Captiva Craving - Vampire Werewolf Menage (Six Feet Under Series Book Two) by Talyn Scott Page B

of a few predators who have you in their sites. By no means is that a good thing.” A wave of his hand released a locking ward no one could penetrate short of the North American Alpha, a hidden veil for privacy now pulsating over the steel door.
    He scented her, watching her bountiful chest with growing frustration. “Delicate Dakota, the second I turn my back, a hungry werewolf is pissing circles around you.” On the bed, he eased next to her, his hip gently touching hers. “He collects hearts, and you would be Rock’s latest kill, if I choose not to intervene.” His hand came around, palm flattening next to her shoulder. “More than vampires ever do, Beasts smell blood in the water. Never give him yours. Keep your blood, your soul, your will to remain human, and you will be fine. No matter what he says, he’s in it for himself . Whatever tomorrow will bring, no trusting Rock, okay?”
    Maestru touched Dakota’s face tenderly, bringing her battered wrist to his nose. “While this old vampire is handing out pertinent advice usually only reserved for his kind, I must confess that all things in a vampiric world require payment. Nothing is free.” He inhaled over her stuttering pulse point. “And even in my position of authority, I cannot absolve you of this blood debt, though these grossly unfortunate circumstances were not, by any means, your fault.” His irises swallowed the whites, a Species dazzled by her scent. “But when is life ever fair? I’ve never known it to be, and I have lived far longer than you.”
    “But what is fairness? The ability to say yes or no, to slam the gavel on what one person says is right or wrong. What if the word no never worked its way into our vocabulary? Without that little word, who would still work to attain something he could never achieve? More importantly, how would you deny me when the time comes? And it will. So never think I’m fair. Use the word no when you awaken to face your circling monsters, Dakota. Use it fast and fervently. Use it when you feel like saying yes.” His mind stroked hers in the way of the Coven Master, stirring her to wake up, though he didn’t want her to feel pain. “Dakota,” he said. “Sweetheart, can you hear me?”
    She didn’t bat an eyelash. Purple shadows under her eyes looked as if they were forming into deep bruises. If she were in a hospital, the staff would surely summon a priest. Her breathing was shallow, erratic, light puffs that would never send enough oxygen to her vital organs, especially her heart and brain. Those minute drops Ryan and Dru offered her could not have made any difference. Any human would already be dead, and he wondered, not for the first time, why she was still hanging on.
    He bent down so their foreheads touched, refusing to tax her mind further by insisting on her awakening. “I need you to live.” Maestru’s midnight hair covered the sides of her alluring face like a curtain, sweeping over her golden tresses. He hated when innocents found themselves in immortal crosshairs, especially one such as Dakota. “So sweet.” Maestru wrapped powerful arms around her and pressed her lush lips to his throat, wishing she would bite him in the way Brides do, thirsting for his blood as much as he wanted to give it to her. “Perhaps,” he murmured, trailing his lips across her cheek and placing them against her temple, her tantalizing fragrance tightening his cock painfully, “I could have you if, by belonging to me; your life wouldn’t be stomped out as my Bride’s life was long ago. However, in this moment,” he said sadly, “I will give you what you need.” It had been centuries since he truly wanted a female to feed from him, and it shocked Maestru to no end as to why it was happening now. But it was. And a human, no less, was his fixation.
    Maestru closed his eyes, bringing her scent inside his body, and letting her heat warm his cold heart. “Drink from me,” he instructed, compelling her to do so.