Once Bitten, Twice Burned

He thought . . . Grayson thought that she was going to change.

The hell she was.

Ryder laced his fingers with hers. Led her away from the blood- and gasoline-soaked scene.

Before he left the bar, he glanced back, just once, to see the clock.

Two hours before midnight.

Two hours . . .

“Sabine just ignited Bran’s Castle,” Keith said as he shoved his cell phone back into his pocket. “The place is burning, with flames reaching up to the sky.” Now why the hell had she burned her lover’s place?

Cassandra frowned. “You’re sure she was behind the attack?”

“You know another phoenix in the city?” Keith demanded. It wasn’t like their kind was heavy on the ground. “The flames are burning, it’s a vamp bar, hell, just connect the dots.”

“Do you think she killed Ryder?”

If she had, their plans were about to be screwed. “The local cops aren’t even at the scene yet. There’s no way to tell if anyone was inside when the blaze started.” The tip he’d just received from one of his watchers had been fast and frightened.

The guy had been hauling ass away from the fire, not trying to get close and see if any victims were burning.

Keith looked at his watch. “She’ll come.” She had to come. Sabine was his key.

“And if she doesn’t?” Cassandra asked. There was sympathy in her green eyes. “Then you’ll need to prepare yourself for what must be done.”

Killing his own son?

No, he wasn’t prepared to take that step. Not yet.

Sabine’s father had been ready to do anything to “cure” his little girl. Keith was ready and willing to do the same thing.

Anything.

She wanted him.

Sabine was afraid and furious and ripping apart on the inside.

Don’t want to change. Don’t want to change.

Her neck had finally stopped throbbing, but she felt like a ticking time bomb was inside her, just waiting to explode and destroy her. She didn’t want to change. Didn’t want to become one of the primals.

They didn’t seem to have any emotions. Only basic needs.

The need to kill.

Ryder was running with her. They were rushing down an alley. Dark. Away from the scent of fire.

Away, away, away . . .

“Stop!” Sabine cried.

Ryder whirled to face her just as the dark clouds over them erupted. Rain fell down on them, beating hard, pounding in a fury.

Maybe the rain would stop the fire at the bar. Maybe the rain would wash away all the pain swirling inside of her.

The rain fell and the blood washed from her hands. Now for the pain, please.

Her hair clung to her neck. She lifted her fingers and wrapped them around his shoulders. “I want you.”

Ryder blinked. Desire flared instantly in his eyes, but he shook his head. “Sabine, you need to be safe, you need—”

To feel alive. The way he’d always made her feel, even as he brought her death.

She stepped toward him. The rain kept hailing down on them. Thunder rumbled in the distance. Angry. Threatening.

Kind of the way she felt.

All she’d known before Genesis . . . that life was gone.

All she had left . . . the way I feel for him.

Sabine kissed him. She tasted the rain on his lips. The richer flavor that was his alone.

He went still beneath her touch.

“I don’t have a lot of control right now,” Ryder whispered.

She let a smile lift her lips, even though she knew the smile wouldn’t be reflected in her eyes. “Good. Because I don’t want control.” She didn’t want a safe lover.

She wanted him.

The most dangerous man she’d ever met.

The only man who made her feel safe.

Maybe she was screwed up. Maybe she was broken inside because of everything that had happened to her at Genesis.

She didn’t care.

Sabine kissed him again. This time, he broke.

His arms locked around her. His tongue thrust into her mouth. Her hands pushed between them. Desire was desperate, a greedy bitch swamping her. Sabine wanted to touch him. Needed to feel his c**k push deep, so deep inside of her.

But Ryder grabbed her hands. Two steps, and he had her against the brick wall. He locked her wrists above her head, pinning them there with his right hand.

His mouth kept kissing hers.

She could hear voices. Laughter. The crowd was close. She didn’t care.

Someone could walk into the alleyway. Someone could see her and Ryder.

I don’t care.

His left hand had opened her jeans. Pushed between her legs. She hadn’t put on underwear. No, Ryder had grabbed it and tossed it somewhere before they’d left the cabin.