I found Alarick behind the stone formation where he’d found me earlier. He was leaning back against it, and he didn’t look at me when I approached, though he must’ve heard me.
I stopped beside him, but he still didn’t move. Damn it. I really did hurt his feelings. I hated myself for it. All I wanted to do was wrap my arms around him and—
Bite him—
No. I wanted to tell him I loved him. What the fuck was wrong with me?
Oh, right. I was a bloodsucking monster.
“I’m sorry,” I said, leaning my back on the wall next to him. God, he must’ve thought I was so disgusting, like a big, human-sized leech.
“I heard what you said to the others,” he said. “Why didn’t you just tell me?”
“I don’t know,” I said.
“Don’t you trust me?” he asked, and the anguish in his voice broke my fucking heart.
“I was ashamed, okay?” I said. “You might think you’re a monster, but you have other wolves like you. I’m the only vampire here. I knew they’d all be disgusted if I told them. They hate vampires. And you do, too.”
“I don’t hate you.”
“I know,” I said, my throat tightening. “But that doesn’t mean you don’t hate that I’m a vampire.”
“I know what you are, Timberlyn,” he said, turning to face me. “It doesn’t matter to me. I love you.”
I nodded, my throat too tight to speak.
“Just… Don’t keep things from me,” he said, stepping forward and cupping my cheek in his huge palm. “I want to be part of your life. Every part.”
Tears of frustration and hunger pooled in my eyes. How could I explain this ravenous, maddening craving to someone who’d never had it? Suddenly, I missed my vampire friends so bad. Even the ones who had been turned long ago remembered what it was like.
“Tell me what it’s like,” Alarick whispered, leaning closer.
I closed my eyes, trying not to breathe him in. I loved his wild ocean and pine scent, but right now, all I could think about was the smell of his blood underneath it. I could hear it pumping through his veins, calling to me like a siren. I knew wolves didn’t smell good to the other vampires—they smelled like dog. Not to me. Maybe because I was a wolf, too. All I knew was that they might not smell as tasty as humans, but they sure as hell smelled edible. And the hungrier I got, the harder it was to remember they weren’t there for my eating pleasure.
“It’s like wanting something so bad you think you’ll die if you can’t have it,” I said. “But not being able to have it.”
“I know a little about that,” Alarick said, lifting my face and skimming his lips across mine.
My teeth throbbed so hard I gasped in pain, and I covered my mouth, trying to hold myself back from sinking them into his lip.
“What’s wrong?” he asked, looking startled.
A tear spilled down my cheek, and I shook my head. “Can you… Bring me my backpack?’
“Timberlyn,” he said, pulling my hand away from my mouth. His eyes pleaded with me, but I couldn’t show him.
“Please, just go,” I whispered, ducking my head.
“Why?”
“Because I’ll bite you,” I whispered. “I won’t be able to stop myself.”
“So bite me.”
My teeth throbbed again, aching at the thought. “What?” I breathed.
Alarick leaned in, resting a hand on the stone behind me, and lifted his chin. “Go ahead,” he said. “I want to help you.”
“Alarick,” I said, my voice choked with longing. I could see the vein in his throat pulsing, feel the heat of his skin caressing my lips.
“Do it.”
He pressed even closer, until his skin touched my lips. I couldn’t stop myself. The next second, my teeth were sinking into him.
Alarick sucked in a breath, and I tried to remember Viktor’s training through the haze of hunger, but it was so hard. Unlike Viktor’s blood, which I had to suck out, Alarick’s flowed up my teeth and flooded across my tongue, pumping into my mouth until I was nearly choking on it. He stepped closer, his free hand landing on my hip and squeezing me against him.
“Timberlyn,” he said, his voice a rough growl.
“Sorry,” I said, tearing my mouth away and pressing my fingers to my lips. “Shit. I’m so sorry.”
“No,” he said, pulling my hand down from my lips. “That was… Hot.”
“What?”
In answer, he stepped forward, his hips pressing me against the wall. I could feel his hardness biting into me, and my heart flipped in my chest. “Do it again,” he commanded, his voice husky.
“Are you sure?’ I asked, not daring to hope. It had been something unspoken—unspeakable—between me and Viktor. I knew that it turned him on, and he must have known what it was doing to me because he made sure to move against me in just the right way so that I never left his room unsatisfied. But he’d never acknowledged it, and I’d thought it must be something taboo even to vampires.
I’d certainly never dreamed it would be something that anyone besides a vampire would find arousing.
“Does this feel unsure?” Alarick asked, his hips pinning mine and his breath hot on my cheek. He leaned in, baring his throat to me again, and I ate. It was so much better than eating the packets in my bag. His huge, hot hands moved over me, and after the initial hunger subsided, I focused on him as well. My hands slid over his huge frame, his impossibly
