the second, and apparently nothing could stop the upwelling. Even if he refrained from drinking Mary’s blood or claiming her physically, his mating urges were getting harder to deny.
A few moments more and he would have claimed her.
Drunk his fill of her blood.
“It wasn’t a bomb going off back in the diner, was it?” Mary whispered from the center of the bed. “It just happened again. All the glass breaking and…and the air gathering together like wool. It was you. Why did you lie to me?”
“It’s not unusual for vampires to have certain abilities,” he said, staying as close to the truth as possible. Lying to Mary made him feel ill and he was tiring of having to do it. “Sometimes they develop as a vampire grows older.” Or finds his mate and cultivates weapons to protect her. “It can be unexpected.”
She was still frowning in his general direction.
“I have to go speak with Jonas,” he said, throat tight over his mate’s displeasure. “Are you…all right? Do you need anything before I go?”
She wet her lips and Tucker’s cock throbbed in response. “No.”
Reluctantly, he turned to leave.
“Tucker.” He looked back over his shoulder, finding her conflicted, her palm smoothing over the rumpled sheets. “I’m sorry for making you hurt.” She shook her head as if trying to clear it. “I just…”
“Yes?”
A beat passed. “Never mind.”
Wishing he had the freedom to crawl into bed with Mary and hold her, kiss every inch of her skin, tell her she was the most beautiful creature alive, he dragged his sorry ass down the hallway instead and went to go meet the king.
Mary fell back into the pillows and replayed the last…hour? Two? It came back to her in the form of sound and sensation. How much time had they spent naked in this bed, lost in one another? For some unknown length of time, they’d been lacking in all shame. Under each other’s power. Tomorrow hadn’t existed. Only now. Only pleasure. Only them.
But she’d had a passenger on board, too.
The instinct. That’s what she’d started calling it. The instinct that loved his protectiveness. Loved his care and thrilled to his touch.
It pulsated and burned and ordered her to tempt.
To break Tucker’s self-control.
She simultaneously resented the instinct—after all, it forced her to sexually frustrate her favorite vampire—and she also loved it. Wanted to drown in its endless depths. Because it gave her permission to take exactly what she needed…and that was Tucker. Her body screamed for him even now, as replete as he’d left her. The desire wouldn’t lessen. It refused.
And it wasn’t only the needs of her flesh that made her gravitate toward Tucker.
It was more. A lot more.
She loved being in his company. Felt understood and safe there. Optimistic and comfortable and appreciated. He was principled, compassionate and funny. He hadn’t judged her bucket list. On the two occasions where she’d been powerless to hold back her scream, he’d calmed her afterward. While they were in bed, she’d even managed to stave off the scream with his helpful distractions. She’d never done that before. Not once in her life.
Tucker made her…happy.
What could she do about this?
Nothing.
Certainly not…pursue a permanent relationship.
Not without betraying her mother. Not without forsaking the alliance and the fae. Losing the chance to see her father again by calling back the Assembly. To stand in front of their leadership whole. A daughter and woman who could see. Guide and protect herself. Someone who would be a valuable asset in the fae realm.
The list of things she would be giving up by staying with Tucker was longer than her arm—and she wasn’t even his mate. What happened when he met this faceless individual? Mary would be abandoned and alone. She’d have lost everything for temporary happiness.
Mary rolled over in bed, using her nose to search for Tucker’s cigar and mint scent.
Inhaling it greedily.
She really needed to get a hold of herself. They almost had sex. She’d encouraged him to drink her blood and while they might not be mated, she couldn’t imagine that wouldn’t bond them even more than they already were.
Maybe her hunger for Tucker was a product of being sheltered?
Yes. Relieved by her own reasoning, Mary reached for that possibility like a lifeline.
What if she’d been denied basic life experiences, including love, for so long…that her first attraction was coming on stronger than it normally would?
Her soul rebelled against that theory, but it was possible just the same.
Wasn’t it?
Restless and confused, Mary drifted into a fitful sleep where