Page 20 of His Winter Wonderland

It also sent a jolt of electricity through his entire body. What the hell? He didn't have time to think over his reaction to touching her. The witch was already mounting a counter attacked. She reacted to him grabbing her much faster than he'd expected. She tried to twist out of his grasp. He held on to her tightly. Fuck.

Her elbow landed against his rib cage. He should've seen that coming. He ignored the pain and tossed her to the side where she landed in a heap of snow at the foot of his right-hand man. He paused, waiting for her to get up. She lay there, crumpled up in the fetal position. Perhaps she wasn't as strong as her file made her out to be.

Rhen waited for her to get up. Seeing her like that, cowering in the snow, reminded her of his dream girl. Rhen shook off the feeling of dejavu. Not wanting to touch her again, Rhen faced his right-hand man, Rome.

"Tie her up," Rhen snarled.

Rome bent down to do as he was told. The witch sat up and grabbed the vampire's neck and slung him into the tree. Rhen heard the crack when Rome's body hit the tree. The witch was on her feet before the vampire could rise. The other ten vampires circled her and Rhen.

"You were faking," Rhen stated the obvious.

"You fight like a bitch,” she told him, while wiping blood from the side of her mouth.

Her insult caused hisses grew louder. Rhen's anger was mounting. How could one little female piss him off this badly?

"Come on, vampire. Let's finish this. I got shit to do."

No more hesitating with her. She wasn’t his Winter. His Winter wouldn’t talk like that.

"Are you scared, fangs?" She asked then smiled.

His heart did something weird in his chest. "Don't fucking smile at me." You’re not her. You don’t get to smile like her. “Normally, I don’t kill women. Normally….”

She yawned dramatically then said, “Girl, stop whining and fight.”

“Girl? Did you just call me a…”

“Come on, princess.” She waved him on.

Motherfucker! Rhen lunged for her. Instead of dodging his attack or trying to flee, she raced in his direction. She swung at his face. He ducked then grabbed her by the waist and lifted her in the air with every intention of slamming her into the ground. He hesitated. Her head fell to the side and he saw the claw tattoo on her neck. Winter?

That moment of hesitation was all she needed. Her nails scraped across his back, leaving behind a path of peeled flesh. Her claws were sharp as hell. He whirled around. Her claws scraped against his chest, slicing through his shirt. He grabbed her hand and pulled her against him.

Her sharp intake of breath upon contact stirred him in ways he didn’t want to be stirred. But it was the scent of blood at the corner of her mouth that called to him. He inhaled deeply as she tried to pull away from him. That scent! He tightened his grip on her and leaned closer. This time when he inhaled that sweet scent, a shudder raced over his body.

That scent! He knew that scent. That was the scent that called to his darker nature. It was a scent he’d never forget, no matter how hard he tried to. A scent that was burned into his memories. A scent that he’d smelled often in his dreams. He thought he’d overcome his lust for the scent of this blood, for the taste of this blood.

He’d thought he’d mentally fought that darker part of him and won. In his dreams, he’d battled this dark desire, slayed it, and saved Winter from it. Yet, the smell of her blood was awaking that part of him. But this Winter wasn’t real. She was just a pretender. How could her blood affect him so?

“Release me,” she muttered.

The marking on her name began to flame up. Embers rose from the skin the mark covered. That only increased his desire to sink his fangs into her neck.

“How are you so much like the woman from my dreams?” Rhen whispered.

Her eyes widened as she craned her neck back, trying to look up into his face. He tightened his grip on her, not wanting her to move.

“Since you want to pretend to be her, I won’t feel sorry for freeing my darker side and letting it feast on your blood. I can’t let him drink hers. I can’t let him hurt her. But I can let him hurt you.”

His gums ached as his fangs grew longer, reaching a length they only reached when in his nightmares. So long, that they scraped the skin of his lips, drawing blood. Rhen licked it away and his darker side instantly wished it was her blood. When he was this far gone from blood lust, there was no stopping him.

He didn’t want to stop. In his dreams, he hadn’t wanted to hurt the woman he knew to be his mate. The two sides of his being had warred with each other, one wanting to protect her while the other wanted to feed off her for eternity. Fighting against his darker side on a nightly basis had been draining.

In the end, the good in him had one. The protector had one. Tonight, the protector was nowhere to be found. His darker side was the victor. He could feel the blood in his veins turning darker and growing thicker.

So thick that it actually hurt as it circulated through his body. The only way to thin it out, make it normal, was to feed the blood lust rising from within. A deep growl rose up from the pit of Rhen’s stomach.

A battle cry from his darker half. A clear sign that he was no longer in control of his actions, his emotions, his desires. His dark passenger now was. And now it was time for his bloodthirsty side to enjoy the spoils of war. Gripping her neck, he sniffed her.