Page 88 of A Trial By Blood

Ronan turned to the female, a look on his face that told me he hadn’t consciously realized that’s what he’d been doing, but I knew I was right.

“Well, go on, then. Feed from her, if that’s what you want. But while you feed from her”—I grabbed the wrist of the male beside me—“you can watch me feed from my new friend here.” It was a bluff, but I was just so goddamned hurt.

The air changed, becoming cold and deadly, saturating the space around us. Ronan’s eyes were vibrant, glowing now, and rage lined his handsome features, twisting them until they were almost unrecognizable. His stare sliced from me to the guy beside me. “Lay one hand on her, get even a fraction closer, and I will tear out your fucking throat, then rip your twitching body to pieces while you’re bleeding out.”

The male pulled away, lifting his hands in surrender, and took a massive step back, then turned and ran. The female who had been beside Ronan was already gone. I hadn’t even seen her leave.

I was breathing heavily, shaking. Angry, confused, hurt. But most of all, terrified that I might lose him. “I told you if you did this, if you fed from anyone else, I’d never forgive you, but you were going to do it anyway? I don’t understand you, Ronan. You say you don’t have sex with them, but everywhere I look, that’s what’s happening here. Tell me the truth.”

His lips peeled back. “Do you think I want that? That I want that female? The idea fucking disgusts me. I don’t want any of them.” His chest heaved. “I don’t fucking want them, Rose.”

“Then who do you want?” I demanded.

His face contorted. “You.”

I was having trouble breathing. “Then why?”

He moved, fast. Grabbing my upper arms, he pulled me in close, and those vibrant eyes, pale but still blazing, were filled with humiliation, with hatred, with horror, and fury. “Because my fangs have been in him. They’ve been in that monster, and I can’t…I can’t fucking bear to have him that close to you. I know he’s gone. I know he’s in Hell, but he’s…” Ronan shook his head, like he was trying to shake the images out of it. “I still feel him there, in the middle of the night…his weight, his scent, his acid taste. My fangs in his veins, his poisonous blood burning my throat, choking me, making me sick to my stomach. I can’t…won’t taint you like that.”

How could I have been so blind? The abuse of his past wasn’t in the past, not anymore, not for Ronan. He was dealing with it now, like it’d just happened. Regaining his emotions meant he was living that nightmare all over again.

I took his face in my hands. “You’re not tainted.”

He clenched and unclenched his fists. Goddess, the expression on his face hurt to look at.

“You’re not,” I said again. He dipped his head, pale eyes closed tight, and I went up on my toes and pressed my mouth to his. His hands gripped me tighter, and he hissed low, his lean, muscled body vibrating under my hands. I kissed him again. “You’re perfect and you’re mine.” There was nothing I could do to convince him that he was wrong. He had to work through this, through all he was feeling. I wanted to help him, though, but first, I needed him to get out of his head. “You’re right, that monster isn’t here, so don’t let him ruin what’s between us. I want you.” I pressed more tightly to him. “You want me, too, I know you do.”

“Yes.” That one word was torn from him. “You’re mine, Rose, and anyone who touches you will die.”

My eyes stung. He was in so much pain, so conflicted. If only he’d trust me, trust himself. I let my fang sink into my lower lip, drawing blood, then slowly leaned in and pressed my mouth to his again. “Then claim me,” I said against his lips.

His arms tightened around me, so tight I struggled to breathe, then his tongue darted out, swiping over the blood that bubbled to the surface of my lip.

His big hands took my face, and he looked into my eyes. They were feral and so full of hunger and fear. “What if I hurt you?”

That was an impossibility. He would never hurt me. Not on purpose, and not like that. “You won’t.” I pressed my face into his throat, trailing kisses to his ear. “I trust you, Ronan.”

With a snarl, he yanked me off my feet and strode out of The Vault. “Not here,” he said.

His voice was barely recognizable. It was the voice of a predator, of a ravenous monster, a creature from nightmares. It should terrify me.

Instead, it soothed me and comforted me. Made me feel safe. I recognized the monster in him and the call of his thirst—it was answered by something deep inside me.

I took him in, face twisted, fangs extended. He was utterly beautiful like this, lost in his violent hunger.

Wrapping my arms around his neck, I hung on.

CHAPTER 25

Ronan

It took all my strength to release Rose so I could put her in my car. The monster in me wanted to lay her on the ground, strip her bare, and bury my fangs in her throat while I worked my way between her thighs. I shut her in the car and tried to force the images from my head.

I reminded myself that I was more than a starved predator ruled by hunger. I had to be, for Rose. I’d been without blood longer than this—many times.

When I was Azel’s creature.

I got in the car and pulled out onto the street. Her scent already saturated the small space, and I had to bite back my snarl, because no matter how long Azel had let me starve, I’d never hungered like this. I’d craved Azel’s blood, but only because it was all I knew, because I’d grown addicted to his poison. But even in the deepest, darkest depths of my addiction to that fucker’s blood, I’d never wanted it like I wanted a taste of Rose right then.