“And you would be if you fed more,” he said with a slight nod against his palm as he reached up with his free hand to push a loose strand of hair out of her face. She slapped the offending hand away and fixed it herself, all while sending the bastard a murderous glare.

“I’ve drank more blood than you over the last couple of days so according to your little theory, I should be stronger,” she said accusingly as she pointedly shoved at his shoulders again to no avail.

He simply shrugged as he explained, “I’m older and need less blood.”

Narrowing her eyes on him, she let out a frustrated growl as she tried once again to shove the bastard away.

“If it makes you feel any better, you’re still stronger than a human,” he said with an amused glint in his eyes that she chose to ignore.

“It doesn’t!” she snapped back, wishing that she was strong enough to kick his ass.

“All you have to do is take a little nibble,” he said, lazily gesturing to his neck, “and we can go get your answers.”

“I’m not feeding from you!”

“You will if you ever want to get off this bed,” he said with another careless shrug that had her seeing red.

“Get. Off. Me,” she bit out, hating him for doing this to her, but hating herself more because right now, she wanted nothing more than to sink her teeth into the tantalizing tanned skin above her and finally find out if his blood tasted as good as it smelled.

“Just as soon as you have a small bite, we can go,” he promised her with a teasing smile that made it difficult to hate him.

Seeing him smiling or carefree in any way shouldn’t affect her, but it did. She liked this side of him a hell of a lot more than the brooding version of him that treated her with kid gloves and acted like she was a chore that he got stuck with. She enjoyed spending time with him when he was relaxed like at night when he held her in his arms or when he was focused on his sketchpad, but other times….

She wanted to kick him in the balls.

“I know you’re hungry, mein Schatz,” he murmured as he played with a strand of her hair.

“I’m fine,” she lied, squirming wildly beneath him as she struggled to ignore just how good he smelled.

“I’ll even make this easy for you,” he said, lowering himself on her and turning his head to the side so that his neck was bared to her. “Just sink your fangs in me, mein Schatz, and take what you need.”

She closed her eyes tightly and shook her head. “No!”

“Yes,” Christofer said, turning his head so that he could look at her. She opened her eyes to glare at him. “You need to eat, mein Schatz.”

“Not like this!” she snapped, in no mood for another lecture about what could happen if she went too long without drinking blood. She’d accepted the fact that she had to drink bagged blood for the rest of her life, something that she wasn’t happy about, but she would do it if it meant keeping other people safe. But this…….

No, she couldn’t force herself to do this, not when there were other options, options that would keep people safe and allow her to keep whatever was left of her humanity.

His gaze turned tender as he looked down at her. “This won’t turn you into a monster, Cloe,” he murmured softly as he gently caressed her jaw with his fingertips.

“You don’t know that,” she mumbled, hating the way that her voice shook, giving away just how scared she was that she was about to lose this battle.

“Yes,” he said, turning his hand so that he could trace her bottom lip with his thumb, “I do.”

She stubbornly shook her head. “I don’t want to lose control,” she said, remembering the look on his face when he’d lost control, the fear that shot through her when she’d realized what was happening. It was something that she never wanted to experience again, not if she could help it.

So, no matter how hungry she was or how badly she wanted to give in, she wouldn’t do it. She wouldn’t let herself lose control like that and-

“How about a compromise?” Christofer suggested softly, moving his fingers back to trace the line of her jaw.

“What kind of compromise?” she hesitantly asked, her eyes narrowing suspiciously on the bastard above her.

“The kind that lets me take care of you without you having to worry about doing something that you’ll regret,” he promised her softly.

“You can’t promise-”

“Yes,” he said, leaning down to brush his lips against hers, “I can.”

“How?” she asked with a sigh, giving up on trying to push him away since it was obvious that he wasn’t going anywhere until he was damn well ready. She wrapped her arms loosely around his shoulders. Unable to help herself, she began running her fingers through his hair, needing something to do as she laid there struggling not to get her hopes up.

“You’re going to drink from me and only me,” he said like that solved all her problems.

It didn’t.

Not even a little bit.

“And that helps me how?” she demanded, spreading her legs further apart when she felt him shift to get more comfortable. The move settled him more deeply against her.

“Because you’ll never have to worry about hurting me, mein Schatz,” he whispered as he shifted so that he could gently cup her face in his hand.

She opened her mouth to argue with him, but he cut her off with another tender kiss. “My blood can make you stronger, keep you safe and will cut down on how much blood you need to consume,” he whispered against her lips.

“How do you know that?” she asked, continuing to run her fingers through the hair on the back of his head, using the motion to hide the way her hands shook.

“Caine and Ephraim explained a few things while you were sleeping,” he said, tracing his thumbs over her cheeks.

“I don’t want to drink from you,” she stubbornly mumbled, her breaths coming faster.

“You don’t have a choice any longer, mein Schatz,” he said, brushing his lips against her forehead. “I need you to do this, Cloe. I need to keep you safe,” he said hoarsely.

“Why?” she asked, unable to understand why he cared so much.

“Why what?”

“Why do you care?”

He looked down at her, a small smile tipping his lips. “Because,” he said, leaning down until their lips were barely an inch apart, “you make me happy, mein Schatz.”

With that he sealed her fate and took the decision out of her hands.

Chapter 33

“Just do it!”

“Don’t rush me!” Cloe snapped back, chewing her bottom lip as she gazed at Christofer’s neck with uncertainty.

She’d agreed to do this, because he’d made her realize that this connection between them wasn’t one sided. He made her feel safe, protected and cherished and she apparently calmed something in him as well. It wasn’t something that she could ignore, not when she cherished that connection too much to risk it.

The other reason that she was doing this was simple. She liked the idea of needing less blood and not having to worry about hurting anyone. She’d been prepared to binge on that cold nasty bagged blood for the rest of her unnatural life even though it was without a doubt the nastiest stuff she’d ever consumed. So now, she was lying on a bed with the hottest man that she’d ever met laying on top of her, waiting for her to sink her fangs into his neck and drink his blood.