Page 14 of The Vampire's Mate

“Close enough,” I say. “Maybe Bram Stoker didn’t have it all wrong.”

He rolls his eyes, then leans toward me, saying in a thick Romanian accent, “I vant to suck your blood.”

A laugh barks out of me, and he leans back to his previous position. I stare at him for a moment, my brain grasping for something to keep this conversation going. I’ve been avoiding him—and the world, at large—for days, and having him here next to me makes me realize what I’ve been missing.

I like talking to him.

“Will they come back?” I ask softly.

“Definitely,” he says with a slight frown. “They won’t disappoint their king. I’m going to have to relent and go back, eventually.”

“What should I do if I run into them?” I ask, a trickle of fear sliding down my spine.

Jesse’s hand shoots out to curl around mine where it rests on my thigh. Squeezing it, he leans a little closer.

“They won’t hurt you, Eden. I’ll make sure of it.”

I hear his words, but my brain doesn’t process them because it’s already going haywire at his touch. His hand is cool and firm, not freezing by any means, but definitely not the standard ninety-eight-point-six temperature we humans walk around with.

And yet, despite its cool temperature, heat spikes through me. Every one of my nerve endings sparks with electricity, and I fight to keep my breathing slow and shallow lest I give away my reaction.

“Tell me more about your mental powers,” I say quickly as I gently extricate my hand from his grip.

A look of disappointment flashes across his features before he quickly smooths it out. “What do you want to know?”

“Everything. You told me before you’re more powerful than most?”

“I told you vampires can’t read or control your thoughts, right?” At my nod, he says, “That holds true for me, but I do have the ability to sense emotions. Happiness, anger, despair, fear…I can feel what you’re feeling. I know you’ve been confused and anxious over the last few days. I also felt it the moment you relaxed and decided you wanted my company a few minutes ago. Just as I know my touch made you uncomfortable just now.”

“And not all vampires can do that?” I ask in an attempt to refocus the conversation on him, not me.

“When a human is turned, their previous talents are enhanced in their new existence. When I was human, I was what you might call an empath.”

“You were psychic?” I ask, my eyebrows arching upward.

“In a sense.”

“But…psychics aren’t real. They don’t exist.”

Now, it’s his turn to lift his brows. “Neither did vampires a few days ago.”

I deflate, giving him a conceding nod. “Touché.”

“But it’s not all metaphysical. There are physical responses to emotions any vampire will notice. My abilities just give me a leg up, so to speak.”

“Physical responses?” I ask, angling my body toward his and bracing my back against the armrest of the couch.

“If your heart is pounding, and I can smell your sweat and feel your anxiety, I know you’re afraid. If you’re angry, I can see the vein throbbing in your forehead from fifty yards.” He pauses for a moment, and when he resumes speaking, his voice is deeper. “If I hear that little hitch in your breath, feel your body heat rising, and smell your arousal, I know you want to come.”

My core clenches as my breath hitches in my chest. I can feel my temperature rising even as I try to lock down my reaction and not exhibit every one of the telltale signs he just described. But I can’t stop it any more than I can stop the memory of that life-altering orgasm he gave me from flashing through my mind.

Jesse inhales deeply, his nostrils flaring as his dark eyes take on an ethereal glow. My inner walls flutter, and I grit my teeth as I speak.

“Stop doing that.”

“I didn’t do anything,” he responds, his body shifting closer as he breathes deeply once more. “Tell me, Eden, how do you want me to make you come this time?”

“I don’t…”