Skye's Trail by Jory Strong Page B

flared. There was no remorse in her. No fear.
     
    She was strong, but he was stronger. She had some of The Bloodline in her, but he was full-vampire and had been for centuries. A flick of his wrist and he could snap her neck. A quick strike and he could bleed her to death, or to the point where she was so weak that he could overcome her defenses and make her a puppet, a servant whose only desire was to please her master.
     
    His gums tingled. His fangs threatened to slip from their sheaths, itched to sink into her neck, into the hot, thick, rich blood that flowed there.
     
    Skye stilled and he could see wariness replace her earlier amusement. “Should I tell you to leave?” she asked.
     
    Gian stepped back and forced a calmness into his body. Few laws applied to him, but he could not be here if she denied him access. There would be time to deal with this other man later—unless she’d taken him as a mate.
     
    Kyle’s words came back to haunt him. And you will share her with another? A shifter? A human? The Angelini have always taken two mates in order to make their hunting easier, in order to better protect themselves. You know that as well as I do.
     
    The thoughts stilled Gian. He had shared women in the past, though he’d never thought to share his companion. But if she had truly bound another man to her then there would be no choice. To destroy her mate would mean that he’d have to destroy her as well. She would never be completely safe otherwise.
     
    Gian’s eyes narrowed. Perhaps she would never be completely safe anyway.
     
    He cursed himself. He should have taken her last night, should have bound her to him first. The call of her blood was a siren song, a melody that had resonated in his soul from the first moment he’d seen her.
     
    She moved away, toward the kitchen. “Do you want something to drink?”
     
    Now it was his turn to half-smile. Oh yes, he wanted something to drink. But until her defenses were lowered, until her senses were clouded with passion, he would have to wait to take what he wanted.
     
    “Red wine if you have it.”
     
    “What about white zinfandel?”
     
    “A little sweet for my taste, but I’ll share a glass with you.”
     
    She took him literally, pouring wine into a single glass before taking a seat on the couch. Gian joined her, once again pushing into her space, but this time as a lover would. “You didn’t join your friends at the club tonight,” he said, taking the wineglass from her fingers and pressing his lips over the spot hers had been.
     
    “I stopped by a place called Bangers instead. Have you heard of it?”
     
    A small laugh escaped him. So she had been out hunting tonight, as he was out hunting now, only the prey was different. “I know it.”
     
    She took the glass from him, brushing his fingers with hers and sending a pulse of fire to his cock. Her eyes never left his as she said, “Haley’s sister was seen there.”
     
    He threaded his hands through her hair, tilting her head so that her neck was slightly arched. The bite mark pulsed with the beat of her heart. “Let’s not talk about Jen.”
     
    She set the wineglass down on the coffee table. “Or anything else?”
     
    “Or anything else,” he agreed, leaning forward so that his lips hovered above hers.
     
    Skye pressed her hands to his chest, feeling the smoothness of his shirt and the hardness of the body it covered. The need to be with him was a compulsion that was impossible to fight, just as it had been impossible to fight the need to be with Rico. Her body was like a separate entity. It wanted both men, needed them both, would settle for nothing less than having them.
     
    Gian’s fingers undid her braid, freeing the hair to cover her shoulders and arms. His hands traveled to her sides and guided Skye so that she straddled him on the couch. She slipped the band out of his long black hair and plunged her fingers into thick silkiness.
     
    Desire whipped through Skye with