wide.
"Marissa, good God." He shot his arm around her and pulled her inside.
Overcome with bloodlust, she gripped his biceps, the thirst in her so strong she was liable to bite him where he Page 174
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stood. To keep from ripping his throat open, she yanked out of his hold, but he caught her and spun her around.
"Come over here right now!" He all but threw her on the couch. "You're about to shock out on me."
As she hit the cushions in a heap, she knew he was right. Her body was wildly off balance, her head spinning, her hands and feet numb. Her stomach was an empty, grinding pit, her fangs throbbing, her throat dry as winter, hot as August.
But when he yanked his tie off and popped the buttons on his shirt, she mumbled, "Not at your throat. I can't bear that... not your-"
"You're too far gone for the wrist. You won't get enough and we're out of time."
As if on cue, her vision started to dim and she began to pass out. She heard him swear and then he pulled her on top of him, shoved her face in his neck and...
Biology took over. She bit him so hard she felt his big body jerk and she sucked at him with mindless instinct.
With a great roar, his strength poured into her gut and spread out to her limbs and made her body come back to life.
As she swallowed with desperation, her tears flowed as thick as his blood.
Rehvenge held Marissa loosely, hating the starvation that rode her so hard. She was such a fragile, delicate thing. She should never be in this desperate state, and he ran his hands up and down her willowy back, trying to calm her. While she cried silently, he got pissed. Christ, what was wrong with that male she was so into?
How could he force her to come to another?
Ten minutes later, she lifted her head. There was a little streak of blood on her lower lip and Rehv had to grab onto the sofa arm so he didn't lean up and lick it off.
With satiated grace but a face marked by tears, Marissa eased back against the leather cushions at the other end of the couch and cradled herself with her thin arms. She closed her eyes and he watched the color float back into her wet cheeks.
God, look at that hair of hers. So fine. So lush. So perfect. He wanted to be naked and unmedicated and hard as a stone, with those blond waves all over his body. And if he couldn't have all that, he wanted to kiss her.
Right now.
Instead, he reached for his suit coat, grabbed his handkerchief, and leaned over to her. She jumped as he blotted her tears, and she took the linen square from him quickly.
He went back to his corner of the sofa. "Marissa, come stay with me. I want to take care of you."
In the silence that followed, he thought about where she was staying-and figured the male she wanted had to be at the Brotherhood's compound. "You're still in love with Wrath, aren't you."
Her eyes flipped open. "What?"
"You said you couldn't feed from the male you wanted. Wrath's mated now-"
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"It's not him."
"Phury, then? As a celibate-"
"No, and I-I just can't talk about it, if you don't mind." She looked down at his handkerchief. "Rehvenge, I would really love some time alone. May I sit here for a little while? By myself?"
Even though he wasn't used to being dismissed, especially not from his own turf, he was so willing to cut her some slack. "Stay as long as you like, tahlly. Just close the slider when you leave. I'll remote the alarm after you go."
As he put his suit coat on, he left his tie loose and his shirt collar open because she'd chewed him raw and the bite marks were too tender to be covered. Not that he cared in the slightest.
"You are so kind to me," she said, staring at his loafers.
"Actually, I'm not."
"How can you say that? You never ask for anything in return-"
"Marissa, look at me. Look at me." Dear Virgin in the Fade, she was beautiful. Especially with his blood in her. "Don't kid yourself. I still want you as my shellan. I want you naked in my bed. I want you swelling up with my young in your body. I want... yeah, the whole thing with you. I don't