in my throat.
I opened my lips again. Fangs, super speed, mind-control stuff. What do you have?
Spelling the word backward proved futile too. The bastard had me trussed up nice and tight. What a dick.
I squeezed more moisturiser onto my hand and propped my foot on the edge up of the leather bed frame to work it into my smooth legs.
“Let me in.”
I froze, my muscles coiling to run at the voice rumbling through my door.
Three words spoken by him. That’s all it took to undo the careful ministrations of the last hour or two. Fear took me first. Anger close behind. Loathing curled my fingers into claws while terror begged me to hide. In a strange twist, the heart-pounding part was the easiest to manage—I’d already had three days of managing that at Live Right. It made me realise how muted Kyros was until last night. How dull his eyes had appeared in our prior interactions. When he’d dropped his human act, I’d nearly expired on the spot. Literally.
It had to be a power thing. Kyros was definitely in charge around here, so I assumed he was the strongest. At least in his clan. Which meant there were other clans—who he didn’t get along with judging by his accusation that I was a spy. Maybe I could use that to my advantage, but the rebellious thought seemed overly ambitious considering I couldn’t talk about a single thing to do with vampires.
At least my sanity routine had shown me what I needed to do next. I had to get myself to safety and to protect my loved ones. To do that, I had to keep the vampire leader happy.
Which meant not irritating him.
Which meant I couldn’t show a lick of my anger around him. Anger, I could hide. Fear, not so much.
“Sir, you gave orders that you were not, under any circumstances, to gain entry into Miss Tetley’s room.”
I tensed at his furious answering snarl.
That was all it took for the vampire guarding me to open the door. For the first time, I considered that the guard wasn’t there to keep me in, but to keep Kyros out.
Fuck.
The vampire, dressed only in low-riding black sweatpants, strode in the room. I caught a peek of a white-faced young woman before he slammed the door shut.
He looked straight at me.
Then stilled.
Not like a human—or a crocodile waiting to ambush prey. He went as still as stone, his eyes riveted on my ass.
My eyes widened. “Shit.”
I was still in the leg propped up on the bed while wearing my G-string and bra pose like I was starring in a porn film. I hastily lowered my leg.
Kyros’s eyes went to my breasts as they bounced with the change of position. Really, body? I swung my wet hair to cover my chest, and his chest rumbled.
I couldn’t win.
His eyes went to the area between my thighs only clothed in a scrap of sheer black material. My face didn’t need to present for what he had in mind. Which was probably why he ignored it. Practical.
My heart sputtered in my chest.
Why wasn’t the vampire speaking or moving? What was he planning? I blew out a shaking breath, noticing how perfect his gold-tinged skin was. My fingertips itched to run themselves over the smooth plains of his chest.
He took a step forward, and a gasp left my lips as the wall of fire from last night slammed into me hard enough that my knees folded.
I sank onto the bed, body trembling with the sudden heat.
“Kyros,” I pleaded. “Stay back.”
Last night, I wasn’t able to reason through the cloud of lust whatsoever. Four metres separated us where last night there was none. Whatever this fire was, distance helped to keep my mind clear. He couldn’t come any closer.
Kyros had snarled outside the door, but now his voice held that dream-like quality—just like last night.
“You’re testing the blood compulsion,” he said softly.
Oh crap, he could feel that? My terror over his sudden presence here subsided somewhat—though the burning flood sweeping through me didn’t leave room for terror if I were honest. An ironic mercy.
“Don’t do that again. I don’t like it.” The vampire took another step forward. “It woke me.”
“Kyros, no. Don’t come any closer.” I scrambled back into the far corner of the huge bed, as far from him as possible.
His nostrils flared, and his eerie voice drifted to me. “There are two things you should never do in my presence, Miss Tetley.”
I moaned as he took another menacing