“You need to let me go,” she told him, and hated that her voice came out so husky. He couldn’t afford to be weak with all the dangers closing in. How could she have taken such a foolish risk? He had to be at full power, she—
“And you need to tell me why you’re afraid to look me in the eye.”
Couldn’t he feel why? She forced her stare to meet his. “Because I took too much from you.” Her energy level was spiking so high she felt like she could fly right through the ceiling. Her fingers slid once more over his scars, almost helplessly.
He shuddered beneath her touch. “You gave.”
She blinked.
“When you came . . .” His head bent toward hers and his lips brushed across hers. “Sweetheart, you hit me with one powerful blast of energy. You didn’t take.”
Yes, she had. Her blood was pumping, and the energy all but crackled in the air.
“You gave me a surge of pure power, and it’s the damnedest thing I’ve ever felt before.”
She blinked eyes that had gone blurry. “That’s not possible. Rogziel—he said that I couldn’t ever transfer power. That if I wasn’t careful, I’d take too much from my lovers . . . all I can do is take, and if I take too much . . .” Her voice dropped. “I kill.”
Sam pushed his aroused flesh deep into her eager sex. “Angels are good at twisting the truth.”
She lost her breath.
“I’m not weak.” His gaze almost seemed to burn her. “I won’t ever be weak, no matter how much you take.”
He wasn’t human. Not a sixteen-year-old boy who had fumbled with her in the dark and gotten a near-death experience for his trouble.
“You can’t drain me, but, sweetheart, you’re not even trying. . . you’re . . .”
He withdrew. Thrust deep. Her legs wrapped around his hips as she pushed back against him.
“Giving to me,” he gritted, “making me stronger . . .”
He was making her stronger. Every touch. Every kiss.
His lips met hers in an openmouthed kiss. His tongue swept into her mouth.
Tension filled her body once more as they moved together. The thrusts weren’t as wild this time. Slow and steady, so deep. Her sex, sensitive from her climax, closed eagerly around his cock.
“Let go,” he told her. “Take, give . . . do whatever the f**k you want with me. You won’t hurt me.”
A lover who could handle her. She swallowed and held him tighter.
And took.
When the climax hit them both, the pleasure rushed through her body and flooded her being. She sent that pleasure out, working on instinct, and gave it right back to him.
The release she felt then was so powerful that it stole her breath. Her heart nearly burst from her chest, and she held on to Sam as tightly as she could even as the ripples of climax rocked between them.
When she could suck in a full breath, she tasted power and pleasure.
And knew—as she’d suspected from the beginning—that she’d found an addiction.
Sam.
This time, he held her. He didn’t speak, just wrapped his arms around her, and she heard the strong thunder of his heartbeat beneath her ear.
His heart pounded so quickly. A powerful beat. Not like before, with the boy she’d hurt so long ago.
“I’m not human.” Sam’s voice vibrated beneath her. She didn’t look at him, but her hand pressed harder against his flesh. “You know that means the usual rules don’t apply to me.”
She had to swallow again because her throat felt parched. “Meaning if you were human, I’d hurt you.” Because that was what she did. At sixteen it had been an accident, but as she’d gotten older, Rogziel had deliberately sent her out to lure others.
She hadn’t killed by draining them, but she knew that had been a risk.
“Who was he?” Sam’s fingers slid down her back, and goose bumps rose at his touch. For someone so dangerous, he could also be incredibly gentle at times.
“He was the first boy I kissed.” It was easier to tell the story without looking into Sam’s eyes. “And also the first boy I almost killed.” The kisses had turned into touches. Need had built within her. So hungry and new. She hadn’t even realized that something was wrong with the feelings she’d experienced, not until Patrick had collapsed.
“You’re sixteen, you’re making out, and then your boyfriend almost stops breathing.” Like that wouldn’t scar a girl. It had sure messed her up. “Rogziel told me how close I came to killing Patrick. I didn’t mean—I didn’t even know then that I could kill someone that way.”
Killing with a kiss. At sixteen, she’d learned just what kind of a monster she was.
Sam was silent, just . . . waiting. So Seline kept talking to fill that void. She’d never liked silence. It made the ghosts that surrounded her seem too loud. “At first, Rogziel was furious. I went to him for help.” A sad laugh slipped from her lips. “I didn’t have anyone else to turn to.”
His hand tangled in her hair. “You do now.”
Sam’s fierce vow brought her eyes to him. She wanted to believe him, wanted to so badly, especially with his body warming hers, but what would happen when the danger was gone? She wouldn’t have him at her side anymore.
No, then she’d have her freedom.
“Tell me the rest,” he growled.
She’d never told anyone before, but right then, it just seemed right to tell him. “A few years later, Rogziel realized just how very useful I could be. When he wanted to get close to one of his marks, he let me do the dirty work for him.” She hadn’t f**ked the men. Did that matter? She’d seduced, she’d charmed, but she’d never actually had sex with the marks that were her assignments. She’d never crossed that line.
Until Sam.
“Was the story about Moorecroft real?” No emotion hinted in his voice, and his hand still tangled in her hair.
She nodded and felt the tug against his wrist. “All of it. I killed his friend.” No choice. The bastard had almost broken her jaw. If she’d been a human, he would’ve shattered it. “When he has a chance, Moorecroft truly will be coming after me.”
“I don’t think so,” Sam murmured, and slowly released her hair.
She blinked and felt an ache in her chest. He doesn’t believe me. The first time she’d ever tried to bare her soul, and Sam thought she was playing him. “It’s true, I swear! Philip Drew was an ass**le who used his fists on women every chance he got. When I wouldn’t have sex with him, he started hitting me.” And for a mortal, he’d been incredibly strong. Once again, her backup—Alex—hadn’t come to her aid. “Philip had me on the ground. He kept hitting my face and kicking me with his steel-toed boots. The bastard broke two of my ribs.” She’d been coughing up blood.