Bless The Beauty - By Stacey Kennedy Page 0,39

all. Oh, I didn’t like where this was going at all and felt the need to justify myself. “That was different.”

Kellen arched a brow and gave a sideways glance. “And just how was that different?”

“Yes, Hadley, do tell us,” Chase prodded with a sly tone. “How was that different?”

My gaze hit Chase, then Kellen and I repeated the move a couple times. After a moment of that ridiculous move, my eyes narrowed as I pointed at them. “Don’t even think of it, do you hear me?”

Kellen grinned innocently, Chase mirrored it. “There will be no ganging up on me, got it?”

Kellen took my pointed finger in his hand and kissed the tip. “You cannot make all the rules you know.”

“Yes, I can,” I said adamantly before I glanced back at Chase with a stern look. “You needed to sleep. I was being considerate. Really, nothing happened here except dark sky passing overhead.”

Chase didn’t look settled. His jaw clenched a final time before he looked out the window and let out an annoyed breath from his mouth. “I take it we are here then.”

I was about to respond, but Kellen interjected. “Your way of doing this, Hadley, is absurd. You are a vampire. Walk in, capture their gaze, ask what you need and get out.

You could go through this whole process in two minutes, but you resign yourself to phone calls and preposterous conversations.”

Here we go again. I was getting tired of explaining myself and the way I worked, but he needed to hear this. “Just as vampires have laws, so do mortals. This is how they do things. I follow their ways because it’s the right thing to do, Kellen.” Yes, my voice might have held a bit of a sneer. He deserved it.

Kellen manoeuvred the car toward the curb and cut the engine. “It’s a ridiculous amount of wasted time.”

“You’re an immortal.” I waved my hand through the air. “All you have is time.”

“I’m with Kellen,” Chase groaned. “The catnap didn’t do it for me. If you have ways of cutting this time in half, I wouldn’t be opposed. Finding this girl then getting home and to bed sounds all too good.”

I jumped out of the car and slammed the door behind me. “You’re still tired?” I asked, but really didn’t need to. I could see the exhaustion set hard on his features and the dark circles surrounded his eyes. His body looked heavy and without strength.

Chase nodded slowly. “Fucking exhausted.”

The weight of everything still hadn’t lifted from him. What he needed was a good twelve hours of sleep in order to pull himself back together. But we didn’t have time for that. I glanced around quickly and found a big maple tree off to the side of the building.

“Come with me.” I took Chase’s hand and yanked him with me.

At the tree, I stepped behind it and pulled Chase close to hide away from the streetlights diming down on us. My fangs pressed against my gums before they released.

Immediately, I bit down on my wrist before I held it up as the blood dripped down my forearm.

“Go on.” I nodded encouragingly to Chase.

He cocked his head, his expression blank. “Go on with what?”

I gestured toward my arm, which only caused the blood to drip faster as I raised it to his face.

“Have a drink. It will give you a boost.”

Chase’s eyes were trained on my bloody wrist, his nose wrinkled in apparent disgust.

“I cannot deny that this isn’t exactly as appealing when you aren’t standing in front of me nude.”

Tough guy was unsure of himself and I had to admit I enjoyed making him squirm.

But really, I just wanted him to feel better. Seeing him so tired tugged at my heart.

Considering it was me who caused it. “Just go on, trust me.”

“I already had lots of it,” Chase retorted, trying to sideswipe my offer. “Why do I need more?”

“You’re a mortal, bloke.” Kellen smacked Chase on the back with a loud thud. “You used your energy elsewhere and burned the effects off.”

It only took moments for the wariness on Chase’s face to fade. He sucked in a deep breath and with purpose, stepped forward, grabbed my arm and raised it to his mouth.

The second his lips touched my skin, his eyes closed and he groaned deeply.

My only response was to shudder out a sigh. Feeling his lips tight around my arm, the deep tugs he took on my wrist as he filled himself with my blood, was exhilarating.

Kellen