Some time later she heard a sound, but it hardly registered. She moaned and rolled onto her back.

Two hands grasped her shoulders, and she jerked awake. It was dark in the cave. She’d slept past sunset?

Oh God, no! Russell was awake! She tried to get up, but he pinned her back down.

It was hard to make out his body in the dark, but not his eyes. They were glowing red. His grip on her tightened as his fangs shot out.

A growl rumbled low in his throat. “You should never sleep with a vampire.”

Chapter Ten

He was scaring her. Hell, he was scaring himself. In the three years that he’d been a vampire, he’d managed never to bite a person. Thanks mostly to Zoltan, who always had a supply of synthetic blood just a short teleport away. But then, in those three years, he’d never wakened with a woman in his bed, especially a beautiful woman like Jia.

The second he’d taken his first breath, he’d caught her scent. Woman, sex, and food all rolled into one luscious body that was warm and ready for the taking. Immediately, his eyes had turned red. His dick had grown hard.

Her blood was coursing through her body, the scent rich and intoxicating. The added fragrance of were-tigress unleashed a primitive hunter inside him. His fangs shot out, and he was gripped with a need to attack and conquer.

His fingers dug into her shoulders as he fought for control. No doubt she’d be left with some bruises, but it was better than a shredded neck.

“Russell,” she breathed. “I’m sorry.”

She was sorry? He was the monster here. With a growl, he shoved himself away and reeled out of bed. He stumbled to the ice chest in the dark and drank half a bottle cold. The blood eased his hunger, and the chill cooled the raging beast inside him. Unfortunately, his erection showed no sign of slacking off.

“Russell, are you all right?” her soft voice came from the bed.

God, he wanted her. He wanted to take her into his arms and make love to her. She was so brave and clever. Sweet and beautiful. She defended him, believed in him, trusted him. Or she had until he’d scared the shit out of her. “I apologize for losing control,” he said.

“You didn’t lose control. You stopped—”

“I frightened you.”

“I shouldn’t have been in bed with you. I meant to only take a nap, but—”

“It’s not your fault I’m the way I am.” He set his bottle down and strode to the bookcase where he kept his clean clothes.

“I doubt it’s your fault, either. You didn’t ask to become a vampire, did you?”

“No.” Was she still defending him, even after he’d come close to biting her?

“Was it Han who changed you?”

He ignored the question and pulled on a pair of briefs. “I’ll go topside for about ten minutes so you can have some privacy.” He lit a lamp and glanced over his shoulder at the bed, careful to keep the bulge in his underwear from showing.

She was standing beside the bed wearing panties and a flimsy-looking top, her long hair wild and loose around her shoulders. His fingers curled at the thought of stroking the black silk of her hair, fondling the white silk stretched taut across her breasts. His vision turned red once again, and he blinked, turning away.

“I’ll be back soon. Then we’ll get to work.” He grabbed his bottle of blood off the table and teleported aboveground.

Jia dressed as quickly as she could, all the time chastising herself for failing to wake up before Russell. Now he felt like a monster, and she felt guilty for bringing that look of shame to his face. All her life she’d been told by the villagers that if you pull a tiger’s tail, expect to be scratched. No doubt a similar scenario held true for a vampire. Sleep with him and expect to be bitten.

She wandered back to the bed, recalling the shock of seeing his fangs and red glowing eyes. But then she’d felt him tremble as he’d fought for control, and she had wondered—Did he want her simply because she was there? Or did he truly want her?

He returned, wearing only his underwear, and she turned away to check on the drying laundry while he dressed.

“Here. Eat.” Without looking at her, he set a breakfast bar and bottle on the table.

“Thanks.” While she ate, her gaze kept wandering back to him. Dressed in trousers, socks, and shoes, he had a towel draped over his bare shoulders. He shaved and washed his face. His hand paused over the tin cup that held both their toothbrushes, then he went ahead and brushed his teeth without a word.

He was just as silent as he finished dressing and arming himself. Not once did he look in her direction. She winced, wondering if he planned to be this cold and distant for the rest of the night.

When she had all her knives sheathed, she announced, “I’m ready.”

“Let’s go.” He reached for her shoulders, then stopped and grabbed her by the waist instead.

“You think I’m bruised.”

His jaw shifted, but he avoided looking at her. “I know you are. Hold on to me.”

The second she looped her arms around his neck, he teleported her.

For five hours, they teleported from one campsite to another. At each camp, he left her alone for precisely two minutes so she could sniff without any interference from his own scent. No sign of Han. That should have been frustrating, but she found the awkward tension between her and Russell even more disturbing. Finally, she’d had all she could take.

When he put his hands around her waist to teleport once again, she pushed him back. “How do you know I won’t bite you?”