Page 97 of The Donor’s Dilemma

“No, no. I invited her, and I am rather hungry. Surely the honour should be mine,” Abe argued.

“No,” Theo growled through gritted teeth. “She is mine. You have…”

The words died on his tongue as he turned to the two girls. They both stared back at him, waiting to be damned. The blonde’s gaze held nothing but fury. The redhead, nothing but fear.

“I’m very gentle,” Abe promised, watching Verity. “Unless you’d rather, I wasn’t?”

She squirmed beside him. Verity watched the girls too, then turned to Viv who gave her an encouraging nod that made Theo want to punch her. When she looked up to Theo her look of determination told him she’d come to the same conclusion he had.

It was Verity or the girls.

This was his fault. Why did he ever think he’d be able to protect her?

Tucking a loose hair behind her ear, he leaned in and kissed her cheek. “It’s up to you, angel, I can do it or he can. It’s okay,” he whispered. There was no hiding it from anyone else, but he still needed her to know it was her choice. Knowing Verity, if he tried to refuse on her behalf, she would be all the more likely to sacrifice herself to save the girls.

Her lips pinched as she tried to smile and shifted her body to stand up.

“How do you feed?” Sienna chirped from Harris’s side.

Every eye in the room, which had been waiting for Verity’s verdict, turned to Sienna. She smiled at Abe, flicking her hair over one shoulder and fluttering her eyelashes.

“Well,” Abe said, returned the smile with an arched brow. “Seeing as I don’t have the sharpest teeth, I need a little help.” He reached into a pocket and pulled out a slim, sheathed dagger, the whole weapon no more than six inches in length.

Verity’s hand tightened on Theo’s leg and he grabbed it, stopping her from moving.

“Can I see?” Sienna asked, standing up.

“No,” snapped Harris, but the woman edged closer.

“I just want to see.”

Abe nodded to the blonde girl who made a space beside him for Sienna to squeeze in, as she took the dagger. Pushing the sheath free, she turned it in her hands, examining the etchings on the steel blade. “It’s very pretty.” She held the blade up to the light, a look of awe on her face. “And sharp?” she asked before pricking her finger and wincing dramatically.

“Here.” Abe took her hand in his and raised it to his mouth as Sienna bit her lip. “Better?” he asked.

“No,” Verity whispered. The word shook on her lips, and Theo turned to find her watching the scene before her with eyes welling.

Without thinking, Theo grabbed her by the waist and pulled her onto his lap, wrapping her in his embrace and turning her face away from the scene as Sienna asked Abe, “you’re hungry?”

“Theo,” Verity whispered, looking up, ready to argue but it was too late.

Sienna had made her choice.

Harris snapped her name, but Sienna wasn’t listening as she climbed onto Abe. Their eyes devoured each other as Sienna moved in closer, pulled on the bow around her neck and offered herself to him. From the angle she created Theo couldn’t see Abe’s face, but he heard him telling Sienna how beautiful she was, heard his kisses.

“My offer’s still there, Verity,” said Gerald, either ignoring the tension or just a fucking idiot. “Wouldn’t want you to miss out.”

Her fingers slid through Theo’s hair as Verity pulled him closer to her neck. Blinking the tears from her eyes she waited. Face blank. Breaths shallow.

Not like this. Theo would have caved. He knew it. She knew it. He would have taken her like this, would have loved it. Savoured every sip. With time and privacy to enjoy the hold such a feeding inspired. Verity would have adored it. But not like this.

Gerald still waited, as did Viv and Harris and everyone else. Copper scented the air as Abe cut Sienna and began drinking, but no one seemed to care about them anymore. They wanted to watch Theo. Wanted to see if he’d do it.

With a finger under her chin, he turned her face to his and kissed her cheek. He wanted to kiss her properly, but Abe was already stealing the intimacy of their first neck feed, he wouldn’t steal their first kiss too.

With a short trail of kisses, to the angle of her jaw, below her ear, her neck, he found a spot low, easy to hide. Her fingers tightened in his hair as he tested the spot, scraping his fangs in question. In answer Verity pulled him closer, tensing as she prepared for the pain.

For the first time, the taste of her blood was bitter on his tongue. How could he enjoy the sweetness of blood without consent? Because, even if Verity had asked for this, even if she had pulled him to her, pressed his lips to her flesh, this was not consent. His stomach roiled. He felt dirty and embarrassed and he wished that everyone would just stop looking at him.