Somewhere in my tasting of Kinley's honey blood, something goes wrong because I find my tongue in her mouth where there is no blood to be had. There is no revulsion or hesitation within me, just an intense ache for more as I claim her mouth in the same feverish manner I do her blood. It isn't until I catch sight of my arm as I slip my hand underneath Kinley's hair to pull her closer to me that I realize what has gone wrong.

Black veins.

Black veins are spiraling down my arm, swirling in strange patterns as they pulse in time with Kinley's heartbeat.

It is the most painful and pleasurable frustration I've ever experienced. It feels like I'm being wrapped in a cloud that's on fire as the slow-burning, gentle pulsations continue to spread throughout me. It's almost like Kinley is claiming me rather than me claiming her. That doesn't even make sense because I can feel her small hands pushing against my powerful chest as she tries to pull away from me.

Despite the fact I am more than ready to toss this human on the bed and give in to the madness within these black veins that cover me, I release my suffocating hold on Kinley's lips.

She steps away from me, confusion and disgust written in her expression as she touches her swollen and raw mouth. The place where I bit her is healed over, yet I imagine it is still tender.

With distance between us, the black veins die back to whatever place they reside in me. I can still feel them lurking within me, waiting for their next chance to surface.

Can this mortal's blood be so strong that even a taste is dangerous? It's like the more I have of Kinley, the more reactive I am to her blood.

What would happen now if I fed on her like I did in the bookstore and the alleyway? Would he rise...this other beast inside me that is different than my thirst?

Perhaps he holds the key to the answers I seek. Maybe I should let him out. But then why does it feel like, if I did, I would be unleashing something that has the power to turn this sunlit world into one of eternal darkness?

Am I destined to become a beast bathed in blood like my ancestors?

"Tristan?" Sabrina says, stopping in the open doorway to my room as she knows I don't like it when she enters without permission first. "Kalista has finished her meal, and you might want to come before Dorian gives our new meirru a stroke from the mind games he is playing."

The mention of Maya is all Kinley needs to hear. I follow on Kinley's heels, unsure what it is she might be walking in on. There is no telling when Dorian is involved.

Kinley's feet halt when she reaches the living room and sees Maya sitting on Dorian's lap, blushing cherry tomato red. Dorian is all seductive smiles and low talking purrs as he plays with the ends of Maya's long brown hair. It's classic Dorian. He likes to make his prey feel wanted by him. He thinks it's funny, and it is funny, but Kinley doesn't think so.

She marches straight up to Dorian and rips Maya right off his lap. "She may be the house blood slave, but she will not be your any other thing." She thins her eyes at him.

I get the feeling those last words were aimed at me. She may be my prisoner but I am not allowed to cross that line I did in the bedroom. Kinley doesn't know vampires don't lay with humans. Why would she when I have given her every reason to believe we do?

Dorian chuckles and before Kinley can react, he has her pulled into his lap where Maya just was. "Is that because you want to be my any other thing?" He taps the tip of Kinley's nose before dragging his finger slowly across her lips, over the curve of her chin and down the center of her body as he has her splayed across his lap.

Kinley appears frozen as she watches his finger move further and further down her body. When Dorian reaches her navel, her muscles unlock and she scrambles off his lap in a hurry. This is the exact reaction Dorian wanted and it sends him doubling over in laughter.

"What's the matter, little human? Didn't Tristan already teach you how we like to indulge in the flesh of our prey?" Dorian taunts, craftily selecting his words to seek to confuse Kinley about the real relationship that exists between vampire and human.

Kinley's eyes widen in horror, her mind going down that rabbit hole Dorian is leading her down into. It's easy for her to believe with all the different tales she has read and my behavior toward her only solidifies the notion that it is normal for vampires to bed humans.

This is part of the fun for Dorian, to falsely give humans hope before he dashes their dreams away when he reveals the monster he is underneath. Kinley doesn't want this hope. In fact, she hopes the opposite is true. The problem is Dorian can see how much the thought of being with a vampire bothers her, and he is playing to it simply to mess with her.

You can practically see Kinley's mind spinning as if she is picturing a vampire ripping out a human's heart in the throes of passion and snacking on it right then and there. That thought is even enough to unsettle me.

"You keep your disgusting, vile murderous hands off of Maya and me. If you want something to play with, go find another human to satisfy the evil that lives in you." Kinley's words cause me to choke on my saliva. They are so aggressive and impassioned it's hard to pair them with her shaken demeanor.

"Disgusting, vile murderous hands?" Dorian stands, the darkening in his tone for show as he is now all but more amused with Kinley.

"These hands are capable of giving as much pleasure as they are pain, little human." He looks down at his hands. "I could give you a demonstration if you like." Dorian disappears from in front of Kinley and reappears behind Maya.

"Maya, would you like to join me in giving a demonstration of the immense skill set these hands of mine house?"

"Um..." Maya looks to me like the good meirru she is.

I ingrained myself deep in her mind. She will always look to me when a vampire asks something of her. It is part of the perks of being a master. I can easily override a vampire who tries to compel her against my wishes.

This is something Kinley will not understand. Maya is safer under my compulsion than if she wasn't.

I nod, granting Dorian the right to continue whatever game it is he is playing. Perhaps that's because I am interested to see how far he will take it, or maybe it's because I want to see Kinley's reaction. It's probably both.

"Okay." Maya bashfully agrees, surrendering to the charms of Dorian. Her cheeks can't seem to stand up to his tall, dark, and handsome features without flushing like a loner schoolgirl who the jock finally said hi to.

"What! No," Kinley shrieks inserting herself between Dorian and Maya before Maya can place her hand in the palm Dorian is beckoning her to. Only this time, Kinley faces her friend.

"Maya, hey. Snap out of it." She shakes her, the glazed over look in Maya's eyes means Dorian's scent and control of his energy output are the factors that led to Maya agreeing in the first place.

I don't think humans understand the true power of chemistry. Perhaps that is because many of them aren't in touch with their base animal instincts. They have fooled themselves into thinking they are superior to their biological drives when the reality is they are no different than the other animals that roam this living rock.

If only humans could bottle vampire pheromones, it would be love potion in a vial. Kinley's tragic past keeps her from falling prey to it. Her body is always pumped full of cortisol and adrenaline due to her constant state of fear when in the company of my kind. It would take some serious conditioning to get her to the point a vampire's pheromones alone could influence her behavior.

My jaw tenses as that thought sits way too low in me, tangling with the darkness that turned my veins black moments ago.

"He smells amazing," Maya mumbles, almost on the verge of being high.

Dorian ramps up his energy, electrifying the air around him in a manner that will cause a human near us to get chills as a tingling sensation invades them.

"He smells like...man, pure bulging muscles, five o'clock shadow man. I want." Maya steps forward, her inexperience with males of her own species making her that much easier to manipulate for Dorian.

He's basically just turned Kinley's friend into an animal in heat.

Kinley has the breaks on, trying to press Maya back. You can only contain an animal against what their brain is commanding them to do for so long. Maya's brain is telling her it's mating time.

Without warning, Kinley finds herself getting shoved to the side so hard she gets thrown to the floor. If there is one thing I have learned over the years, you don't stand in a female's way when they desire something. I've seen a female vampire rip another female's heart out over a male. I've also seen how catty human females can be when in competition for the affections of a male of their own species.

"Why do you smell so good?" Maya plasters herself against Dorian, smelling his shirt like it is soaked in paint fumes that are making her high as a kite.

Wack!

"Knock it off you two," Serena says, hitting Dorian in the back of the head hard enough to disrupt his concentration with his energy. The tingly, warm feeling he wrapped Maya in dissipates instantly as his energy crashes in on him.

Maya stops nuzzling his chest and looks up like she just now realizes where she is and what she is doing. Without the soothing atmosphere, all Maya is left in is soaking in her embarrassment.

"Oh my gosh." She shoves herself away from Dorian. "I totally just was smelling you." Maya backs away. "You smell good, like really good." She laughs, placing a hand behind her head in a way that in Maya speak must mean, well this is super awkward.

Kinley snatches Maya by the arm. "Come on, let's get you settled in." She's ready to get Maya as far away from Dorian as possible.

"And where is it you think you are going?" I ask, stepping in Kinley's way as she tries to head down the hallway that leads to my room.

"To help Maya settle in," Kinley replies a bit short with me, her nerves fried from everything that's happening. I let it slide.

"Maya is not staying in my room. She has a room to herself on the other side of the house."

"Maya is not going to stay on the other side of the house. There is plenty of room." Kinley tries to bypass me.

I straighten myself, fastening my hand to the wall so that I span the entirety of the entryway to the hall. "You must have misheard me, human. I am not sharing my bed with another human."

"You don't have to. Maya can have the chaise and I'll take the floor." Kinley stares up at me, her determination to keep Maya close unwavering and pleading all at the same time.

"Maya's place is on the other side of the house where I have prepared her a room. If you want to help her settle in, I suggest you walk in the direction where she will be staying during her tenure here."

Kinley grits her teeth together, her nostrils flaring slightly in her anger. "If that thing in there puts his hands on Maya, I swear to the heavens, Tristan Darkos, I will find the one weapon on this earth that will penetrate that supernatural chest of yours and pierce your black, merciless heart." Kinley grabs Maya, spinning around and storms off in the direction of the luggage that is still by the door.

Dorian's dying from his laughter at Kinley's outburst, my sisters are shaking their heads, and Kalista looks ill-amused with me.

While I heard every word Kinley said, penetrate is the only one that stuck.

I don't think that is a good sign about where this is heading.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~