The smell of fresh spilled blood fills the air between us. Dria's breathing becomes ragged as she stares at the red wrist of my hand on her arm. She shudders, but miraculously still resists.
"Dear God," she whispers. "Is that chocolate I smell?"
I wait to see if she'll act, but she doesn't, just continues to stare at the wound. "You're going to make every damn step difficult, aren't you?" Confused green eyes look up at me, like she's trying to process the sensory overload and make a responsible choice. I dip my fingers into the blood and reach toward her parted lips.
"No," she says, her voice a husky rasp of sound.
I ignore her and smear the sticky red across her full bottom lip. Her tongue darts out to taste my offer and another hard shudder wracks her frame.
"I don't like this. I'm usually the one doing the manipulating. I get the distinct feeling you two are trying to manipulate me."
"Oh come on, Dria. I want this. Your husband wants this. Why can't you give in?"
"Because I don't want to own you!" She tries to shake off my arm and this time it's me who holds her firm, forcing her to face what she doesn't want to see.
"Listen, vampire. You don't know me, but I think I'm strong enough to hold my own. I can't know for sure if I'll lose my free will, but I do trust you not to abuse me." Her faces closes down, no emotion on its surface. I have an inkling as to why she might be resisting so hard. "Have you had a werewolf servant in the past?"
She nods, the movement quick and jerky.
"I take it things didn't go well for him?" I ask.
"It was a 'her' and yes, things ended badly."
"Wouldn't it be safe to say you learned a lot from that bonding?" Her eyes search mine out again, uncertainty in their depths. "I bet whatever you think could have been done to change her fate has haunted you for years. Don't close yourself from another servant because of what happened. Learn from it and try again with me."
Silence stretches between us while the blood on my arm congeals.
"I do better with just Rafe in my life. I don't want anymore responsibilities."
"Let me carry some of your burden. Let me in. We can make this work."
Her body loses some of its tension. "Are you sure?" she asks.
As if I'm going to change my mind this late in the game. "Yes, I'm sure."
Without another word she raises my wrist to her lips and feeds. With each pull from her mouth, my body floods with shockingly good feelings. It's like an endorphin rush from intense exercising combined with the allure of incredibly satisfying sex, the type where you hang limp and enjoy the afterglow as long as it lasts.
"Huh. I always wondered what the draw was to being bitten by one of you. Now I know."
She ignores me, completely engulfed in enjoying every drop she drains. In a moment the sexual surge dissipates to be replaced by the unmistakable feeling of pack. Warm furry bodies press against me in the woods, the odor of the fresh earth and scents of suitable prey to chase tickle my nose, and the hotel room fades into the background, along with the vampire sucking on my wrist.
No one distinguishing scent reminds me of any wolf I've met. All of them meld together to give me a feeling I've missed since the night I was attacked and changed into a werewolf-a feeling of home. The revelation shocks me to my very core. How can this slip of a vampire make me feel like I've finally found were I need to be? Could I be destined to mate with a woman who already has a husband? Would the fates be so cruel?
I try to block out the questions and relax into the experience. There's nothing sexual about her feeding, more that I can't shake the rightness I feel in this moment. Peace courses through me and I realize I'd follow this woman into the gates of Hell itself. And fight with every ounce of strength and cunning in me to bring us back alive.
After a few minutes she stops, licking my wound with a pointed tongue to stop the bleeding. A heavy sigh escapes her as she straightens. "Damn, Jon. That was really good. You tasted like dark chocolate. It was heavenly."
I smile, fighting the overwhelming urge to ask her to bite me a second time. I want to feel that way again. I want to feel it always. "Glad to oblige."
"You and Rafe were pretty damn sneaky. I bet he told you to eat chocolate, didn't he?"
"I plead the fifth."
"Hmph. Well Jon, you just bought yourself a ticket home with us. I can't promise things will always be smooth sailing between the three of us, but we can try our best and make sure we never lose respect for one another."
A thrill of excitement rushes through me at her simple words of acceptance. I did it. I got her to take my offer. "And where might home be?"
"Alaska."