Chapter 7

Two days.

He'd fucked her for two straight days.

He sat on the only chair in the room, his gaze on the woman passed out on the bed in front of him.

She hadn't stirred when he had slipped out of bed and taken a long shower to wake himself up. Hadn't moved when he ordered some food or when it was delivered. 

The food helped a little. As a Born vampire, he could digest food as well as any human, but he hadn't needed it since he peaked. Even during the war, he had stayed in peak condition without it. But today, he’d woken up with hunger gnawing at his stomach. 

He felt as weak as a newborn human but strangely invigorated. 

And it had everything to do with the she-wolf on the bed. Or rather, with her blood rushing through his veins.

He’d taken her blood several times over the two days, and that was worrying because, firstly, he never drank straight from the source. Secondly, he'd never taken werewolf blood before. 

He'd never even heard of anyone doing so. What if there were side effects? That had been a reckless, stupid move. 

Even worse, the first bite hadn't yet healed. He could still see the angry puncture wounds marring her otherwise perfect skin, just as he could still see the first marks her teeth left on his shoulder. The bite was slowly fading, but not as fast as it should have.

She stirred, and he zeroed in on her slow movements, impatient for her to fully wake. She stretched, her back arching, pushing her chest forward. His body responded as if she was offering her perfect tits to him. 

But for the first time in forever, he was worn out. 

He would not do that again. Ever. 

She hissed when she tried to push her body up, and he almost swore. She was in pain; he’d caused it. He’d pushed her virgin body to its limits. For some reason, he could still feel her emotions, like a whisper under his skin. It had to be because he was still near her, and whatever voodoo that had filled the room the past two days still lingered. 

It was time to get out of there. 

“Good morning.”

She whipped her head around to him when he spoke, surprise flickering on her beautiful face. Big violet eyes, parted lips, a mane of tangled black hair. His breath caught, and he had to force himself to look away. 

How the hell was she so beautiful? 

Part of him wished he could slide back into that bed and lose himself in her again.

“Um... Morning.”

Her voice was husky with sleep. He felt that zing again. Great. Even her voice was fucking him up. 

It was time to get some answers and then get the fuck out of there before anything else happened.

“What's your name?”

“Danielle,” she answered as she sat up on the bed and thankfully covered her body. “Dani.”

“Marcus.”

He held her gaze for a moment until a flush crept into her cheeks. Maybe it had only just hit her that they'd been as intimate as any two beings could be, but hadn't even exchanged names.

“What are you doing past the boundary, Dani?”

“I’m sorry. I should have gone to another territory, but the moon was already affecting me. I knew I would be safe here.”

His heart pounded at the implication that she was somehow in so much danger that she’d come to them for safety. With her heightened senses, she must have heard the erratic heartbeat, too.

He chose to ignore the questioning frown on her face. Not that he could have answered it if she had asked. He didn’t know what the fuck was happening to him, either.

“Safe from?”

“No one, really.” A lie. He could feel the deceit like a cold breeze. She was an open book. “I was in heat and had no time to get to my usual hiding place. If I had stayed in our territory, with the full moon out, I would have caused chaos.”

Relief flooded him. 

Heat? 

That explained everything. And it made him feel slightly better about losing control with a stranger. There had been no magic involved. No compulsion. Though he had never been affected by any female's heat before, he’d seen it happen to others. Nothing to worry about at all.

“You're relieved.”

“I was worried,” he admitted. “That was... new.”

He gestured to the food on the table beside him as he stood. 

“You need to get your strength back up. The food is still warm,” he said.

“Okay. Thank you.”

She sounded a bit hesitant.

“What?”

“I... I’m sorry. I don’t do this,” she whispered, her face flaming as she motioned between them.

“Well, obviously. You were a virgin.”

Her cheeks flushed again, and something tugged in his chest. Did he like shy virgins now? What the fuck? 

But the reminder made him feel like a dick again. He'd never heard of a mature virgin wolf shifter before, so she must have been saving herself for someone special. 

Maybe her mate. 

Something in him twisted at the thought, and the food he’d just eaten turned sour. It was time to go before the female dragged him back in.

“I have some things I have to attend to, so I need to go. You'll need to stay here. The patrols have doubled.”

“I have to get home. They will start to look for me soon.”

“We had wards placed around the city a couple of nights ago. If you try to go through them... It’s best if you don’t try. They won't hold long. Maybe three to four weeks.”

“I can’t be here for that long!” she gasped. 

“I’ll see if there’s a way around it. But you need to stay put until I come back. Okay?”

She frowned. He could feel how much she hated that idea—could also feel a hint of fear. He didn't like that. Not at all. His heart thudded loudly again, reacting to her emotions. What the hell was that?

“I’ll let you know as soon as I know anything,” he said, turning quickly to the door.

He was done dealing with this shit.. He was a war machine; he didn't do feelings. 

But his cold, dead heart fluttered over a wolf, of all creatures.

At the door, he turned.

“Are you still in heat?”

She shook her head. The silky hair fell over her face, and the sheet slipped off her body when she lifted her hand to brush her hair back.

Everything in him coiled again. 

If she wasn’t in heat, then what the hell was this?

Turning sharply, he yanked the door open, desperate to be as far away from her as possible. Away from the scent. Away from the smell of sex and her flushed, bare skin. He inhaled the crisp evening air deeply. 

But even after the shower, he could still smell her on his skin.

He growled and started to walk away. He’d barely taken two steps when his body tensed. Something was pulling him back. He could feel it like thousands of invisible hooks tearing into his back, digging in, trying to drag him back with every step he took away from her. 

He had to remind himself that it was because of Dani’s heat. It happened to everyone. The madness always faded away. 

When he reached his apartment on the far side of the city, in a building he’d designed and warded himself, he felt like he'd just fought a battle. 

And lost. 

The one thing that made the whole thing bearable was that no one was there to witness it when he collapsed into a heap just inside his door and passed out.