9. Harper #2
"You changed the code to mine."
"To make you more comfortable."
"I'm more comfortable when I'm not a danger to anyone."
He filled his cheeks with air and let it out slowly, like he was fighting to keep his composure.
"Almost everyone in this pack fought vampires in the war.
Anyone who's been born since then has trained to fight alongside us.
Maverick is the Alpha of Alphas—it will take a lot more than an attack from an untrained, five-foot vampire to hurt someone here.
There aren't even any kids in the tower.
The few the pack has all stay at the estate. "
I closed my eyes.
"Did you think this plan through, Trouble?"
"Of course I did." He had no idea what I'd done to the inside of his house.
My lips curved a little more.
"Then you considered where I'd decide to sleep if you didn't give me the new code?"
My tiny smile vanished.
Shit.
I hadn't.
"Of course," I lied, gesturing toward the bed. "This beautiful apartment that I didn't want already smells like you, so you can get cozy here, and I'll sleep in your room. Unless you decide to give me the code to my observation room, of course."
"That's not happening. You're done sleeping there. It triggers you."
"That's not true."
"You've never devolved anywhere else."
I opened my mouth.
Then shut it.
"I'm comfortable there," I finally said.
"You’re hiding there. And if you sleep in my apartment, I'll be sleeping with you."
My face heated.
Rhone had officially turned my plan against me.
Dammit.
If I’d been thinking straight, I would’ve had a plan for that, but I wasn’t sure it was possible for me to think straight anymore.
"Thanks for the clothes," I said.
My fingers were on my fang necklace again. I was hoping it would center me, but it still hadn't. Maybe I was centerless.
"They look good." He sat down beside my couch, leaning his back up against the lower part of it. "We're going back for more tacos."
"You don't sound happy about that."
"I don't like public events."
"I don't like food."
"Did you throw it up?"
My answer was grudging, but I wasn't going to lie. "No."
"Good." Rhone's gaze lingered on something across the wall.
"I don't want another taco."
"I didn't ask if you wanted another taco."
"Maybe I should just start kissing you every time you try to force me to do something. I've never seen you that uncomfortable before."
His shoulders tensed slightly. "I don't like to be used."
"I wasn't using you—and using you is exactly what I'm doing every time I bite you."
"You were. And biting is different."
"How?" The question applied to both of his statements.
"You used me to send a message to the enforcers."
"I kissed you so they would realize that I'm interested in you."
"You aren't interested in me. Drinking my blood turns you on—I'm aware of that.
There's a difference between being physically attracted to someone and being interested in them.
You weren't stating your interest by kissing me.
You used me and the kiss to make the pack believe you're not opposed to my possessiveness, so they wouldn't cause problems for Maverick. "
I blinked.
Then blinked again.
"It wasn't that deep," I said.
"Exactly."
"Did you want it to mean something?" My voice was almost incredulous.
"I didn't want you to kiss me in front of a crowd."
He hadn't wanted me to kiss him.
"Leave," I said numbly.
"Bite me."
If that was what it took to get rid of him, fine.
I leaned over and sank my fangs into his throat, barely managing not to groan at the taste of him.
Blood.
Marshmallows.
Peppermint. Just a hint of it, but it was so fucking good.
I took too much. Six or seven swallows.
My legs were jelly when I finally pulled away, breathing heavily and feeling more satisfied than I had in far too long.
"Leave," I said again, my eyes burning now that my bloodlust had been sated enough to let the roar of emotions through.
"You locked me out of my apartment, remember?" He glanced backward, and jerked away. "What the—why are you crying?" It wasn't a question. It was a demand.
"Just go." I threw an arm over my eyes. "The emotions will fade."
The bloodlust would consume them, like it did everything else. I didn’t know why I was feeling them at all.
Rhone peeled my arm off my face. "What happened?"
I glared at him. Or tried to, anyway. My eyes were too watery to sell it. "If you don't want someone to kiss you, stop them. You had plenty of time."
"Is that why you’re crying?" His scowl was furious. "I just didn't want the pack watching."
"I wouldn't want anyone watching if I was kissing a monster either. It's fine. Just go."
The regret I felt for covering his apartment in my scent was overwhelming.
Where was my bloodlust when I needed it?
He peeled my arm away again, then dragged me off the couch and sat me on his lap, lifting my hands to his face. The position was similar to what it had been in the food court, but far more intimate.
My chest was pressed to his, my core against the thick erection that must've begun when I drank from him, and our noses were only a breath apart.
"You aren't a monster. I wanted to kiss you. I just like privacy," Rhone growled.
And kissed me.
It was nothing like the kiss in the food court.
One of his hands was on my lower back, pulling me against him. The other was tangled in my short, very pink hair, his grip borderline painful in the very best way.
Our tongues moved together, slow and deep and consuming. His hand on my back slid down my ass, squeezing roughly as he tipped my head further, taking my mouth deeper.
I was on top of him, but he had complete control.
My hands were on his face. I wanted to put them in his hair, but he’d told me he hated when people did that.
Rhone pulled away when I needed to breathe, his mouth moving down my throat as he sucked and nipped at my skin. I wanted desperately to grind against him, but he hadn't taken it to that level, and I didn't want to push him again. Not with what he'd said earlier still lingering in my mind.
I didn't want you to kiss me in front of a crowd.
I understood his desire for privacy, but he was the Beta to the Alpha of Alphas. He would never have that. And given all of the shit in my life, I wasn't going to try to build something with someone who wanted privacy that badly.
Just messing around with him was fine, but I wasn't going to act like we could really be something.
Even if we didn't infuriate each other, and I wasn't going to die, that was a dealbreaker for me.
"You smell like my apartment," he said, before scraping his teeth over my collarbone in a way that made me rock against his erection.
"I touched everything in there."
"Of course you did."
"You aren't hoarding my dirty clothes the way Maverick did with Bloom's, so you're not that possessive of me."
He kissed his way back up my throat, then bit my earlobe. One of my earrings had snagged and torn through my ear during one of my crazed, devolved moments, so I'd taken the one in my other ear out too.
"That's a fate thing," he said. "You need to eat."
"I'm not hungry."
He tipped his head back, releasing my ass and my hair. "There's more color in your face since you had the taco. It's not up for debate."
I scowled.
But when he hauled me to my feet, I reluctantly walked down the hall with him.
We didn't talk about the kiss.
I didn't know if we ever would.