was forced to share a small amount of my blood with you and now it seems…we are blood bonded. Enlazado por la Sangre.”
“Bonded by blood. Is that why it’s forbidden?”
“No. The blood bond is a completely separate issue. It’s always forbidden to share blood with a human. Vampires share blood with each other when we—” He caught himself. She didn’t need to know that vampires shared blood during sex. “Blood sharing is common, but blood bonding is not. Before you and me, I thought it was just a myth.”
“So, you broke your laws when you gave me your blood? To save my life?”
“Yes.”
“That’s twice now, you know…that you saved me.” Her words trickled off until they were mostly air.
Saved her? Good Lord. “You also almost died because of me.”
“How are you able to control yourself around me now? Especially with my arm like this? Is that why your eyes go black?”
“Yes, I’m afraid so.”
Tiny lines stacked between her brows and around her eyes, punctuating her apparent confusion. “So your eyes darken because you want me. My blood?” Her voice was low and unmistakably husky. Why wasn’t she frightened? “I saw it happen the first time at the auction. Is the urge hard to control?”
He kept his eyes on the road as the Porsche’s headlights tunneled through the night. “Yes, incredibly hard. You had no idea that night what your innocent and unexpected touch did to me. Your hand upon my face. But it’s the hardest to control when I make love to you.” The sound of her elevated heart rate reverberated in his head and stoked the embers of his memory. “It’s during lovemaking that couples regularly share blood. The urge to take yours is almost beyond my comprehension.”
His cock hardened at the thought and he hoped she didn’t see the bulge in his pants. He shifted slightly in his seat. There would be none of that, he thought, as his fingers rubbed anxiously over his naked wrist and what was noticeably missing.
“What would happen if you took my blood again?”
“I would not be able to stop. I would kill you.”
A COUPLE WITH salt and pepper hair—his short, hers pulled to the top of her head in a Gibson-girl style—stood on the well-lit veranda of a huge house. Dom maneuvered the car around the circular driveway and came to a stop under a porte cochere and a wagon wheel chandelier dangling from the center support. With all the river rock and the massive wood support beams, Mackenzie knew this place couldn’t be just a house. It had to be a small hotel or resort.
After climbing out of the car, he said something to the couple as he jogged around the front of the hood to help her out. When their gaze met through the windshield, an odd expression passed across his face before he scowled and turned away.
Mackenzie opened the door.
“Stay right there. Don’t get out.” What? Why? His bossy tone prickled irritatingly under her skin, so she ignored him. Her cramped legs needed stretching.
The woman clambered down the steps with an ambling but efficient gait, bypassing Dom, and stretched out her arms when she reached Mackenzie.
“Mackenzie, this is Shirley Cartwright and that’s her husband, Chuck.”
“Please call me Shirl.” The full-bodied woman gave Mackenzie a tight hug, crushing her against an ample bosom. Mackenzie winced, preparing to feel the stinging pain of her wound, but then she remembered. Dom had healed it.
“Don’t mind Chuck.” Shirl inclined her head toward the house. “He’d hug you, too, if he could, but Dom didn’t want him to get too close. At least, not yet.”
Mackenzie looked over and Chuck lifted a stoic hand to her as Dom took the porch steps two at a time.
“Dom didn’t give me much notice, so I hope I’ve got everything you need down there.” Shirl looked Mackenzie up and down and clucked. “He described you perfectly. Let’s hope the things I picked out from the gift shop will fit. If not, you come up tomorrow and we’ll get you situated.”
“Uh, thank you, but I’d imagine we’ll be leaving by tomorrow.”
Shirl patted Mackenzie’s hand and the lines around the woman’s eyes deepened as she smiled knowingly. “You’ve got that deer-in-the-headlights look. I think I might be able to give you some insight into all this craziness.” Mackenzie raised her eyebrows. Was it that obvious? “We’ll talk tomorrow. Go. Get some rest. You must be exhausted after what you’ve been through. Dom’s a good man, dear. But then you knew