Page 26 of Dark & Dreadful Brutes

“It does.”

“Then you can just tell your friends that I tried to run away from you or something. I’m sure your people don’t care about humans,” I said flatly.

“I would never hurt a weak, fragile, human woman,” he growled. “You’ll drink my blood. This discussion is over.”

I scowled. “I have no desire to drink your blood. I’m not a damn vampire, Ravv. Even if I did want to, I’d probably vomit if I tried.”

“Exchanging blood is intimate for mates. It’s a way to provide each other with life. The moment will be erotic, not nauseating.”

I blinked.

And then blinked again.

Sharing blood was erotic?

Maybe I did want to try it.

I’d been fighting my body’s attraction to Ravv since the first day we met. Maybe acting on it just a little would remove the temptation altogether.

“How erotic?” I asked.

I wasn’t really ready to jump in head-first, but why not dip my toes in?

I still didn’t trust Ravv completely. There were too many things I didn’t know about him for that. He hadn’t even told me why he’d come looking for me, or why he’d made me his mate.

But I trusted him to keep me safe, and I trusted him to tell me the truth about things that really mattered.

“I don’t know. I’ve never had a mate before,” he said.

And it was probably safe to assume that most couples didn’t give details about their love-making sessions following their blood-drinking. Especially if the mated ones were the only ones who shared blood, and they were hidden underground.

Just the thought of drinking Ravv’s blood made me shudder.

The idea certainly wasn’t an appealing one.

“I’ll think about it,” I finally said.

“You’ll do it,” he rumbled back.

I scowled again.

His arms tightened around me. “You’re mine, Laeli. Get that through your little human skull. Accept it. Embrace it.”

“I’m your secret,” I countered. “You don’t want me embracing anything.”

“I know what I said.” His voice was frustrated.

Was he annoyed that we needed to keep our connection a secret?

The thought made me curious, but I was too tired to keep pushing him. “Good night. I’ll think about it tomorrow.”

“You’ll do it tomorrow.” He squeezed me, just once.

And then he muttered something that almost sounded like “Good night.”

That would’ve been far too civil for my grumpy fae abductor-slash-savior, so I had to have imagined it.

We traveled through the next day, and a few hours into the night too, before Gleam finally stopped. She was growing more exhausted by the day, and as we all ate, I scratched her head while I thanked her for carrying us.

---