“What would you feel?” I asked, and the corner of his mouth turned up just slightly.

“It’s like that, only better. Nothing else can even compare.”

His eyes touched on the hunger that I had seen in Peter’s eyes when he wanted to bite me, and I knew thinking about Peter was a bad idea, but I did it anyway.

Jack had a sharp intake of breath, and he noticed the changes, the way my pulse got louder and faster, and some special scent that was supposed to drive him wild.

I’d been biting my lip, trying to control my own feelings of desire, and then I felt a sharp pain in my bottom lip. I can’t say whether or not I did it on purpose, but Jack noticed instantly. His pupils dilated and he exhaled shakily.

I had bitten my lip hard enough to draw blood. It wasn’t very much, but any amount would be enough to send Jack over the edge at this point.

- 18 -

He rushed towards me so quickly I didn’t see him move. His face just suddenly appeared directly in front of mine, his blue eyes staring straight into me. They were completely ravenous, but there was something more behind them than lust. A burning agony in them came from his poorly repressed affection for me.

“You’re going to be the death of me,” he murmured in a voice so slow I could barely hear it over the pounding of blood in my ears.

Defiantly and provocatively, I raised my chin in the air, revealing the smooth skin of my throat. I tempted him brutally, even though I knew that it could only lead to our demise, but it still seemed worth it.

Closing his eyes, he leaned forward and very tenderly, he licked the fresh blood off my skin. He wrapped his mouth around my lip, drinking as much of my blood as he could, and he moaned softly.

As soon as his lips touched mine, a wonderful weakness spread through me, and I arched my back. An intense quivering started in my heart but radiated out all over me, so my whole body shuddered.

When he kissed me fully on the mouth, I thought I would explode. I could taste my blood on his tongue and the intense excitement that went along with it.

His mouth felt hungry and needy, but there was nothing forceful or rough about it. His muscles trembled with restraint. I knew the things he wanted to do me, the things that I would gladly let him do, and I could feel how hard he had to fight that off.

Carefully, he pushed me back onto the bed, his lips never leaving mine, and he pressed me into the soft mattress. His body laid on me, and I felt his heart pound against mine.

Burying my fingers in his hair, I tried to pull him to me. No matter how close he got, I knew he’d never be close enough. I wanted him underneath my skin, and when I breathed in deeply, I smelled that tangy perfect scent I associated with Peter.

I slid my hands under his shirt, desperate to feel him. His normal temperate skin burned hot. It felt amazing, so I dug my fingers into his flesh, and he moaned against my mouth. His hands found their way under my shirt, smoldering against the trembling skin of my belly.

He managed to pull his lips from mouth, and they traveled down to the exposed skin of my throat. He pressed his lips against my veins, feeling the pulse against his skin.

There was a hunger so strong it was painful. I thrust my body against his, begging him to drink, and suddenly, he growled and sprang from my arms.

“What?” I cried, sitting back up on my knees. He stood on the other side of the room, panting heavily and shaking horribly.

“He’s going to kill you.” Jack let out an unsteady breath, and his eyes were wild with passion. “I want to so bad, but he would kill you.”

“So?” It was hard to breathe, let alone speak, and I barely managed. “It would be worth it. I want you to, and I don’t care what the cost.”

“Yeah?” He looked unsure, then nodded. “Yeah. Me neither.”

I was at the edge of the bed, and he ran back over to me, wrapping his arms so tightly around me that I couldn’t breathe. Oxygen didn’t feel much like a necessity anymore.

All that mattered was the way his lips felt pressed against mine. He kissed me so hard that my lip sprung fresh blood, and he moaned desperately.

My fingers dug into his hair and I waited for him to bite me.

“You’re going to get yourselves killed!” Mae hissed, and I whipped my head over to see her standing in the doorway, glaring at us. Jack had stopped kissing me, but I was reluctant to untangle myself from his arms.

“We didn’t do anything.” Jack kept his eyes on me and his voice was husky, so I knew he was still locked in a trance from the bloodlust.

“Yet,” Mae glowered.

“Yet,” Jack agreed, and he kissed my throat again, right where my pulse still pounded heavily.

My body slacked in his arms, but Mae rushed over, smacking Jack hard in the arm before he could do anything.

“Jack Allen Townsend!” Mae shouted.

“Okay, okay!” He took a step back from me, causing me to collapse backwards on the bed, and held up his hands defensively, but Mae swatted him again. “You can stop now! I’m done!”

“You better be!” Mae obviously didn’t trust him because she stood directly in front of me, blocking his path to me. “You’re going to get her killed! Is that what you want?’

“You know that’s not what I want,” Jack groaned, but a guilty expression passed across his face. The heat of the moment was rapidly dissipating, and the realization of what he had almost done to me, to us, was taking over.

“Then what the hell did you think you were doing?” Mae demanded. He scratched his temple and sighed.

“Being a vampire?” He kept his tone sarcastic, but I could feel how afraid he really was.

“You are such an idiot!” Mae turned away from him to inspect me for bite marks. When she saw the blood on my lips, she gasped and turned back to him. “Did you do that to her? You drew blood?”

“No!” Jack insisted, his eyes wide. “She did that! She bit her lip!”

“Why would you do that?” Mae whirled on me, and I’d finally regained enough strength to sit up. “Do you have any idea what that does to him? Do you both have a death wish?”

“It was an accident,” I mumbled.

“You need to shower and use a lot of mouth wash.” Mae held her hand to her face, looking distressed but sounding matter-of-fact. “If he even hints at smelling Jack on your blood…” Her eyes welled with frightened tears, and she pointed to the bedroom door and snapped, “Go! Right now! Go downstairs and use my shower!”