Page 34 of The Vampire Kingpin
Not wanting to let her go.
Amina wormed her way into my brain. I closed my eyes, trying to shut her out, until Lark straightened her legs, reminding I outweighed her by at least sixty pounds. I crawled off her, waiting as she scooted fully onto the bed before flopping onto my back beside her.
I stared at the ceiling, bracing myself for the guilt to crash in like an unwanted guest. And it did, but not as forcefully as usual. This was more like the habit of guilt, something I felt because I thought I should, especially after enjoying the hell out of another woman.
Lark rolled onto her side and traced a finger down my nose and over my lips. “What’re you thinking?”
That edge of yearning was back in her voice. I didn’t need to look to know it was written all over her face.
This is where I should push her away. Remind her she was only a body to me.
But she was opening up to me, and I liked that. I wanted Lark to talk to me freely, to feel safe with me.
She started to withdraw, bringing her hand to the mattress between us, and my gut clenched. Rejecting her felt wrong.
I wasn’t sure what she was to me—or what she could become. All I knew was that I wanted to know her better.
“You.” I turned my head, meeting her eyes. “I’m thinking about you.”
She gulped, a mix of surprise and vulnerability flashing across her face. My slow-beating heart gave a single hard thump, the weight of my words hanging in the air.
But I didn’t take them back.
8
Lark
My belly fluttered.
That was the last thing I’d expected Spider to say. I’d figured he’d turn his head and say he had to get going. Or that he was up for another round.
“I’m thinking about you.”
And it wasn’t just the words, it was the way he’d said it, kind of…tenderly. Like thinking about me made him happy.
“Lark?” he asked, his eyes crinkling at the edges, and I realized I was staring at him, mouth ajar.
I snapped my mouth closed and turned my head because I couldn’t think. He made me stupid.
What was his deal, anyway?
When he’d caught me playing pools with the guys, he’d gone all alpha vampire on me. Monster had taken one look at his face and backed away, muttering, “Uh-oh.”
Uneasiness had tripped up my spine, but I’d lined up my next shot like I couldn’t feel Spider’s eyes boring into me. So what if he was king down here and so far dominant to me, we weren’t even in the same building, let alone on the same level?
I would not be intimidated. I was his thrall, not his blood slave.
But he didn’t seem to care I made some money off his people so long as I played fair. And I had—played fair, that is. I mean, I could’ve cheated, but where was the fun in that? Somewhere on the other side, Mom and Dad were shaking their heads, muttering I’d gone soft. But I liked Spider’s people. They’d been nice to me, damn it.
And now here Spider was, eyeing me like I was the most interesting person in the world. He’d even invited me to join his lair.
I could not figure him out, and it made me edgy, and yet, I also…wanted.
He rolled onto his side and brushed my hair back from my temple. “What’s goin’ on in that mind of yours?”
My throat clogged. I felt bashful, like a thirteen-year-old around her first crush.
Me. The woman who’d never met a man she couldn’t handle.
