Page 68 of A Trial By Blood

“I don’t like her either,” Ronan said, a look of surprise on his face.

“You don’t?” Ronan had spent the majority of his life feeling indifferent. Not liking someone because they were rude or there was just something about them that rubbed him the wrong way, and not because they were some kind of threat, was new to him.

“No,” he said, brows low. “I don’t.”

“Why?” Watching Ronan, helping him figure this all out, was fascinating. It also made me want to wrap my arms around him and tell him it would all be okay.

His eyes lifted to mine. “I don’t like the way she spoke to you or looked at you.” He actually scowled, his face rearranging in a way it probably hadn’t since he was a small boy. I had to bite my lips to keep from smiling. “I don’t like those fuckers sitting at the bar, either, for the same reason. I’d really like to punch them both in the face.”

“Fuckers? Those curse words are just rolling off the tongue now, huh?” I said, and my smile slipped free.

“The hounds curse a lot. I never understood why before, but the word fuck really does fit a lot of situations,” he said, watching as I took a tentative sip of my soda. “For anger, especially. They also use it when they’re talking about…” Those gorgeous eyes sliced to me, and his nostrils flared.

“About sex,” I finished for him.

“Yes.” It was one word, but his voice had dropped impossibly low, broadcasting a whole lot of things he was feeling.

I felt guilty for the way we’d left things at the clubhouse and also seriously cheated. “I’m sorry about before, having to leave before I got to…” I leaned forward. “Touch you.”

His nostrils flared.

“Have you, ah…recovered?”

“The glaring males at the bar and their rude mother have helped get things back under control.”

I grinned. “I’m glad—”

“Then we talked about fucking and the fact you were about to touch me, and now I’m in more pain than before.” His eyes were dark and heated, and my belly curled.

“Perhaps we should change the subject?”

He shifted in his seat. “That would be wise.”

The older female strode over to us and put my cake down in front of me, then stomped away. I took another sip of my drink. It was super sweet and fizzy, and it made my taste buds zing. Would food taste different for me now? I had to assume it would, since all my other senses had grown stronger. No, I didn’t need to eat, but I’d always loved sweets.

I scooped up a forkful of cake and took a bite. “Oh…oh wow.” I got another mouthful and moaned around my fork. “That’s the best cake I’ve ever eaten,” I said, licking my fork clean. “Do you want to try some?” I asked, scooping up more.

Ronan said nothing.

“Ronan?” I froze.

The heat wasn’t just in his eyes, his entire face told me how much he wanted me. “I don’t need to eat, but suddenly I’m ravenous,” he said.

“What are you hungry for?”

His eyes widened a little, there was so much there, a little confusion, yes, but it was all mixed in with a whole lot of lust, and behind it all, the powerful predator he truly was. His gaze slid over my face, to my throat, lower, then back to my mouth before locking with mine again. “Everything, Rose. Everything.”

Fire shot through my veins. I wanted that. I wanted it badly. “Will you…will you drink from me as well?”

He snarled low. “I don’t think I’ll be able to stop myself.”

I squeezed my thighs together, the needy flesh between them growing slick and hot and achy. “I don’t want you to stop yourself.”

His stare moved over my throat again, and his nostrils flared.

Tension snapped and coiled between us. “How do you usually feed?” I said, something I’d been desperate to ask. “Do you go to one of those places where people go to be bitten?”

He nodded, his jaw getting tight in that way I was now used to. “Yes.”