sitting on your knees.
As she scooted to the center of the king- sized mattress, Tegan came up onto the bed as well. He prowled forward on his knees, until only a foot of space separated them. The pupils in the heart of his green irises began to thin, narrowing down by degrees into vertical slits. When he parted his lips to speak, his fangs seemed enormous.
Last chance, Elise.
She gave a shake of her head, incapable of talk now. Tegan snarled something nasty under his breath, then brought his wrist up to his mouth. With his eyes on hers, he bared his fangs and sank them into the flesh below his palm.
Dark red blood dripped from the wound, falling softly, steadily, onto the gray sheets.
Come here, he said, holding his arm out to her, his lips stained crimson from his bite.
With her eyes closed, heart stuttering in her breast, Elise leaned forward. She put her hands under his thick forearm and carefully lifted his bleeding punctures to her mouth. There, she hesitated, knowing there would be no turning back. With one taste, she would be bound to this deadly male. Aware of him always, like a living warmth buzzing in her veins, until the time should come that one or the other of them would die.
But she would be stronger too.
Her psychic torment would be lessened, far easier to manage. Her body would rejuvenate, require less work to keep it fit and healthy.
Her promise to Camden wouldn't feel so hollow once she had some of Tegan's power coursing through her veins.
But to use him like this?
She glanced up and found him staring down at her, his lips peeled back and glistening, his breath raking coarsely through his teeth. His dermaglyphs were livid with color now, strikingly beautiful on so much sculpted muscle and golden skin.
Do it, he snarled, that fierce gaze daring her to take him to her mouth...damning her for it.
Elise bent down over his wrist and carefully opened her mouth to receive him. The instant her lips touched his skin, Tegan hissed, arcing sharply. Elise drew gently, using her tongue to lap at the twin openings in his skin. His blood was hot and tingly as it slid down her throat, filling her with a heat that soon became a roar of swelling, compounding power.
It hit her so fast, she moaned from the intensity, feeling instantly overwhelmed. Warmth boiled through her limbs and into her core, pulsing hard, rolling like a tide.