Kaitlyn laughed. “I always thought so.”
“So, all things considered, it appears that Korzha was after you for some reason. Do you think he intended to kidnap you, and if so, what was his motive?”
“I don’t have any idea.” She chewed on her lower lip a moment. “Years ago, before I was born, my father killed one of Daryn’s brothers.” It was an old story, one well-known by covens throughout the world.
Zack grunted softly. “Sounds like a good, old-fashioned case of revenge to me.”
“After more than twenty years?” It seemed a farfetched idea, and yet, in the back of her mind, she remembered her father calling to check up on her not long ago. He had said something about a rumor he had heard, and almost in the same breath, he had mentioned Daryn and his mother. Was it possible Nadiya was behind it all?
When she asked Zack what he thought about it, he shrugged. “You know what they say, revenge is a dish best served cold.”
“It would have to be frozen by now,” Kaitlyn retorted. “Zack, you have to leave here. Or I do. If my father finds out what happened . . . You know how he feels about the Others. And if he finds out you killed one of us . . .” She shuddered, not wanting to dwell on what her father might do. She had no future with Zack. She knew that, but she didn’t want anything to happen to him.
“I’m not leaving,” Zack said. “I like it here.”
“Then I’ll go.”
“I’m not afraid of your father.”
“Well, you should be!”
“Calm down, girl. There’s no reason for you to be so upset. And no reason for your father to be angry with me. I haven’t done anything except probably save your life. I’d think he’d be grateful for that.”
He was right. She was overreacting because Zack was one of the Others. But she couldn’t help it. Her father might accept her dating a mortal; dating someone he considered an enemy of her people—even if that someone had saved her life—was something else entirely.
She shook her head. She had to calm down. Zack was right. He had saved her from whatever nefarious plot Daryn had devised. Surely that would tip the scales in Zack’s favor.
Besides, she loved it here and she didn’t want to leave.
And she didn’t want to leave Zack, either.
“Well, now that we’ve got that settled,” Zack said, “I think it’s time we got down to some serious kissing.”
All thoughts of Daryn and her father disappeared at the thought of kissing Zack. “Oh, you do, do you?”
“Don’t you?” He leaned forward. “Or are you going to start that whole ‘I can’t see you anymore’ nonsense again.”
“It isn’t nonsense. My father’s a force to be reckoned with. If . . .”
A single thought carried Zack from the chair to the sofa. “I don’t want to talk about your father, or vampires, or Others,” he said, drawing her into his arms. “I don’t want to think about anything but you.”
“Zack . . .”
“Shh.”
With a sigh, she relaxed in his arms.
“That’s better,” he murmured. Cupping her face in his hands, he kissed her, softly, slowly. His tongue traced her lower lip, delved inside for a taste and then withdrew, moving to lave the side of her neck. Her stomach tightened when she felt the light scrape of his fangs against her skin.
“Zack . . .”
“Just a taste, love, that’s all.”
She rarely drank from a living source. Being only half vampire, she lacked the inescapable need to hunt, but there was no denying that taking blood from mortals was a pleasurable sensation. No one had ever taken her blood. What would it be like, to be prey instead of predator? To feel Zack’s fangs at her throat? Driven by curiosity, she canted her head to the side, giving Zack access to her neck, only then realizing that she was putting her life in his hands. He was older, stronger. If he decided to drain her dry, she wouldn’t be able to stop him.
He must have sensed her sudden apprehension, because he said, “It’s all right, Katy. You don’t have to do it if you’ve changed your mind.”
“I haven’t,” she said, and it was true. At that moment, she wanted nothing more than to nourish Zack with her life’s blood.
Murmuring her name, he bent his head to her neck.
She had expected it to hurt, at least a little, but there was only a rush of warmth when his fangs pierced her skin, and then a flood of pleasure that was sensual beyond belief. Heat flowed through her, bringing all her senses to life, pooling deep within the very heart of her being, stealing the strength from her limbs, until all she wanted was to lose herself in his touch.
She felt bereft when he lifted his head. “Are you done so soon?”
“I’d better stop while I can.”
She touched her neck where his fangs had been. “That felt wonderful. Does it feel that way for mortals?”
“It depends on who’s doing the biting. Some vampires make it pleasant, others take what they want without any thought for their prey. Haven’t you ever bitten anyone?”
“Of course! Well, not often,” she admitted.
“Well, I can’t imagine you tearing into anybody, so they probably enjoyed it. Can you read their minds?” At her nod, he said, “Next time, listen to their thoughts.”
“Can I drink from you?”
“Sure, darlin’.”
She hesitated, suddenly embarrassed. It was one thing to hunt for mortal prey, to drink from a stranger and then wipe all memory of it from his mind, quite another to drink from someone you cared for, especially when that someone was a vampire.
“Having second thoughts?” he asked.
“No.”
Drawing her into his arms again, he kissed her, his hands moving slowly, seductively, along her spine, traveling up and down her thigh.
His touch awakened her desire, and her hunger. She rained kisses on his cheeks, the hollow of his throat, until she found the soft, sweet place just beneath his left ear, and bit down. She had never tasted vampire blood. It was a high like no other. Or maybe it was simply because it was Zack’s blood. Whatever the reason, she knew one taste wouldn’t be enough. Would never be enough . . .
“Easy, girl,” Zack said.
But she wasn’t listening.
Muttering an oath, he grasped a handful of her hair and gave a sharp tug.
A low growl rose in Kaitlyn’s throat.