Page 24 of Immortal Burden

“I see,” I ground out. “It was my understanding that your time together was merely a fleeting dalliance.”

“It was. It was a surprise to find her here tonight. I sent her home a couple of days ago, but she obviously enjoyed this realm during her brief stint here, so she acquired some more leave time from her father.”

“All this she managed to tell you just now?”

“She’s a hell of a talker.”

“You seem to have developed a taste for the vampire species also.”

“Trent. He’s newly-turned. The two of them met here tonight. They’re kind of together, planning to hook up.”

Fascinating. The way in which Ryker was able to glean so much information from beings without even trying. His natural charm just seemed to facilitate it.

He played with my navy silk tie as he gazed into my eyes. “I came here for you, Lucian.”

“Is that so?”

His hands left my tie and he pulled back. “That was my intention, but when I got here, Anton told me you were busy.”

“I was.” At the disgruntled look on his face, I found myself giving him further explanation, something I would not normally offer to anyone, “I was on a Guardian mission, called in to deal with a newbie vampire nest in chaos.”

“Oh.”

I studied him curiously. “You thought I was sending you a message of disinterest?”

“It’s called blowing somebody off. But, yeah, maybe that’s what I figured.”

His trust issues were screaming between us. Mia had certainly tarnished him and not only from the heartbreak itself.

I took his hands and placed them on my chest, mine then coming up and grasping his hips again. “I don’t experience jealousy. I haven’t for centuries. Yet, my actions just now were clearly indicative of just that. Does that seem to you like I was blowing you off?”

Amusement danced in his eyes, some of the tension left his body. “You were jealous, weren’t you? And of a newly-turned vampire and a summer fling.”

I glared down at him as he followed it up with a laugh. “If your intention is to provoke me, you are doing an admirable job.”

“Mmm, provoke you?” he teased, starting to move to the erotic beat once more.

I joined him, moving with him, every roll of my hips against those tight leather pants of his making his eyes roll back in his head. He was so sensitive to my every slight touch, so responsive. It was exhilarating.

I leaned in and whispered at his ear. “You are not ready to experience that side of me.”

“I enjoy a challenge.”

I smiled against him. “I am aware.”

The scratches from that baby vampire along the right side of his neck drew my attention, and I grasped the back of his hair, angling him to me.

A moan escaped him as I licked along the abrasions, soothing them with my tongue.

He was hard and wanting against me by the time I was done.

“Bite me,” he breathed.

I stilled.

That was quite the offer.

“Have you ever been tasted by a vampire?”

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