Night Kissed (Chosen Vampire Slayer #1) - Mila Young Page 0,43

to me was plain as day. In that light, I was happy to take possession of her. The muscles in her arm tensed as we made the transfer. Coiling for a punch, maybe? “Settle down, sweetheart,” I told her. “No amount of piss and vinegar is going to get you anywhere at this point.”

“Fuck you!” The expression on her face was completely impassive, betraying nothing. When I walked, she walked, but it wasn’t the restrained gait of a prisoner. She kept her head held high, chin up, eyes defiant.

That attitude made me want her so bad. And I could sense Orion’s eyes on us while we moved farther and farther out of his reach. It was killing the smug bastard to see his prize entrusted to someone else. I knew he wanted to chase after me and threaten to wring my neck until my head spun all the way around if I so much as glanced at her the wrong way. But he had other concerns, such as the small herd of vamps and a few bears still occupying the bar. To them, Orion was no one’s friend. He had no choice but to let us go.

I rode the high of that satisfaction for minutes, leading the girl in the same way a farmer leads a stubborn mule.

“You can let me go, now,” she snapped, tugging from my grip, but I held her tighter. She remained rigid and unyielding the whole way away from the bar. I admired her strength.

“Tell me how you ended up in the middle of that brawl, or were you following me again?” I asked, after a long pause of silence. “That was no place for a mortal.”

The girl frowned. She flicked her pink forelock back from her face. “Who said I was just a mortal?” Her gaze stayed fixed directly ahead, but I wanted her to look at me when we spoke. I remembered she had jewels for eyes.

“Maybe I jumped to conclusions.” I doubted, but I played her game. I reached under her chin and turned her face toward me, just hard enough that she wasn’t able to resist. It was not my intention to hurt or destroy her. The more time I spent in her uniquely otherworldly presence, the more I came to understand that she was a trophy of some real value, to be handled with care. Why, I couldn’t quite say.

“I’d say so, yeah.” She tugged against my hold, and her resistance showed no signs of lessening, which only increase my desire exponentially. “Look, do us both a favor and don’t try to connect with me, okay? It’s not going to work.”

“At all?” I tugged her a little closer, into the sphere of heat from my body. Her breath caught slightly in her throat, which made me smile. I loved having that kind of effect on her. “How about if the connection is purely physical?” My hand slid down her arm until I reached the bare skin of her wrist. She shuddered slightly as we touched skin to skin for the first time. It was then that I gave her a little taste of warmth. A preview.

She tried not to react, but I saw the way her eyes widened for a fraction of a second. She might not have admitted it, but the girl was hooked. As I moved in to kiss her soft, full lips, I thought about how infuriated Orion was going to be. I thought about how he might actually try to kill me.

And then I put my mouth on hers. Consequences could come later. It was time for pleasure.

Chapter 14

Veronica

Seth tasted like sharp, acrid smoke that left a sweet burn on my tongue. I didn’t want to want him. The moment the shock of his boldness had left my system, I shoved him back, breaking us apart. Still, he lingered for longer than I liked, and his eyes held mine unfalteringly.

I wished he was hideous, like I had grown up believing all demons were. If only this hellish creature’s vicious, brutal reality were reflected in his face. But no; he was cruelly handsome, his sharp features somehow only enhanced by his simmering rage. Short dark hair sat messed up from the breeze, eyes that never left me seemed to slide right through my soul. Behind them, I was certain I saw a flame that most likely connected him with the pit of Hell where he came from.

“Excuse me,” I protested, a little too breathlessly. “I barely know