Page 28 of The Serpent’s Bride (Bloodlines #1)

“Like I said. Stupid.”

“I suppose so.” That was intriguing. But he let it go. Something to consider another time, when he was not struggling to contain his bloodlust in front of his new wife. He wanted to lick her clean—every inch of her.

But there would be a time and place for that another day.

He kissed the top of her head. “I am…glad you’re all right.”

Silence for a beat, and then, “Me too.”

Curious creature.

But perhaps, just perhaps, she might have a place in his family, after all.

Raziel was holding her as she was seated in his lap. He went quiet, staring out the window periodically, but he seemed to keep being drawn back to her, though she couldn’t figure out why at first.

Then, it happened.

Before Nadi’s eyes, his fangs extended, growing longer as he prepared to bite her.

Oh.

It must be the smell of the blood she was covered in—she didn’t even think about that. She wasn’t used to being near a vampire.

But that wasn’t all.

He was… purring.

She almost hadn’t heard it over the bass rumble of the engine—the noises were so similar. The sound coming from him was that deep. There was only one word for it. Primal. And by all the moons, it did something horrible to her.

Suddenly, she had the overwhelming need to lean closer to him, to feel his fangs pierce her throat, to feel him drink from her. It lit a fire in her, and in her mind’s eye she could see herself, straddling his lap, riding him as he drained her dry. Filling her as he took from her.

It was wrong.

All of it was wrong .

His eyes were heavily lidded and dark—lost in his own lust and desire for blood.

He might not even know what he was doing.

It took everything she had to place her hand on his lips and stop him from doing what they both wanted.

It might actually kill her, for one. And two, she had no idea if that would reveal her secret to him.

She wanted to postpone that moment for as long as she feasibly could.

He blinked as if waking from a dream, and pulled his head back. Grimacing, his fangs slid back into his jaw. “It’s the blood.” If she wasn’t mistaken, he looked a little embarrassed.

“I know.” Frowning, she glanced out the window. It was impossible to know how close they were. She had no idea where they were. “Should I sit on the other side of the car?”

“No. I’ll be fine. Just…stab me if I get too lost in it again.” He smirked. “You do seem to have a penchant for bloodshed. You were right.”

“I’m…I really didn’t have a choice.” It was true. But that didn’t mean he was wrong. “It was either I kill them or I die in an explosion.”

“I see. Purely out of a sense for self-preservation. You weren’t worried about your new husband.” He huffed, though the twist to his lips told her he was teasing her. “I see how it is.”

“You can take care of yourself.” She poked him in the chest. If she hadn’t felt like such utter garbage, she might even have smiled.

“Hm. I suppose.” He turned his attention down to her side, where the bullet had hit her.

She had been pressing a part of her dress to it to slow the bleeding, but she let him nudge her hand away to inspect the wound. The bullet hadn’t gone out the other side. But it didn’t seem to have hit anything important either.

It was bleeding steadily, but not bad enough that she was worried she was going to bleed out too quickly.

It was right at the spot where her thigh met her hip, which was going to be obnoxious to let heal.

She healed quickly as a fae. Which she’d have to watch out for—she’d heal too quickly for a human.

Shit. It was little things like that, that were going to trip her up.

His brow creased in the center as he looked down at the wound. Was he…concerned?

“I’ll need the bullet pulled out and then some stitches.” She moved his hand away and pressed the fabric to the wound. “Sorry that I’m not going to die on you so soon.”

“It must hurt.”

“I have a high pain tolerance.”

“Hm.” He chuckled once. “We’ll see about that.”

There was the Raziel she knew. She shot him a look. “You’re going to have to wait. Sorry for the inconvenience.”

Lifting his hand, his fingers were stained with her blood. Smirking, he licked them clean.

For a moment, her heart lurched in her chest as she watched.

One by one, like someone savoring the bits of a bowl after making brownie dough. Would he know? Could he tell ?

Was this the moment it all fell apart?

In her mind’s eye, Nadi could picture him grimacing in disgust as he tasted her fae blood before ripping her throat open and murdering her right then and there.

But he merely groaned as his pupils went wide. His voice was suddenly breathy. “Oh, Monica…I’m not so sure how long I can be patient.”

A knot twisted in her stomach. Well. It…seemed her theory about her glamor lasting long enough to make it past his tastebuds was right. At least in small doses.

He leaned his head back against the rear window of the car. “If all girls out in the outer cities taste like you do, we city vampires have been missing out.”

“Must be all the fresh air.” She smiled nervously. At least he’d write it off as being because she was afraid of being bitten—which she was, but not for the reasons he’d expect. “And the grass.”

“You do taste a bit like how the Wild smells. That must be it.” He wiped his hand off on his pants—she’d already ruined his tuxedo, anyway—before smiling at her almost lazily. “Somehow, you keep finding more ways to tease me.”

She was struck by how handsome he was. The light from outside cut his sharp features in light and shadow. She couldn’t help herself. She just couldn’t. Leaning forward, she kissed him.

He tasted coppery and bitter—her own blood. It wasn’t the first time she’d tasted it.

Threading his hand into her hair, he held her closer, deepening the embrace. When he growled deep in his chest, her eyes slipped shut.

It was a long moment before he finally broke away. She was breathless—from the concussion, the champagne, and now the kiss.

“Careful, farm girl. You’re playing with fire.”

“You think I don’t know that?” He smelled like cologne and woodsmoke. She wanted to nuzzle closer to him. “That’s the point .”

He chuckled darkly before leaning his head back again. “I think you and I are going to get along just fine.”

Good. Even if he didn’t trust her yet, he was starting to like her.

And that was going to make it much easier to kill him.