Page 42 of Blood Lust

Suffer. I think.

He flinches.

“Wren,” his voice is cautious. “I swear to you, none of this was planned. Nothing was set up. I never even saw you until I met you at the store.” Sincerity is woven through each word as it falls from his mouth. He’s good, I’ll give him that. “I chased after you because I saw Spencer was driving recklessly. I could hear you begging him to slow down, I could hear his rage at you, and I worried for your safety. When I heard the crash, I rushed to the lake and saw Spencer pulling himself from the water.”

I don’t believe him.

It’s all too convenient.

Too coincidental.

I don’t believe in coincidences.

“That was when I heard you. I didn’t just hear you shouting. I heard you in my mind. You were desperate, panicked. I hurried to you as fast as I could, and I was almost too late. Your heart stopped. You were dead. I was drawn to you, and I belonged to you already. I loved you the moment we met in the store. I couldn’t just let you die so I saved you, knowing it could make you hate me one day.”

“What do you mean you heard me in your head?” More lies?

“Some vampires… can communicate through a bond between them. Emotions mainly, but sometimes direct thoughts. I’ve never heard of it happening with a human, but it did.” I can tell he wants to look away from me. He doesn’t want me to see his guilt, his shame. This is something he’s been holding back from me. Instead, he maintains eye contact. I enjoy his discomfort.

“You’ve heard me since then?” Spying on my thoughts?

Oz nods and I am disgusted with him.

“I don’t try to listen on purpose. I keep out of your head as much as I can. I only heard a few things that you were practically shouting.” He is almost begging me to hear him out, forgive him, and understand him. “I didn’t tell you because, in my world, this would mean we are mates. You were already trying to figure out your past, and I didn’t want to put that on you.”

Well, what a fucking gentleman.

Rising from the boulder, I pull away.

I am so tired of his bullshit.

Exasperated at his constant need to protect me from what, love? I glare at him. I’m not some delicate flower that needs saving all the time.

Pacing, the crunch of old fallen leaves beneath my feet, I try to make it make sense.

Okay, he didn’t want to push the relationship on me. Fine.

That tracks with his behavior. The cave. He avoided me at first.

It explains why he saved me. I had wanted to die, I had wanted to disappear into nothing. I stopped fighting and let it have me. It called to me then, like it calls to me now.

Oz rises and takes my hand with such speed that he won’t let go even as I jerk it back. His other hand grasps my chin and forces me to look at him. “I would rather you hate me forever than let you slip away into nothingness.”

My eyes narrow at him. He’s listening again, my thoughts aren’t safe. “Even if that part is true, that doesn’t explain Spencer!”

Confusion colors his expression as he regards me. “I didn’t know it was your ex until I found you. I didn’t know who died tonight. He was just some human passing by the bar Charlee frequents. Terrible luck.”

I yank myself away from him. I can’t take the lying anymore, and it’s tearing me apart.

Wren… Oz’s thoughts are pleading with me.

“Get out of my fucking head!” I demand.

Wren, please, listen to my thoughts. You’ll find the truth here.

So this thing works both ways. I can get in his head as well. I stare at him. I still feel such rage, like my blood is boiling. Layers and layers down, beneath that, is desperation. Desperate that I can believe him.

“Fine.” I concede and close the distance between us. I don’t know how this works, but I will try. I figure eye contact and maybe physical touch can’t hurt. I take Oz’s face in my hands and stare into his piercing blue eyes. How can I be this mad and still want to get lost in there?

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