Michael’s fangs elongated as I stepped toward him, and the look in his eyes grew sleepy with desire. “I won’t hurt you, Ruby. I promise.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” I said in a hard voice, and shoved my wrist forward, offering it to him. “Let’s just get it over with.”

He took my uninjured wrist tenderly, his thumb brushing over the soft skin. Then he looked up at me, and his pupils were nearly black, they were so dark with hunger. But he only pressed a kiss to my palm. “You don’t believe me when I say I won’t hurt you? I vow it.”

“Says the man with four-inch fangs.”

He grinned, and the fangs seemed even larger. “Two inches. But you flatter my ego.”

I flushed at the innuendo and turned away so I wouldn’t see him maul my wrist. “Just get it over with.”

He reached for my chin and turned me toward him, his expression puzzled, the hunger dilating his eyes abating a little. “Did… did I hurt you badly last time?” He looked miserable at the thought. “When you fed me?”

It was like having my wrist torn from my arm. I nodded, unable to stop the trembling in my body.

His free hand brushed over my cheek, and he looked at me tenderly. “And yet you would feed me again?”

I shrugged, averting my eyes. “You’d do the same for me.”

“I would,” he said, and the words seemed to have more weight than a simple meal should involve.

He snared me around my waist and tugged me close, and I fell forward into his arms. “It’s not supposed to hurt,” he murmured. “The bite is pleasurable.”

I said nothing, but my expression must have said volumes.

Michael tugged me closer. My breasts pressed against his upper body, and he released my hand. It instinctively went to the firm wall of his chest. His skin felt cool against mine but not unappealing. Instead, his hand slid to the collar of my shirt, tugging it away from my neck. “Do you believe me when I promise you that it won’t hurt?”

I froze, instinct and memory warring against the feel of Michael against me. My sex had started to throb with need, my nipples scraping against his chest, hard little pinpricks.

“Do you trust me?” he said.

My fingertips twitched against his chest, and then I nodded slowly.

He leaned in so close that I thought he might kiss me, but he just ran his lips over my jawline.

I shivered against him, my fingers curling just a little.

“The trick with vampires,” he said as he breathed against my throat, “is that our saliva is a bit of a wonder drug. It’s a coagulant and an aphrodisiac all at once.”

I stiffened in his arms. “Aphrodisiac?”

He pulled my hair away from my neck with one hand. The way he held it, I was forced to tilt my head a little, exposing my neck.

“Let me show you,” he said softly. He leaned in and licked my neck at the curve of my collarbone.

The sensation was ticklish and sexy and sent another pulsing flare to the junction of my thighs. That was nice, but it didn’t feel like anything special. “I’m not sure that I’m feeling anything. Maybe shifters are immune—”

“You’re not immune,” he said with a chuckle, and licked the same spot again.

“I still don’t… ohhh…” The spot he’d licked felt amazing. Tingly. Warm. Delicious. My sex suddenly felt hot and slick with need, and my nipples ached, they were so tight. I reached for him, tangling my fingers in his hair. “Oh… I see what you mean.”

He licked at my throat again, more languidly, and I couldn’t stop the moan that rose from my throat.

“We don’t drink from the wrist,” he said against my throat. “Too many delicate bones there packed close together. Not enough surface area. The neck is so much more pleasurable, wouldn’t you agree?”

My hips rose involuntarily, and I dimly realized that I was straddling him. Didn’t care. God, he felt good. My skin felt flushed and hot with need. “Oh, Michael.”

He groaned against my throat. “I love hearing you say my name, Ruby.” He drew in a ragged breath and then nuzzled at my neck once more. “I’m going to drink now, sweetheart.”

My body tensed a little at that, my heart fluttering with fear. Before I could protest, though, I felt his tongue press against my throat once more. Then there was a tiny pinch, and I felt his teeth sink into my throat, felt him pull hard, sucking at my blood.

God, it felt as if he’d thrust deep inside me. I whimpered, and my free hand went to my sex, finding it soaking wet and aching with need. This was such a bad idea, but I didn’t care. I rubbed myself as he drew from me, and I heard a low groan low in his throat. His fingers curled into the curves of my ass as he drank, and I moaned, needing more. Wanting more. My hand slid away from my sex, and I fumbled with the zipper of his pants. His cock was hot and hard under me, and when I ground my hips down on his, he thrust against me with equal heat. He wanted this, too. I didn’t care if it was just the aphrodisiac of his tongue or my own desperate, lonely need, but I needed him deep inside me.

“Ruby,” he whispered softly against my throat before sinking his fangs in again and drinking once more. He lifted his head, and I felt those long fangs slide free of my skin once more. “Are you sure—”

“Yes. I want you,” I whispered. I pushed at his head, encouraging him to return to my neck.

His tongue traced the spilled blood on my skin, licking it away, and then I felt his fangs return, felt his teeth sink deep.

I moaned. My fingers found the hard, velvety length of him. It sprang free from his trousers, and I felt his grip tighten on my hips. I wrapped my fingers around that hard length and sank down over him, my breath sucking in as he seated himself in my tight warmth. It had been a long time since I’d had sex, and he was big—had he always been that big? I whimpered again as his hips gave a jerky thrust and his tongue moved against my neck. I couldn’t tell if he was still sucking, but it didn’t matter. He was deep inside me. I rocked my hips, moaning at how good he felt filling me. My beloved Michael.

He thrust up into me, and I cried out at the delicious sensation. His tongue lapped at my neck as I leaned forward, brushing my nipples against his chest. His hands tugged me down hard every time he thrust upward, and I heard him whisper my name. I rode him, need overtaking me, until I was rocking atop him savagely, heading for a climax, his thrusts becoming just as frantic and jerky as my own. His fingers dug into my hips harder, pulling me down on him with each wild, rough thrust. Just when I was close to hitting the peak, he bit my neck once more. I cried out at the pure, piercing pleasure, my entire body stiffening, and felt him tense underneath me in orgasm. Waves of ecstasy rolled through me, exploding through my shuddering body, until I returned to earth and found myself panting, sweating, and weak in Michael’s arms.

His hands slid up my back, and he pulled me close for a long, hot kiss that tasted of my own blood, his fangs now retracted. I kissed him back, heat flaring anew as his tongue rubbed against my own. The kiss seemed to last forever, and he pressed repeated smaller kisses on my mouth as if he was unable to stop tasting me.

I suddenly thought about what we’d just done and flushed with embarrassment. We’d been reunited for a blink of an eye, and here I was climbing all over him like a jungle gym. Since I wasn’t a one-night-stand type, this might complicate things.

“Thank you, Ruby,” he whispered against my mouth, and pulled me down under the small shelter with him as he moved toward day-slumber.

Those three little words echoed in my head, taunting me, as Michael fell asleep.

Thank you, Ruby.

Thank you? As if I’d handed him a sandwich or something? I’d let him drink from me! We’d shared wild, orgasmic sex! And I got a pat on the shoulder and a thank-you?

Like a friend.

Chapter Five

I decided to sleep in my jaguar form so I would be ready for any surprises. When the sun was about to set, I scouted the area once again, looking for hints that the vampires would be back as soon as the sun went down. When I saw no traces of trouble, I headed back in, shifted to human, and demolished the rest of the food as I waited for Michael to awaken.

After we got out of there tonight, my life could go back to normal. Quiet job, quiet days, quiet nights alone. Normal and lonely. Michael would continue running, since the vampires knew he was in Fort Worth. He’d be gone again just when he was back in my life. Now, when I could date him. Could sleep with him. Could touch him and not worry about endangering others with my lust for him. I touched my mouth, thinking of his kiss. My fingers strayed to my neck, where nothing indicated that I’d been bitten. He’d been right—it had been wonderful.

How many women had he bitten since we’d broken up? I hated that I even wondered, as if I had any claim on him. This was just a hookup with an old flame. I could blame it on the aphrodisiac, but the truth was, I’d wanted him and I’d taken him. Simple as that.

This evening when he awoke, his eyes were bright and his smile brighter. He looked over at me and reached his hand toward mine. “Ruby.”

I stood up, straightening my borrowed shirt. “No time for chitchat. We should get out of here while it’s still early. We can get a head start on the bad guys.”

Michael sat up, the expression on his face inscrutable. “We should talk—”

“Not right now,” I said in an exasperated tone. “Michael, please. I don’t want to live in this dusty old meatpacking plant forever.”

“Of course,” he said in an angry, stiff voice, clearly taking my actions as a rebuff.

And maybe they were. Friends didn’t get all sappy with friends after they had sex, right? I began quickly unbuttoning my shirt. “Where is your closest hideaway?”

“Southwest side of I-35. Other side of downtown. Not a great neighborhood, but that’s what makes it ideal for a hideout.”

“Okay, we’ll go there for now. Then we’ll decide what to do.” I took off the shirt and handed it back to him. This time, his gaze was carefully averted from my nakedness, and for some reason, that hurt. Why did sex have to ruin everything? “I’m going to go in jag form. You’re going to be my owner. I found a strip of fabric that can pass as a collar and some rope, so I’m going to be your exotic pet, all right?”