Kathy Love - I Only Have Fangs For You

"Mina," he breathed, his forehead pressed to hers. "I don't know what you are doing to me."

She gave him a shaky smile. "Whatever it is, I want to keep doing it to you."

He stared at her for a moment, then kissed her again, the embrace full of hunger and passion. He nipped her bottom lip, then her jaw, then her earlobe. She turned her head to the side wanting to feel that nip against the fragile skin of her neck. That realization gave her a moment's pause, but then she understood the need. She'd given herself to him in every way she knew how, except that one.

"I'm going to go up and tell them that we are leaving," he said, pulling away from her before his lips, his teeth, touched her neck.

She blinked, at first confused by who he was referring to. Then she realized he meant his family.

"I don't want them to come looking for us," he explained. "Not during what I have planned for you."

Her toes curled at the hot promise in his eyes. She nodded.

"Wait here," he said.

She nodded again, then as he started away from her, she caught his wrist. He turned back to her, a questioning look in his golden eyes.

"I want you to bite me."

He stared at her as if he couldn't have heard her right. She moved closer to him, pressing her own lips to his neck. Then she whispered in his ear. "I want you to bite me. And I want to bite you in return." She nipped him.

She pulled back, and he gaped at her for several seconds.

Then he shook his head slightly as if he couldn't wrap his mind about what she'd just said. He stared at her a moment longer, then he held up a hand, motioning for her to wait there.

"I'll be right back. Don't move." He strode quickly into the dancing crowd.

Mina watched him go, leaning heavily on the wall, her body too overwhelmed to support itself.

"My, wasn't that a touching scene," a voice said from right beside her.

She froze as she saw the tall, cadaverlike figure next to her. "Daniel." All the wonderful desire and anticipation that had been flowing through her veins disappeared. "What are you doing here?"

"Jackson sent me here. The Society heard about the attack here the other night, and they decided someone should come see exactly what's happening here. With you." He stepped closer. "They will be quite surprised, won't they?"

"There's nothing happening here that involves the Society," Mina stated.

"Isn't there?" Daniel cocked his head to the side. "When a member, who claims to be one of the group's missionaries, starts fraternizing with the enemy-" his eerie dark eyes wandered down her body-" in a very intimate way, then I think the Society needs to know."

Mina swallowed, refusing to be intimidated by this vampire. There was something different about him tonight. He still made her very nervous. Nervous in a way that told her she needed to run. That he was dangerous. But there was something else there. Just beyond her grasp. Something pushing at her brain, telling her she should know more about this vampire.

But she wouldn't be intimidated. She faced him squarely, lifting her chin. She needed to hold her ground, not only for herself, but for Sebastian. She couldn't let this creepy vampire go back and tell them she'd gone over to Sebastian's side. Not because she cared about their opinion of her; she was afraid of how the Society might retaliate. She couldn't let Sebastian or the club be hurt. She would protect him as he'd protected her.

"Daniel, I've done exactly what I promised to do. I've stopped Sebastian."

Sebastian's steps slowed as he got away from Mina. She'd just told him she wanted him to bite her. Biting-for Mina the ultimate act of trust. Or surrender. To him.

Instead of feeling elated, he felt scared to death. He wanted Mina. That he didn't doubt. He cared about her more than anyone, outside of his family. Hell, he wanted to be with her every moment. And when he wasn't with her, he was thinking about her. But he hadn't been able to tell her he loved her. Saying those words seemed like giving up all control. It was like losing himself.

He stopped on the other side of the dance floor, casting a look back to where he'd left her. He couldn't see her past all the dancers.

He took a deep breath, and tunneled a hand through his hair. "What am I doing? She's offering you everything. Take it."

"Hi, Sebastian." A svelte brunette, who he vaguely recognized, stopped by his side. "You look lost. Can I help?"

Sebastian stared at the woman. She was tall with a perfect figure, sultry bedroom eyes, full lips, and Sebastian felt-nothing. Nada. Zip. This woman was a knockout, and all Sebastian could think about was Mina.

He wanted Mina forever, and it was that simple. The realization didn't scare him any less, but he knew it was what he wanted. He wanted to take this final step between them. He wanted to make her his in every way he could.

"Umm," he frowned at the woman beside him, "yeah, I have to go." He didn't wait for her answer as he weaved back through the mob of gyrating bodies.

This was right, he told himself. Mina meant so much to him. He loved making love with her-more than loved it. But he also adored talking to her. He loved hearing her opinions. He loved her laughter. Her frowns. He loved watching her read. He loved lying in her arms and holding her in return. He loved everything she did. It was insane. But true.

And he still felt like he might hyperventilate.

But then he saw her, and suddenly everything seemed right. Just as it did every time he saw her. The world just seemed better and to make sense.

He picked up his pace, needing to tell her just that. But as he got closer, he frowned, his steps slowing. He could feel her emotions sharply in the air. Not the desire he'd felt when he left her. This was-agitation. He picked up his steps. He was definitely sensing her agitation. Not fear exactly, but rather nervousness. And maybe fear, although she was working hard to block that emotion, he realized.

He reached the alcove where he'd left her, for the first time seeing the tall, thin vampire standing near her. Sebastian started to interrupt them, but Mina's firmly stated words stopped him.

"Daniel, I've done exactly what I promised to do. I've stopped Sebastian."

"Stopped him, how?" the tall vampire asked, his voice smooth, oily rather than appealing.

"He isn't biting."

"Which you've stopped by," the vampire's dark eyes roamed down her body, "allowing him to-mate with you?"

"My strategy isn't your business," Mina stated, her small chin rising.

"My, won't you go that extra mile for the cause."

"Yes, I will. So there is no reason to go to the Society. I've got him under control."

Sebastian gritted his teeth at her words. She had him under control. Fang-whipped, as he liked to say about his brothers. Was he that easily manipulated?

"What of the attack here? Are you denying there was one?"

"There was, but it wasn't Sebastian. I was with him."

The tall vampire laughed, the sound cold, rusty. "I'm sure you were. But as I see it, if the club is still functioning, then you haven't really fulfilled your mission. Perhaps the Society needs to be more aware of that."

Mina paused at the vampire's statement, seeming to flounder a minute for what to say. "Daniel, that will take more time. But-but the more I have Sebastian under control, the more I can get him to do."

Daniel laughed again, the sound grating over Sebastian's skin. His fangs distended in rage.

"So, you plan to seduce him into closing the club."

"Yes," Mina said with no hesitation.

"You really think you can do that. That he is so charmed by you?"

"Yes," she said again, no doubt in her voice.

More rage filled Sebastian. Here he'd thought she was a rather endearingly bumbling saboteur, but she'd known exactly what she was doing the whole time.