My injuries receded, my pain easing, while Ethan’s hand slid under my T-shirt, his palm smoothing out over my bare stomach. I didn’t need pain relief any longer, but I did need a different kind of relief. I felt like I might burst if he didn’t fuck me right there and then, but I saw the moment when his logic returned and he clamped his hand onto my jaw, easing my mouth away from his wrist. I withdrew with a whimper, blood dripping down my chin. Ethan’s fangs were still extended, and I could tell it took every ounce of his willpower to back away from me.
He left me standing breathless by the wall as he returned to the edge of the tub, never dropping my gaze. It took a moment before I gained any level of coherent thought.
“I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me. Did I drink too much?”
Ethan practically growled his response. “No.”
A shiver skittered down my spine. “Okay, well, thank you. The pain is gone. I’m completely healed.”
“You’re welcome.” Now I couldn’t tell if he wanted to kill me or shag me.
I dragged my eyes from his as I approached the sink and turned on the tap to wash the blood from my chin. I was practically trembling, half because of his blood coursing through my system and half because of his intensity as he watched my every movement.
It was like being locked in a bathroom with an uncaged tiger and having no idea whether or not he was hungry. Okay, I tell a lie. Judging from the look in his eyes, Ethan was ravenous.
“How do you feel?” he asked as I splashed warm water over my face. “You drank more than you did the last time I healed you.”
I turned off the tap and grabbed a towel to dry my face. “I feel …” I trailed off, because I couldn’t tell him the truth. The truth was that I felt like tearing all his clothes off and mounting him on the bathroom floor. I knew his blood formed a connection between us, one that would last a month or two. That was why I felt so aroused. It wasn’t real.
If I kept telling myself that maybe it would come true.
A wave of euphoric dizziness swept over me as the high from his blood took hold. Under my T-shirt, my nipples hardened, and my clit throbbed between my thighs. Jesus Christ, it was like I’d just taken Viagra.
Ethan arched an eyebrow. “Tegan?”
I swallowed thickly. “I’m fine, just a little discombobulated. Vampire blood is like a drug.”
“Some people also describe it like an aphrodisiac,” he countered. “For both parties. That’s why I …”
“Why you pounced on me? Yeah, I got that. Obviously, you wouldn’t come near me otherwise.”
“What makes you say that?”
“Well, you’ve been pretending I don’t exist. This is the first time you’ve spoken to me in weeks.”
He didn’t respond. Instead, his eyes traced the curve of my hips. I’d been drowning my sorrows with a little too much food lately. Dad in hell. Ethan hating me. Theodore back to wreak havoc. Comfort eating was my only comfort. The local corner shop owner was making a fortune from the amount of Fry’s Turkish Delight bars I’d been purchasing.
“You’ve put on weight,” he commented.
“First, he ignores me, then he calls me fat. You really know how to boost a girl’s ego,” I said dryly.
“I didn’t call you fat. On the contrary, the weight suits you.” There was that flash of heat again, but it was gone in an instant. Carefully masked behind a wall of indifference. I wished I couldn’t feel his blood rushing through my veins, infiltrating my pleasure centres and making me feel like I could conquer the world. Vampires should bottle this stuff and sell it to humans. It would be incredibly lucrative.
“Your pupils are very dilated,” he said then, standing to come and inspect me. “Perhaps you did drink too much.”
“Just riding the high,” I said. “It’ll die down soon I’m sure.”
His attention wandered over me. “Describe it.”
“Describe what?”
“How my blood makes you feel.”
“Nah, don’t fancy doing that right now,” I swallowed thickly and closed my eyes, because seriously, feeling the way I did and him being so close, I was in danger of doing something stupid.
“I can smell that you want me.”
Tingles travelled down my spine. Oh, so he was trying to torture me via sexual frustration? Right, got it. There were worse forms of revenge. Also, two could play at that game. I had no intention of letting him win. I opened my eyes, braced my hands on his chest, and summoned a small measure of magic as I pushed him back. The extra force caused him to stumble and fall back into the bathtub. He looked furious until I stepped into the tub with him and sat astride his lap.
Normally, I’d never be so bold, but the blood high had taken over. I wasn’t myself. I heard him suck in a surprised breath as I leaned down and pressed my lips to the pulse pounding in his neck. My effect on him felt like a prize. A growl rumbled from deep in his chest.
“You must be feeling very brave to use your magic on me like that,” he said, a husky threat in his voice.
I pulled back and stared down at him. “Don’t underestimate me, Cristescu. I’m a formidable opponent, and I’m not going to roll over and play dead anymore.”
He bared his teeth for a fraction of a second. “You betrayed me.”
“True, but you were hardly a saint. You need to get over it.”
“Fuck you.”
I shot him a smirk as my gaze wandered down to his blatantly hard cock. “Yeah, it’s clear you want to. How embarrassing. Sorry I’m so irresistible to you.”
With that, I moved to climb out of the tub, but Ethan grabbed my hips and flipped us so that he hovered over me, a wild look in his eyes. Remind me why was I goading him? I was playing with fire, and I was only an inch away from getting burned.
“I should teach you a lesson,” he said, his voice pure gravel as he nestled his erection between my thighs. It was all I could do not to moan at the rush of heat that flooded me.
I bit my lip. His eyes wandered to the movement. I squirmed beneath him, and he groaned. My eyes locked with his, and a storm roiled in his gold irises. I wanted him to devour me and I wanted to flee all at the same time. The warring emotions had me all twisted up inside.
“Is everything okay up there?” Rita called from downstairs, and just like that, the weird sexual tension-filled battle of wills we’d engaged in was over. Ethan swiftly climbed off me and left the bathroom without giving me a second glance.
“Everything’s fine. Let’s go over to my house and continue our conversation,” I heard him say to Rita as he descended the stairs. I lay there, supremely annoyed with myself that I’d let him get to me.
I should never have let him heal me with this blood. Now I was going to have to deal with being connected to him for months. It was bad enough having to be around him in general. With the blood connection, it was going to be ten times worse.
After a few minutes, I managed to drag myself out of the tub and to my bedroom, which I was currently sharing with my friend Amanda. Living with Finn was only ever supposed to be temporary, but he’d agreed to let me stay until I could figure out a way to save my dad. I sat down on the edge of the bed and ran a hand over Amanda’s hair.