Page 176 of Vampire so Virtuous

He wavered. “Don’t do that thing with your eyes.”

“What thing?” she asked, channeling her best lost kitten expression.

“I’d have to bite you, Cally. I’d have to feed. It’s the only way. You understand now?” He shook his head. “Not happening.”

She chewed her lip. She should’ve expected it. Still, he’d already tasted a trace of her blood, and Belle had distinctly said no vampire short of the Curia would sense her witch heritage.

But she’d been so helpless, unable to so much as move, and Minh had only looked at her. Wouldn’t Antoine have done this if he could? If he’d already done it, wouldn’t he have told her?

Maybe he didn’t know such a thing was possible.

“Do vampires know what other vamps can do?”

He waved a hand. “Some of it. Not all. We don’t share our…”

“Bloodlines?” she finished for him.

He looked surprised. “Yeah. Those.”

“So it’s possible Antoine doesn’t know the resistance thing even exists?”

Gabe winced. “Yes,” he admitted, “it’s possible.”

And if he couldn’t do it for me… he’d hate that.“Then please, Gabe.Pleasewill you?”

“You make it difficult for a vampire to say no.” He didn’t sound happy about it.

“Is that a yes?” She gave him what she hoped was an encouraging smile. “Would it help if I struggled or ran away slowly, saying ‘please don’t bite me, Mr. Vampire’?”

He barked a laugh. “It’s not strictly necessary, but I certainly wouldn’t mind.”

“Then please, Gabe. I need that resistance.”

He shook his head. “Oh, very well. But only because Minh is such an asshole. It’s absolutely the sort of thing that bastard would do—going after the defenseless to torment their loved ones.”

She ignored the ‘loved ones’ comment. “With your resistance, I’d be less defenseless.”

“Yeah. A bit, anyway.” He exhaled sharply. “All right, let’s get it done before I come to my senses.” A ghost of his previous grin returned. “At leastI get to bite you.”

Cally swallowed, now confronted with the prospect of what she’d asked for. She took a steadying breath. “My neck, I presume?” She was still wearing her ripped T-shirt. It would be easy access.

“I’m more than tempted to push for your inner thigh,” he said dryly, his earlier flirtation returning. “But no, your wrist will suffice.”

That was a relief. And a surprise—Antoine had refused to feed from there.

“How do you want to—”

But Gabe had already risen, crossing the gap between them. He dropped to his knees before her, taking her hand in his almost reverently. As if wanting to get it done before he changed his mind, he lifted her wrist to his lips.

His bite stung more than Antoine’s, and she drew in her breath with a hiss, bracing for the pleasure that would follow.

Yet it never came.

Instead, a sense of calm descended—a blanket of comfort and safety, like she could let him take as much as he wished, and all would be well.

His throat convulsed as he swallowed, her blood rushing through her arm with the strange, dizzying sensation she’d come to accept. Yet he stopped far sooner than she’d expected, licking across the bite and sitting back on his heels.

Cally blinked as her mind cleared. “That was fast. That’s it?”