“No.” He managed to struggle away from her, stopping her, stopping himself.
Katie blinked up at him, dazed and confused. Desire still glazed her eyes, making them glassy and unfocused. His blood glistened on her lips, glossy and deep red.
She touched the back of her hand to her lips as if to stifle a whimper of frustration, but as she moved her hand away from her mouth, she saw the blood, and her eyes widened. All hazy hunger and lust gone, replaced by dismay and disgust.
“I—I bit you,” she said, her voice reedy.
“I’m fine,” he assured her, knowing that the reality of what she could do, that she could bite and drink another’s blood, was horrifying her. As if to prove his thoughts, she gaped at the blood smeared across the back of her hand.
And this would be the start of her resentment of him. The beginning of her anger at what she’d become. What he’d made her.
“I’m sorry,” she murmured, not looking at him but at his blood on her.
“There is no reason to apologize,” he told her, shifting out from between her still spread thighs. She became aware of her position and quickly closed her legs and reached for the sheet, pulling it up around her with her non-bloody hand.
He didn’t want her to feel ashamed at either her hunger or at her desire. Both were normal. But he was afraid the moment was already marred.
“I should have realized you needed to feed,” he told her, moving to sit on the edge of the bed, still facing her. “Since you are new to this, I’m sure you didn’t even realize you were hungry.”
He should have realized that as soon as he’d seen her eyes were so dilated. But he’d been too distracted by his own physical need for her.
“I—I didn’t,” she admitted, the new blood in her system allowing her to blush. “I thought I was just—aroused again.”
“Well, those two feelings can be very similar. And one can actually trigger the other.”
She stared at him for a moment. “Was—was that how you were feeling, too?”
“No.” Cort shook his head. “I was definitely feeling very, very turned on. Not hungry.”
Her body seemed to relax slightly against the mattress.
“But I will admit, your bite was also very, very enjoyable,” he said.
She stared at him, her eyes more blue than black now, although they were still a little dilated.
“You—you liked it?”
He nodded, smiling slightly. “It was pretty awesome.”
Her body relaxed even more, and she was silent for a moment, then she asked, “So why did you stop me?”
“Because, like I mentioned before, when you are new to this, it’s easy to take too much. Even from another vampire.”
“So I could have killed you?”
Cort shook his head. “Probably not, but definitely incapacitated me.”
She nibbled her bottom lip, looking worried again.
“It’s really no big deal,” he assured her. He leaned down to snag his jeans from the floor. He rose and tugged them on.
“Where are you going?” She still looked worried.
He smiled reassuringly. “I’m just going to get us a drink. I think we both can use it.”
“I don’t think I need any more liquor.”
His smile broadened. “Not liquor.”
“Oh. Right.”
“Just relax here. I’ll be right back.”
She nodded, pulling the sheet up around her more. She was so damned pretty, even looking confused and vulnerable and worried.
“Really,” he said, reaching out to brush a lock of her honey-blonde hair away from her cheek. “You didn’t do anything wrong, and you definitely did not hurt me. Quite the opposite.”
She nodded. “Okay.”
He smiled again, then left the room.
She was so sweet. He didn’t usually think of vampiresses as sweet. He thought of them as tough and determined and savvy, much like male vampires. He really only hung around one vampiress these days. Stella, their sound woman and self-appointed manager. And that’s how he thought of Stella. Very together and strong. Even during this awful time, what with her brother’s suicide and everything.
But he didn’t think that description would ever fit Katie.
As he walked to the kitchen, he realized it was a good thing he and Katie were married. She needed him. And he’d push for them to keep the marriage intact. She might not agree. At first. But he thought he could convince her.
If her reaction to their sex was any sign, she was very attracted to him. They could build from there, couldn’t they?
And he could help and protect her.
Yes, that was it. He’d make their marriage work. Decision made.
He opened the fridge and started to reach for a blood bag, fat with deep red blood. B negative, his favorite. But before he could pick it up, his phone rang.
He pulled the ringing, vibrating rectangle from his pocket.
Wyatt.
He pressed Answer.
“Hey, Wyatt. What’s up?”
Chapter Nineteen
POSSIBLY KATIE OVERREACTS
KATIE had bitten Cort and liked it.
She looked down at the back of her hand. His blood was now dried to her pale skin. She stared at it, then looked away disgusted, not only at her actions, but at the fact, even now, she was tempted to lick the stain.
“This can’t be right,” she said to herself. It couldn’t be normal to want to . . . eat a person you loved.
She froze for a moment, realizing exactly what she’d just thought to herself.
A person she loved? Did she—she remained totally still—really feel that way?
She sat up, looking around her as if someone or something could give her that answer. But nothing external could or needed to do that. She knew the answer deep inside herself.
She did love Cort, and had for a long time—as fanciful and schoolgirlish as that sounded.
She looked down at her hand again. And she needed him, too. She wasn’t sure she knew how to be a vampire—or at least control all of these new desires.
The blood on her hand had dried, but she still felt the urge to lick it. That couldn’t be normal. Although maybe, in vampire terms, it was a bit like eating dried fruit or something.
“Yeah, I don’t think so,” she muttered to herself and threw back the covers. She slipped out of bed and gathered up her T-shirt and her panties. She pulled them on, then headed across the hall to the bathroom, but she stopped just inside the bathroom door. She could hear Cort talking.
“For real?” There was a pause. “Yeah, I guess so.”