Page 95 of Bite
Taylor steps back to let me in. I retract my fangs and close the door behind me, taking quick stock of the place. Because that’s all it is– a single room. A studio apartment with mismatched furniture, peeling wallpaper, and the stench of dampness. It’s complete squalor, and the knowledge that she used to live here tugs at something inside me I thought long dead. Threads of compassion I shouldn’t have for anyone, least of all a human.
The damn cat is on the countertop licking something from its paw, yellow eyes narrowing the second I enter. He goes still, tail twitching, the fine hairs along his back rising.
We have an understanding, this creature and I: mutual disdain with the perpetual threat of violence.
“Miss me?” I mutter.
He hisses– a pathetically small sound loaded with ferocity. I bare my fangs again. Not in any actual threat, but sheerly for the small, private pleasure of reminding him who the apex predator is. He spits out another hiss, leaps from the counter, and streaks across the room in a blur of fur and cowardice, diving beneath the futon. The urge to pursue flickers, but I smother it easily.
After all, I already hunted last night.
Huntingherwas… exquisite. The way she moved through the dark, trembling but defiant, her pulse a beacon I could taste in the air. She liked it– being chased, being caught. Fear looks beautiful on her. And I… well, I’ve never denied how intoxicating her fear can be.
It’s just another way we fit. Predator and prey, bound and burning, circling the same hunger from opposite ends.
My gaze is pulled back to her like gravity. I drink in her effortless beauty, something warm and foreign blooming in my chest.
“You planning to move back in here?” I ask, cutting right to the chase.
“That depends.” Her chin lifts, defiant.
I arch a brow. “On what?”
She folds her arms stubbornly. “On what this really is. Because it’s never been aboutme, has it? It’s about my blood. The bond. The power it gives you.”
Her voice wavers, eyes glassy. It hooks into something deep; something I don’t have a name for. I fist my hands to keep from reaching for her. I don’tdocomfort. But forher…
“I fooled myself into thinking this was something more,” she mutters. “But you just want me for my blood.”
A muscle tightens in my jaw. “I want you for a thousand reasons, Taylor Holt. Your blood was just the first one I discovered.” I step closer, catching her chin and forcing her to meet my gaze. “You’re clever. You fight back. You see through my posturing. Most people are terrified of me, but you…” I trail off, lips quirking. “You’re scared, but you come closer anyway.”
She rolls her eyes, a tear sliding down her cheek. “So that’s what you want? Someone too stupid to run away?”
“I want someone who runs away, but only because they want me to catch them,” I murmur, pinning her with a hard look. “What is it thatyouwant?”
“I want someone who actually sees me,” she whispers. “Not my body, not my blood, butme. All of me. And chooses me anyway.” She jerks her head aside, blinking fast. “But you didn’t choose this, James. You said it yourself, it’s… biology.”
“So?”
She looks back at me– eyes red-rimmed, face streaked with tears she’s given up trying to hide. “Nobody has ever chosen me,” she chokes out, hiccupping on a sob.
“Is that what you need, for me to choose you?” I growl, catching her around the waist and hauling her into my arms. “Then I do. Just because it’s biology doesn’t mean I don’t have a choice. Let me choose you, darling. Let me take care of you, protect you…”
She twists out of my grip and turns away, shoulders trembling. “It’s not enough. This isn’t a year-long commitment anymore. You’re asking me to agree to immortality– to be tied to you forever. How the hell am I supposed to do that when you haven’t even been honest with me until now?”
I want to grab her. Shake her. Sink my teeth into her until she understands. Instead, I force the violence down, take a breath, and try for something softer.
“You want honesty?” I grit out. “Fine. If it’s love you’re after, I don’t know what that is. I only know possession. Hunger. The compulsion to own and keep. But If you need more, I’ll fucking try. That’s more than I’ve ever done for anyone else. Because I wantyou, Taylor. Only you.”
She shudders, arms wrapping around herself.
I can’t take it anymore. I close the distance and pull her against me, holding her as she trembles, her tears soaking into my shirt. “What do you need?” I ask, voice low.
“Just… time. To think about all of this.”
I grit my teeth, suppressing the instinct to drag her out the door. The hunger claws at me, gnawing through my composure and hollowing me out with impatience. If she’s left alone to spiral, she might find a way to disappear for good…
And then I’ll burn this entire city to the ground to find her.
