the mattress, drawing her down on top of him, her legs straddling his.
Holding her close, he rolled over and tucked her beneath him. She gasped as she felt the evidence of his desire, felt a rush of apprehension when she dared look at him. His gaze burned into hers, so hot she was surprised it didn’t set her hair on fire. She was acutely aware of the weight of his body pressing down on hers. His musky scent enveloped her, arousing her still more.
She bit down on her lower lip, afraid to move. Afraid to breathe for fear he might read it as an invitation. Vampire.
He went suddenly still.
She didn’t know if that was a good sign or not. She wondered again why she wasn’t more afraid of him, why she was so drawn to him. Sometimes she felt as if she had been waiting for this man, this moment, her whole life.
“I should have warned you,” he said, his voice gruff. “My hunger and my desire are closely entwined.” His fingertips settled on the pulse throbbing rapidly in the hollow of her throat.
Now he tells me, she thought—and wondered which he wanted more, her virtue or her blood.
“I’ll leave that up to you.”
She swallowed hard. Then, moving ever so slowly, she offered him her arm.
“Not this time,” he growled.
Before she could decide what he meant, he lowered his head to her neck. Fear shot through her, followed by a wave of intense sensual pleasure. She closed her eyes, her fingers tangling in his hair to hold him close.
He was drinking from her. It was far more sensual than having him drink from her wrist. She was floating, drifting on a crimson sea, weightless as a feather.
When she came back to earth, he was gone.
Callie sat up slowly, a little confused as to what had just happened between them. She had never expected things to get so hot and heavy, or to escalate so fast.
She lifted a hand that was none too steady to her throat. He had never taken so much before. Had she been in danger? She remembered Quill saying his kind didn’t kill their prey. But there was a first time for everything, and she couldn’t help feeling that she was lucky to be alive.
* * *
Quill stormed through the city’s back streets, striking anything that got in his way—trees, block walls, trash cans, stop signs.
He could have killed her. The knowledge—the fear—burned through him like holy water against preternatural flesh. He had been so close to taking it all, to sheathing himself in her sweet flesh as he buried his fangs in her throat.
In his six hundred years, he had never felt such an overwhelming desire for any other woman. Why Callie? And why did her blood taste so damnably familiar?
Witch blood, he thought. It reminded him of witch blood.
Frowning, he slowed to a walk, hands shoved into his pockets.
In his long existence, he had only taken blood from one witch, and that had been over a hundred years ago. She had been a pretty young woman. He thought her to be in her mid-twenties. Later, he had learned that she was older. Much older. The sexual attraction between them had been instantaneous. They had made love that very night. He had hoped for a long-term affair but after that first encounter, she had refused to bed him again. When he’d asked why, all she’d said was that it wasn’t meant to be. They had continued to spend time together for several months before he’d moved on. Funny that he remembered her so clearly when he barely remembered any of the other women he’d known.
Muttering an oath, he came to an abrupt halt. He even remembered her name. Eva something. No, not Eva. Ava. Ava, who’d had the same honey-gold hair as Callie, the same incredibly deep blue eyes.
* * *
Callie spent the morning shopping online for the best price on a camera she had seen in a magazine. After making her choice, she added a case and a couple of new lenses. When that was done, she went out to lunch. And all the while, she found herself wondering about Quill. Where was he? He tended to sleep during the day, she mused, then remembered he kept a lair somewhere. No doubt he had gone there.
She should be relieved he was out of the house, but she couldn’t help wondering if she would ever see him again.