He was hunched with discomfort, and bewildered, I reached out and pulled him back before he could walk out the bedroom door. “Nick?” I said as he jerked to a halt. “I did say no.”

Nick’s eyes widened even farther. His lips parted and he stood there, seeming unable to even blink. “But … you want to go back?”

I sat on the bed and looked up at him. “Well, yeah. She’s my friend.” I gestured in disbelief. “I can’t believe you just left her lying there!”

Nick hesitated, confusion thick in his pinched eyes. “But I saw what she tried to do,” he said. “She almost bit you, and you want to go back?”

My shoulders slumped and I dropped my gaze to the stain-spotted, ugly yellow carpet. “It was my fault,” I said softly. “We were sparring and I was angry.” I glanced up. “Not with her. With Edden. Then she got cocky, and it ticked me off, so I jumped her, catching her off guard … landed on her back, pulled her head back by her hair and breathed on her neck.”

His lips pressed together, Nick lowered himself to sit on the edge of the chair and put his elbows on his knees. “Let me get this straight. You decided to spar with her while you were angry. You waited until you were both emotionally charged, and then you jumped her?” He exhaled loudly through his nose. “Are you sure you didn’t want her to bite you?”

I made a sour face at him. “I did say it wasn’t her fault.” Not wanting to argue with him, I got up and moved his arms to make a spot for me in his lap. He made a surprised grunt, then curved his arms about me as I sat down. I tucked my head against his cheek and shoulder, breathing in his masculine scent. The memory of the vamp-saliva-induced euphoria flickered through me and was gone. I hadn’t wanted her to bite me—I hadn’t—but a niggling thought wouldn’t go away that the baser, pleasure-driven side of me might have. I had known better. It hadn’t been her fault. And as soon as I could convince myself of that and get out of Nick’s lap, I was going to call and tell her so.

I snuggled and listened to the traffic as Nick ran a hand over my head. He seemed inordinately relieved. “Nick?” I questioned. “What would you have done if I hadn’t said no?”

He took a slow breath. “Put your spell pot just inside the door and left,” he said, his voice rumbling up through me.

I straightened, and he winced as my body weight shifted against him. “You would have let her tear out my throat?”

He wouldn’t meet my eyes. “Ivy wouldn’t have drained you and left you for dead,” he said reluctantly. “Even in the frenzy you had her whipped up to. I heard what she offered you. That was no one night stand. It was a life commitment.”