The Forbidden(22)

He smiled. The thought, either way, was appealing. "You're not afraid I'll get greedy and flat-line you?"

"Then how would you get out of here, since only I know how to get past the barriers?"

He chuckled. "True, but when we go hunting, maybe-"

"No humans," she said firmly, now standing to cross the room. "Do that, and neither you nor I will be able to get back into this lair. That's how it works."

"That's some real f**ked-up rules, baby."

"I didn't make them, but for the last twenty or so years, that's how it's been."

"So, tell me, for real, you've never broken a human vein? Never made a live kill?"

She didn't immediately answer. "I've taken a vein, but never one that had after-a-hunt adrenaline coursing through it."

"Then you've never-"

"Shut up," she snapped. "I don't want to hear about it, think about it, or even consider-"

"Why? Because you might start fantasizing about it?"

"No, because it's cruel." She paced to the far side of the room. "I know you're a master, but I will not stay in here listening to your seduction crap. Either shut the hell up or get out and make it on your own."

"Okay, okay. Chill," he said, chuckling, coming nearer to her. "My bad."

"Yes. Your bad," she said, trying to ignore his hands as they gently caressed her arms.

"Since you were made, you never got with one of our kind again?"

She shook her head. "I have someone. I've told you that."

"But he's human."

"Yes, he's human and a man with a good heart."

"But he's human."

"And I love him."

Yonnie brushed her ear with the tip of his nose. "But... he's human."

"Yes."

"And, I'm a master."

"Yes."

He stroked the side of her cheek, and ran the pad of his thumb over her mouth, thoroughly pleased when her lowered fang nicked his flesh. "Damn, whoever made you made you righteous, baby."

"Shut up."

"A master ever call you to his lair before... just you, a fourth-generation female, for a one-on-one?"

"No, and it doesn't matter."

His hands trailed down her arms, again creating a slight shudder within her. "You sure?"

"Completely."