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And she and Elsie just the other day hadn’t been exactly professional when?—

The rest of the thought vacated my mind as my back hit the mat hard enough to leave me breathless. I lay there for a moment, staring up at the ceiling, splayed out like a turtle overturned on its shell.

“What the?—?”

Vi leaned into my vision, flattening her blunt bangs with a smirk.

“Gotcha, boss.”

I laughed just before I used my legs to sweep her feet from under her. She crashed down on top of me, but I was ready, locking my arms around Vi’s soft, warm body as she struggled.

“Dirty fucking cheater!”

“No one called the match yet,darling.”

She made a noise of frustration, renewing her efforts to overpower me. As much as I was enjoying Vi wriggling against me, her honeysuckle and vanilla scent invading my senses, I wasn’t entirely keen to let my obvious desire for her play out like this in front of everyone.

I feigned being overpowered until Vi was straddling my middle, her knees bracketing my narrow hips. She pressed me into the mat, her hair slipping out of her ponytail sloppily as she panted.

“Tap out,” she ordered, holding herself upright with her hands on my shoulders.

My fangs pressed into my lower lip as I tried to keep my eyes on anything except the clear view of her chest smooshed into her sports bra. Before I’d consciously thought to do it, the familiarity of our position triggered my muscle memory, my hands snaking up her clothed thighs and around her back to grab her ass playfully.

Vi laughed a little. “Finally getting with the program?” she asked.

“Trying to,” I admitted softly. “But still unwilling to concede, I’m afraid.”

Whether I was talking about the match or the obvious heat between us was anyone’s guess.

Her elbow pressed against my jugular, cutting off my airflow. Like this, her lips were so close to mine that I could practically taste them. Which wasn’t a problem for me, I didn’t mind being roughed up a bit.

“Tap out,” she insisted breathlessly, eyes flicking between mine like she was searching for the answer to a question she wouldn't ask.

“Don't think I will, thanks,” Ireturned with a wheeze as Vi pressed harder against my windpipe.

My patience—and self-control—shot, I hooked my arms around Vi and rolled us with ease, using my body to keep her on her back beneath me.

The proximity, paired with Vi's softoofof surprise—an impossibly sexy sound that I wanted to record and listen to over and over like the pop hits of the ‘90s—had my fangsaching.

“Gotcha.” I smirked.

She flailed wildly, pressing the mat with her hands and planting her feet to attempt to buck me off her. It was futile, but I let her wear herself out as I chuckled, waiting patiently for her to give up.

Ren’s self-control must’ve been off the charts if she’d spent any length of time between Vi's thighs without biting her. I didn't have the same drive to create, and I was still aching for a taste of her. The temptation alone must have taken years off her life.

Unless, of course, she had. Unless Vi had even welcomed it. Had allowed Ren to sup from her soft flesh and finally get a taste of the blood that’d haunted my very dreams since the moment I’d been close enough to smell it in her veins.

I'd been alive a long,longtime. Long enough to know when I met someone special. Long enough to know when I should get as far away from her as possible, if only to save myself from disappointment.

I looked at Vi’s flushed face, taking in her sweat-soaked hair and soft pink lips parted on an angry curse, her desire to win—to live—painted into every wrinkle and line of her skin.

I recognised it like an old friend, the same emotions I’d experienced lifetimes ago before I’d gone through the change.

Struggle.

Hunger.

Desperation.