Page 45

“Just try it,” Caleb growled.

Darius rose smoothly to his feet, and the tension mounted until it was thick in the air. Caleb held the vampire’s gaze and allowed his wolf to rise to the surface, peer out of his eyes.

“Oh, for God’s sake,” Regan muttered from beside him. “Cut the testosterone crap. Both of you.”

Caleb took a deep breath and glanced around the room. Kael was expressionless, Catrin had a little frown line between her eyes, and Gina was smiling, her eyes glinting with laughter. She obviously found the whole thing amusing and, strangely, it made Caleb relax. He released his breath, forced his muscles to unlock, and sat down in his chair.

Darius also sat. “You know,” he said, “I hope you don’t actually think that I want to drink your blood. Normally, I’d have to be really desperate to touch an animal.”

“Ha, ha.”

“I’ll do it,” Raven said.

Caleb’s gaze swung around. “Do what?”

“Taste your blood.”

“No, you won’t,” Kael snapped from beside her.

She put a hand on his arm. “It makes sense,” she said. “I know what shifter blood tastes like.”

Caleb had to admit that the idea of her tasting his blood didn’t fill him with the same sense of revulsion. In fact, he couldn’t deny the combination of reluctance, horror, and excitement that filled him. Maybe it was because she reminded him of Regan. At the thought, he glanced at her, and caught a flash of fury in her eyes. Then her wolf peered out at him. She was jealous, and a stab of elation hit him in the gut. But even as he watched, she fought it down.

“Do it,” she said.

He glared at her.

“You need to know.”

He blew out his breath, then nodded slowly, pushing down the nausea that roiled in his gut. He could do this.

“So what’s she going to do—bite my neck?”

“No!” Kael answered.

Caleb glanced at the other man and realized he wasn’t the only one unhappy about this.

“Your wrist will do,” Raven said.

She rose to her feet and came around the table to sit on the other side of him, holding out her hand. Caleb pushed back his chair and laid his palm in hers. He looked up to find everyone focused intently on him, and whatever Darius had said, there was a look of hunger in his dark eyes. Caleb forced himself to concentrate on Raven.

“Relax,” she murmured. “This won’t hurt.”

She turned his hand over in hers, holding it palm up, then stroked a finger along the vein in his wrist. She raised it to her face.

“You smell of Kael.”

Breathing in deeply, she leaned closer to him. She smelled of wild flowers and honey. Then her lips drew back revealing razor-sharp fangs, and she bit down sharply.

Despite what she’d told him, Caleb braced himself for pain. Instead, as her teeth penetrated his skin, a wave of intense heat flooded him, taking him by surprise. He tried to remember where he was, but his body had a mind of its own. At the tugging pull of her mouth, heat pooled in his groin, and he grew heavy and hard.

His fingers twitched with the urge to reach out and stroke her hair. Then she raised her head, and he was caught by her witch’s eyes, as she slowly licked the wound on his wrist.

Someone coughed.

Raven shook her head, and her eyes widened in alarm as she came back into herself. It took Caleb a few seconds longer, and he was glad he was sitting down.

“Sorry,” she said. “I didn’t mean to—”