Her fangs shone in the light. “Screw you! I didn’t ask for this.”

“You’d rather you were dead?”

“If I have to spend my eternity dealing with your patronizing ass, then a sunburn sounds great!”

No.

Not acceptable.

Never.

Lucien grabbed her by the nape of her neck, brought her mouth to his, and kissed her.

CHAPTER TEN

When Lucien’s lips crashed into hers, every cell in Makeda’s body screamed at her to take more. She’d woken aroused and hungry. One hunger had been fed, but the other pulsed under her skin, begging to be released. With Lucien’s lips on hers, she was a creature of raw nerves.

He bent, never releasing her lips, and lifted her, pushing up her dress to wrap her legs around his waist. Then he gripped the curve of her bottom with one large hand. He was a big man. Taller than Makeda and muscular over his lean frame. Perfectly proportioned with wide shoulders and narrow hips she squeezed with her thighs. She pressed her body to his and felt his rigid arousal at the juncture of her thighs.

“Yes,” he groaned. “More.”

She lifted one hand from his shoulder and slid her fingers into the silky weight of his hair as he angled her mouth to take her deeper. His tongue invaded and was met with her own. He tasted the length of her fangs, and Makeda felt the hunger grow heavy in her belly.

She wanted him so much, and she hated her own weakness.

“I’m still angry with you,” she muttered through biting kisses.

“I know.” He bit her lip and sucked the blood into his mouth, groaning at the taste.

“But I want you,” she hissed.

“I want you more.” His hand tightened on her buttock, and he ground his pelvis against hers. “I don’t… do this.”

She licked out, tasting his neck. “You don’t seduce colleagues?”

“I don’t take vampire lovers.” He growled when she bit his neck, even though she didn’t break the skin. “I don’t… It’s not—”

“Shut up,” Makeda said, pulling his mouth back to hers.

He held her as if she weighed nothing. His muscles bunched and flexed under her fingers. His hands dug into her bottom and her lower back. If she’d been human, the bruising would have been extensive. The primitive creature that had taken residence under her skin approved, but her rational mind…

It was screaming at her.

The hand Makeda had buried in his hair moved to collar his throat. She forced him away with a hard shove, though he didn’t release his hold on her buttock or lower back. She was no longer the feral creature who had woken and attacked the first vampire she saw. She could be better—be stronger—than this.

Lucien asked, “What is it?”

Makeda stared at the dip of his suprasternal notch, aching to taste the delectable hollow between his collarbones. She didn’t. She wanted to, but she didn’t. She forced her fangs to retreat but wasn’t sure how successful she was. They still felt heavy in her jaw.

Her life in the past two weeks had become a marathon of self-control. The air around her tasted like temptation because she could always scent the faint smell of humanity. She felt controlled by her hungers. A captive to a body she was still learning. She was aware of every temptation at every point she was conscious. The hours she spent asleep terrified her.

Waking next to Lucien that night had terrified her. It had also thrilled her.

“I can’t do this,” she said.

“Why not?” His voice was a low rasp. He tried to kiss her neck, but she pushed him back, her hand a vise around his throat. “We both want this,” he said. “We’ve wanted it for months. All the fighting was just—”

“No.” She took a breath, began naming bones in her mind. “I cannot do this. Let me down.”

“If you’re afraid—”

“I’m not afraid.” Her temper spiked. “Let me down, or I will hurt you.”

He dropped his voice and whispered, “You could try.” Then, very deliberately, he relaxed the hand on her buttock, moved the hand from the small of her back to her hip, and lowered her to the ground, dragging his erection over her abdomen. She shuddered, need gnawing at her belly, but she took a careful step back.

“What game are you playing, Makeda?” Lucien’s voice was hostile again. “You fight with me. Kiss me—”

“You kissed me.”

“You kissed me back.” He looked down at her with the dispassionate expression that made her want to scream and tear at his chest until he bled. Then she’d lick at his skin until the wounds closed. Then she’d bite him again.

“I’m completely out of control,” she muttered, closing her eyes. “I’m mad.”

“You’re not insane.”

Without another word, Makeda spun and left the laboratory, running through the forest of coffee trees and ficus until she reached the stone dock. She ran to the end and dove into the water without taking a breath, sinking until she could no longer feel anything but the pull and tug of tiny currents in her hair and around her dress. The water caressed her, and she plunged into the darkness, searching for peace in a place that felt both foreign and familiar.

Lucien swam behind her.

Makeda floated in the lake, watching the sea of stars above her. Black had no place here. To her newly keen vision, the stars didn’t look like ice but tiny jewels. Faceted gemstones floating in the sky.