“To me you’re beautiful, honorable, and strong. You’re the first person I’ve ever wanted to bite. But if you don’t want me to …”

Portia let her words hang there, giving him a chance to make a decision.

“You’ve never bitten anybody?”

“I was raised on bottled blood.”

The news appeared to surprise him. She watched how his eyes changed, how he seemingly fought an invisible enemy. A few tense moments passed, before Zane suddenly pulled her into his embrace and buried his face in her hair.

“When we make love, when I push through your hymen, I want you to sink your fangs into me and take as much blood as you want.”

“What if I can’t stop?” The way his blood smelled, she wasn’t sure she could withdraw in time.

“It would be a very sweet death.”

She pulled back and glared at him, only to realize that he was smiling. “How can you make a joke like that?”

“Who said it was a joke?”

“You have a very dark sense of humor, do you know that?” Because this had to be a joke.

“There are a lot of things about me that are dark, baby girl. And for your sake, I hope you’ll never see them.”

Before she could answer, his mouth was back on hers, drowning out any protest on that subject.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Zane deepened his kiss at the same time as he worked himself out of his jeans. Thanks to Portia’s enthusiastic help, he was naked a few moments later. Finally, he pressed her back into the mattress and covered her body with his.

Even though history had taught the world about the atrocities the Nazi’s had committed, and that the Jews weren’t the only ones who’d been marked for elimination, he’d never been able to shake the words they’d used to break him: dirty Jew. A deep-rooted belief that he deserved to be the vermin they’d turned him into at Buchenwald remained, as did the conviction that he’d never be able to cleanse himself of the acts of brutality he’d committed in the years after it.

He could have easily hidden his tattoo from her for a while longer, but something had urged him to point it out to her, eager to see her reaction. He hadn’t expected her to be so kind. However, when Portia had kissed the numbers that had once identified him as a prisoner, he’d felt the chains around his heart loosen. If an innocent like Portia could see past the mark that daily reminded him of his past, then maybe there was hope after all. Hope that one day he’d be free from pain and the need for revenge.

Free to love.

He banned the thought from his mind, and instead brought his attention back to Portia’s enticing body. He was one lucky son of a bitch that she’d gotten it into her head to have him be her first. Knowing that something like this would never happen to him again, he didn’t want to rush the moment. And the fact that she would take his blood while he was deep inside her, made the whole prospect so much sweeter.

Her lips tasted of surrender, and her hands that now roamed freely over his naked torso, spoke their own language, one of desire and passion, of eagerness and curiosity.

He severed his lips from hers and gazed into her face. Her cheeks flamed, and her breath came in shallow pants.

“We’ll take it slowly,” he assured her.

To his surprise, Portia shook her head. “I don’t want slow. I don’t want you to hold back.”

“But you’re a—”

She pressed her finger to his lips, silencing him. “I’m a hybrid. You can’t break me. Please.”

Zane stroked his knuckles over her cheek. “What do you want from me, baby girl?”

“Treat me like a woman you’re passionate about. Pretend you can’t control your desire. It doesn’t matter that it’s not real. Just make me feel it.”

Zane searched her eyes. “Pretend?” He leaned his forehead against hers. “I can’t pretend.”

There was a disappointed sigh, and it almost made him smile.

“I don’t have to pretend.” He brushed his lips over her eyes and kissed them. “You see, Portia …”

He took her wrists and pinned them on each side of her head. Her heartbeat instantly kicked up but she didn’t give him any resistance.

“… what I want is you panting when I thrust into you, and screaming for more, begging me to fuck you harder. Can you pretend for me?”

Portia’s eyes lit up, sending a bolt of heat through him. “What if I don’t need to pretend?”

Zane let a low growl of approval emerge from his chest. “Even if I hurt you?”