Witness his reaction when I called you by accident.
But he's a practical man.
He knows all about desperate choices." I sat down beside him, all too conscious of the cool temperature of his body, cooler, I thought than usual.
I was glad to know that this would help him, too.
I was really, really tired of causing all my friends nothing but grief.
He brushed my hair away from my neck, and I caught his hand.
"What about the wrist?" The last time he'd bitten my wrist.
He shook his head.
"It's more painful.
Too many nerves near the surface." He looked at me.
"Do you trust me?" "I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't." "Okay.
I'm going to restrain you a little because if you jerk while I'm still at your neck, you might make me cut through the wrong thing and you could bleed to death." He didn't pressure me, just sat on the plush bench seat as if he could stay there the rest of my life.
"How?" I said.
"I'll have you fold your arms over your stomach, and I'll hold them there." I did a panic check, but Tim had never restrained me that way.
I tried not to think about how he'd held me down and was only moderately successful.
"Go up to the front of the van," Stefan said.
"The keys are in the ignition.
You'll have to drive yourself home because I can't stay here.
I have to hunt now.
I'll--" I wrapped my arms around myself and leaned against him.
"Okay, do it." His arm came slowly around my shoulders and over my right arm.
When I stayed put, he put his hand over my arms in such a way that I couldn't free myself.
"All right?" He asked calmly, as if need hadn't turned his eyes jewel- bright, like Christmas lights in the dark van.
"All right," I said.
His teeth must have been razor-sharp because I didn't feel them slice through skin, only the cool dampness of his mouth.
Only when he began to draw blood did it start to hurt.
Who feeds at my table? The roar in my head made me panic as Stefan's bite had not.
But I held very still, like a mouse when it first notices the cat.
If you don't move, it might not attack.
The steady draw of Stefan's mouth faltered for an instant.