Bound by Danger (The Alliance #6) - Brenda K. Davies Page 0,21
felt it.”
Lucien tugged at his filthy hair again. He hadn’t wanted to kill her, but as he tried to deny it, the ugly truth burrowed through him. Yes, he did. The second his hands touched her, he had every intention of draining her dry. So why didn’t he?
He frowned as he tried to puzzle it out. What he wouldn’t give for a shower and some blood to clear his mind. His gaze fell to the pulse in her neck, and he licked his lips as he recalled the delicious, honeyed taste of her.
When her pulse skyrocketed and she stepped back, he tore his gaze away before he scared her more. He couldn’t continue like this. His strength was dwindling, his ability to control others was gone, and if he didn’t feed soon, he might collapse or snap. And what would happen to her if either of those things occurred?
The thought spurred him into action. “We have to move.”
“Are you going to answer my question?” Pushing him was a bad idea; she saw the hunger in his gaze when it fell on her neck, but she didn’t understand any of this, and she deserved answers.
“We can walk and talk.”
His urgency caused Callie to glance warily behind her. However, the street remained mostly deserted. From a few houses away, people emerged from the open doorway and descended the stairs, but they didn’t look at them.
She was alone with this man—no, this vampire, but he was the only one who knew the truth of what happened to her, and he could protect her. Which was kind of laughable, considering he looked as if she could push him over.
Resigning herself to her fate, Callie started walking. If he later turned against her and killed her, she would have no one to blame but herself. However, she couldn’t stand there doing nothing.
Lucien returned to the sidewalk and cupped her elbow. He stayed to the shadows while he led her down the street.
“Why did you take me from there?” Callie asked again. “Why didn’t you kill me or take one of the others?”
“I don’t know,” Lucien gruffly admitted.
“You don’t know?”
“That’s what I said.”
She glowered at him. He’d saved her life, but he was kind of a prick.
“I have no idea what compelled me to grab you and run when all I craved was drinking every last drop of your blood. It’s all I still want to do.”
He shouldn’t have admitted it, and the second the words left his mouth, he started kicking himself in the ass, but he’d never been one to hold back or bite his tongue. Still, he was trying to help her feel safe, and he wasn’t helping with that at all.
Callie tried to pull her arm free of his grasp, but he refused to relinquish her. She resisted the childish impulse to kick him. It would probably result in her death, but she’d love to kick him in the nuts. At least she’d get to hear him squeal like a baby before he killed her.
“I won’t harm you,” he said.
“Those words aren’t exactly reassuring after you just admitted to wanting to kill me.”
“If I planned to kill you, I would have done it in that pit. And then I would have killed the other women. It’s what they intended for me to do; it’s why you were there and why I was there.”
“Then why didn’t you?”
When his gaze shifted to her, she forced herself not to flinch away from those red eyes, which were the most unnerving things she’d ever seen.
“Because of you,” he stated.
“Me?”
“Yes, you. I don’t know what it is about you, and I’m too fucking thirsty to figure it out, but I stopped because of you.”
Chapter Ten
Before she could reply, he pulled her into an alley. A cold sweat broke out on her skin as she realized no one could see them in here. She highly doubted anyone on that street would have helped her, but having people around had given her a little security. It was gone.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“Until I feed, I’m not much good to either of us. I can’t….”
Lucien lowered his head and, using the heel of his hand, slapped his forehead a few times as he tried to regain control of his jumbled thoughts. But the word hungry had started to replay on incessant, whiny loop in his head. He didn’t know if he despised his lack of control or that whiny tone more.