Shadow Lake Vampire Society - Wendi Wilson Page 0,50

exit, but I wasn’t afraid. Something about Levi screamed safety to me, even as he told the gruesome story of his death and subsequent murder of an innocent man. He could have killed me so many times over, but instead he’d only ever helped me.

“I do feel an urge when I’m around you,” he said, “but I would never—”

“Why did you freak out and run to tell the dean you wanted to leave that day?” I asked, cutting him off again.

Badass Piper had no fear.

“After I ‘rescued’ you from the water,” he said, making air quotes with his fingers, “and I held you in my arms, I knew I wouldn’t be able to resist you. You’re so beautiful and tempting… and you smell…” He inhaled, his nostrils flaring. His eyes fluttered closed for a split second as if he were reveling in something he found irresistible. Then, his penetrating gaze locked into mine. “Delicious.”

I swallowed against the lump that lodged in my throat at his compliments. “You think I’m beautiful?”

Levi smirked. His smile alone could be my undoing. “I just told you I find your scent delicious, and that’s what you ask me?” The smile dropped off his face. “I’m dangerous, Piper.”

I bit my lip coyly. “I’m not worried about that.”

“You should be.”

I stepped closer, so close our chests nearly touched, and locked eyes with him. Where I’d found this bravery I wasn’t sure, but I chose to believe Badass Piper knew what she was doing.

“I trust you,” I whispered.

As the words left my mouth, I knew they were true. He had proven himself over and over. I did trust Levi. I trusted him with my life, just as he trusted me with his secrets.

He closed his eyes and took a long, deep breath as if he were deciding something important. My bravado waned a little, and I started to take a step back, but his arms snaked around me like a steel cage, pulling me close as his head dipped.

My breathing accelerated as his mouth went straight to my neck. My heart thumped like a hummingbird’s wings in my chest as his lips brushed the sensitive skin below my ear, and heat pooled inside me.

“Are you scared?”

Levi’s words barely penetrated my haze of lust as I moaned and shook my head. His teeth grazed my neck, and I shivered. My hands tangled in his hair, using it to pull him closer. He resisted, easily pulling back a few inches.

The loss of his hot mouth on my neck was more than disappointing, and I groaned. Opening my eyes, I found him staring at me intently. Heat rushed to my cheeks as I replayed the last few moments over in my head.

“You’re really not scared?” he asked.

“No,” I said, shaking my head. “I’m not scared of you.”

Something flickered in his eyes, and his head dipped again. This time his mouth landed on mine, and the world stopped spinning. My lungs refused to work, and my heart jumped up into my throat.

Maybe Levi was right. Maybe I should have been scared.

Because when he kissed me, I died. And if this was death, I’d go willingly into its cold embrace.

Chapter Eighteen

An explosion of tingles tripped down my back as Levi ran his hands from my shoulders to my waist. But more than his hands, my attention was focused on his mouth as he pressed his lips to mine. The sweetness and longing were almost too much for me to handle as his tongue traced my top lip and slid into my mouth. Kissing him had to feel like the first bite of chocolate to someone who’d never tasted it. Kissing him felt like falling and flying, my heart dipping and soaring like birds on the wing.

The bed creaked, drawing me out of my fantasy. Danica, the camper above me, fidgeted in her sleep, and I knew the feeling. Sleep, so far, had eluded me, but that was because I’d spent every minute since leaving him dreaming of the moment I would see Levi again.

The way he kissed me…

I shivered, tucking my hands between my knees. This was madness. Had I really fallen head over heels for a vampire? It sounded made up, the plot of one of those novels Coco loved to read. My mind ran over everything again and again, what Levi had said, what he had done.

But if I thought too hard about everything, darkness lingered at the edges. A vampire had killed my father. Levi had confirmed as much, but