Page 40 of This Blood that Bonds Us

Aaron’s rigid form dissolved like snow in the sun. “What?”

“I mean, you can’t just leave. I thought someone took you. You were gone for so long, and I-I . . .”

“I’m sorry.”

“You wouldn’t want me to go off and leave you in the cabin. You wouldn’t want Presley to do that.”

“I know, you’re right.”

“Let me be angry for a minute.” I spun around, and he was standing next to me.

“Okay.”

“You scared me.”

He stepped forward, with all his attention on my face. “I know.”

“You need to start talking to me. You need to tell me when something is wrong. I can’t help you if you shut me out. That’s what they want. They want you to run off by yourself and disappear and go back to Her.”

I was surprised by how my voice shook. My chest was tight with worry. I eyed the door, and something stirred in my stomach, telling me to run. I couldn’t imagine it. I wouldn’t.

Her lips on his cheek. Her breath on his neck.

Aaron moved a hand under my chin. “Keep going.”

“You not telling me anything is selfish. If something happened to you, everything would fall apart.”I would fall apart.“I know you’re scared. But we’re all scared. And the only way we’re going to get through this is if we’re radically honest and if we work together.”

His thumb rubbed my bottom lip, and I sucked in a breath. The heat of his skin set goose bumps over my mine.

“You’re right. I’m sorry. I promise I won’t run away again.”

He leaned into my lips. Soft as a feather. My hands shook, and as he grabbed them, I realized his were shaking too. He needed to feed but was holding himself back for me.

“I’m not going anywhere.” He wiped the wetness gathered at the corner of my eyes. “I’ll be radically honest . . . I’ve never wanted anything else as much as I want you. I want to make love to you, Burns. Real and proper. I want to be near you and to touch you. But I can’t think. I can’t focus. This Thing in my head won’t leave me alone. But you and your blood make me feel like myself again, and it’s so confusing. All I’ve ever wanted was to give you something safe and normal, so taking blood from you feels like I’m . . . corrupting you. It scares me. I don’t want to mess this up, and I feel like I am already. You deserve so much, and I’m—”

I stilled him with a finger to his lips.

His forehead touched mine, and I was crushed under the weight of his gaze and the way his hands dug into my hips.

“You don’t have to be afraid,” I said.

“You’re never afraid.”

“You know that’s not true, but one thing I can assure you is that I’m never afraid of you.”

He kissed me again, and I tried to stifle the moan that leaped from my throat.

I pressed myself to him tighter and tighter. We were finally alone, with only the crackling fire in the fireplace downstairs.

Aaron must have sensed my urgency. Because we lost the little space between us. With both hands, he moved the hair from my neck and grabbed the sides of my face. He nipped down my jaw and up to my ear. The feel of his breath on my neck made my core tighten. Slowly, he ran his lips under my ear, and I shuddered. He was exploring me and showing his cards at the same time. Pleasure seared my skin, and I fought against the growing ache between my thighs.

His hands trembled as he continued to kiss my neck.

“You need blood.”

“Mm-hm.” His attention stayed at my throat where the wetness of his lips turned to careful licks from his tongue.

“It’s okay . . . you can bite me. I want you to,” I said breathlessly.