My neck throbbed with the memory of her lips on me, the glorious feeling of her pulling, drawing what she needed to fill the hurting chasm in her soul. Her eyes closed, and, breathing deeply, I felt myself relax against her as her forehead touched my shoulder. “I’m not going to bite you,” she said, her teeth inches from me, and a pulse of need shocked though me. “I’m not going to bite you.”

My soul seemed to darken with her words. The question of what she would do had been answered. She was going to walk away. She was going to let go, drop back, and walk away.

A feeling of loss rose to wind around my lungs, crushing my air from me.

“But I want to,” she said, and the chained desire in her whisper sent a pulse through me.

I gasped as the unexpected sensation dove to my middle and set me alight, twice as potent since I had given up on it. It was followed by fear, and Ivy’s grip clenched. I froze when she tilted her head, her lips brushing just shy of my scar. “Either bite me or let me go,” I breathed, dizzy with need. How did this happen? How did it happen so fast?

“Close your eyes,” she said, her gray voice holding the emotion she was trying to control.

My pulse hammered, and, lids fluttering, I felt her pull back. In my imagination I could see her black eyes, see the heat in them and the way she got off on self-denial followed by a savage fulfillment when it became too much for her to contain, the guilt coating her soul.

“Don’t move,” she said, and I trembled at her breath against my cheek. She was going to bite me. Oh, God, I’d do better this time. I wouldn’t let her lose control. I could do this.

“Promise me,” she said, running a finger across my neck to make my breath catch, “that this won’t change anything. That you know it’s a taste for you to try, and that I will do nothing to encourage you. I won’t ever do it again unless you come to me. If you come to me. And don’t come to me unless you want it all, Rachel. I can’t do it any other way.”

A taste. I had already tasted this, but I nodded, my eyelids closed. My breath came in a pant, and I held it, waiting. Aching for the feel of her teeth in me. “I promise.”

“Keep your eyes shut,” she breathed, and I almost moaned when her light touch upon my scar lit a path through me to my groin. I gasped, feeling the wall against my back and her grip on me tighten. My heart pounded, and anticipation coiled deeper, tighter.