Killean didn’t fall asleep until after the sun rose and the risk of Savages being out lessened. Before lying down, he’d considered calling Ronan but decided to hold off. He may not have a lot to tell Ronan that could help in their fight against Joseph, but he had to share the info he did have. However, he wasn’t ready to face the disappointment and distrust he knew he would receive, and deserved, from his mentor and friend yet.
Beside him, Simone had lain rigidly at the very edge of the bed. The covers were tucked up to her chin and only her face was exposed like she was a turtle. She’d remained that way until sleep claimed her an hour before sunrise. Then she’d relaxed enough for a hand to emerge over the covers.
After she slept, he’d rolled over from staring at the ceiling to watch her. Her face relaxed in sleep, and her soft breaths exhaled over her luscious lips. He found himself thinking less about Joseph finding them and more about what it would be like to run his hands over her enticing curves. He fell asleep with those happy imaginings in mind.
When he woke later in the day, he discovered his arm draped protectively around Simone’s waist and her back tucked against his chest. Her thick hair tickled his nose and lips as he inhaled the hotel shampoo and eucalyptus aroma she emitted. Somehow, his hand had slid beneath her robe to cup her breast, and her puckered nipple burned his palm.
He’d never been so hard in his life, and her ass rubbing against his dick did not help. And then, the enticing scent of her blood hit him, and saliva filled his mouth. He longed to sink his fangs into her while he parted her thighs and buried himself inside her.
She’s a hunter. But that reminder didn’t dim his lust. However, he’d promised her he wouldn’t do anything inappropriate with her, and he meant it. The lowest forms of life were the ones who took advantage of those weaker than them. He was about to pull his hand away when Simone shifted, so her breast filled his palm.
It was then he realized she was awake. Killean froze as he waited for her to tell him to get away, but she didn’t speak as her breath came a little faster. Killean rubbed her nipple and relished the sensation of it hardening beneath his touch. Larger than his hand, her breast spilled over his palm while he caressed her.
When Simone first woke to find his hand on her breast, she hadn’t known what to do, but she’d felt no apprehension. She’d only experienced a sense of rightness in his arms. She didn’t understand the feeling, but instead of pulling away from him, she’d remained where she was as she listened to his breathing while he slept.
Then he’d awoken, and she’d barely contained her excitement when instead of pulling away, he continued to hold her. Her head spun as Killean’s touch seared her flesh. She shouldn’t allow this; she was meant to be a hunter bride. It was the role she’d been born and trained for, and hunter brides were only supposed to know the touch of their husbands. But how many hunters would take a vampire as their bride?
Not many. Probably not any.
And how many of them could set her on fire the way Killean did? Most of the time, she wasn’t sure she liked this man. He was angry, distant, and sometimes cruel, but something about him called to her in a way no other had. Her attraction to him had been strong and surprising as a hunter, but now it was almost consuming.
Did vampires feel things more acutely than mortals, or was this something else entirely?
She found herself not caring about the answer as the next stroke of his thumb electrified her body. That awful aching was back between her thighs, and she found herself squirming against the rigid evidence of his arousal pressing against her butt.
When his hand slid from one breast to the other, Simone instinctively arched into his touch. Not only was the ache growing, but wetness spread between her legs when he leaned closer and his warm breath tickled her skin.
Killean slid his tongue over her ear before drawing it between his teeth and nipping it. “You are a walking temptation.” Rolling her nipple between his thumb and forefinger, he tugged on it, and she moaned in response. “Do you like this, Simone?”
Embarrassment clogged her throat at his titillating words; she had no idea how to respond to him.
“Or do you like this more?”
Releasing her breast, Killean skimmed his fingers down the curve of her side, over her rounded hip, and down between her legs. When his fingers slid through her nest of curls, Simone went still as stone against him and her thighs clamped shut.
Killean froze when he realized what he was doing. This woman was a hunter! What would his family think if they could see him now? They would consider him weak and despise him for his weakness.
But not only was Simone a hunter, she was also an innocent. One who deserved better than a Savage’s touch, and one she would be bound to forever if he let things progress between them.
Jerking his hand back, he rolled away and launched to his feet. He tried to adjust his robe to cover his erection, but it was impossible. Unable to look at her again, he stalked into the bathroom and almost slammed the door before recalling he had to hear her over the water if something went wrong.
His shower couldn’t have been any colder if he added ice to it, but it did nothing to dampen his lust for her, and he didn’t bother trying to jerk off to ease his erection. It had been years since he was successful in the endeavor, and though he was aroused to the point of pain, it would only infuriate him if he tried to masturbate and still couldn’t find any release. Instead, between the icy water and his willpower, he eventually got his erection to soften.
Turning the shower off, he climbed from the tub and toweled himself dry as he stared at the door. He had to get away from her before something like that happened again, but where did he take her?
He didn’t know if Ronan and the others were still at the compound or if they moved after he left them. If they hadn’t moved, they wouldn’t let him step foot on their property again, not with what he was now.
He would have to call and hope Ronan still had the same number so he could arrange a way to give Simone back. He didn’t know what he’d do after he was free of her. He didn’t trust himself to be around hunters or humans anymore; he might never be capable of being around them again.
With what he was now, he couldn’t return to his old life, but what was his new one? Would it forever be this hideous in-between of fighting against becoming a monster and battling his conscience?
He’d chosen this path, but he’d battled bloodlust his entire life and felt confident he could handle what would happen to him after he killed. That was before the bloodlust became a living entity pulsing through his veins. With every one of those pulses, the demon part of him begged for him to kill.
And he certainly hadn’t anticipated how enticing the idea of keeping the hunter in the next room would be. Remember what she is. But the hatred he’d felt for hunters most of his life didn’t boil to the surface as he recalled the feel of her soft body molded against his.
He ran a hand through his tousled hair before slipping the robe back on. He was ravenous. Usually, he could go a couple of days between feedings, but not anymore. He required blood soon.
He nudged the door further open, and his gaze fell on Simone. Her shoulders tensed when he reemerged, and she hunched forward on the edge of the bed. Her head was bent, so her cascade of long hair shielded her delicate features from him.
Staring at her profile, he felt like a bigger asshole. She may be a hunter, but as such, she’d led the most sheltered of lives until she was taken from her stronghold. Don’t get closer and don’t understand her; she’s going back!
Still, he found himself saying, “I’m sorry. That shouldn’t have happened.”
Simone cursed the fire burning her cheeks. She couldn’t bring herself to look at him, so she gazed at the carpet.
“It won’t happen again,” Killean stated.
And a part of her inwardly cried at his statement. She should stay as far from this complicated vampire as possible, but she yearned for it to happen again. She wished it hadn’t stopped in the first place. Yes, it had frightened her when he tried to touch between her legs, but it also excited her. She’d felt perched on the edge of finally learning what her body craved so badly.
“Are you hungry?” he asked.
Simone shook her head; it was the best she could do.
Killean walked over and retrieved his filthy, discarded clothes. He tugged his jeans on under the robe before removing it to pull on his shirt. “We’ll go out and buy some clothes from the nearby stores,” he said.
When she still wouldn’t look at him, Killean tried to keep his temper under control. “I really am sorry.”
Simone cringed. “It’s fine,” she managed to choke out. “Really. Don’t apologize.”
Killean had no idea how to proceed; he’d never been in a situation like this with a woman. But he’d upset her, and he had to try to fix it. “I realize you don’t have a lot of experience with men, and I shouldn’t have—”
“Stop,” she groaned, unable to handle anything else he might say. She was sure she would spontaneously combust if he kept trying to apologize.
Killean closed his mouth. He didn’t know how to deal with women. It had been years since he’d had any close interaction with one, and his past interactions consisted of a tumble in and out of their beds.
The last woman he’d been close with was his mother, and she died when he was seven. He’d spent the four hundred forty-five years of his life since her death avoiding getting close to anyone. He planned to remove Simone from his life, but he still felt like the biggest piece of shit. What had he been thinking to touch her in such a way? She was responsive in the beginning, but she’d had no idea where it all could lead.
“I took advantage, and I shouldn’t have,” he said.
Simone dropped her head into her hands and tried not to scream. Why did he have to keep going with this?
“And for that, I am sorry,” he said.
“Stop!” she cried, and dropping her hands, she turned to face him. Looking at him was far less mortifying than his continued apologies. “I didn’t… I wanted… I said it’s fine!”
Her eyes burned a brilliant white-blue as she shouted the last word at him. The wildness of that color brought his dick back to life, and he shifted as his jeans became uncomfortable.
“You wanted what?” he asked.
Simone resisted slapping her hands on the bed; she had no idea how to deal with this man. He was so much more than anyone she’d ever met.
“Simone?” he pressed when she didn’t speak.
“Stop being such a… a… jerk, and let it go!”