Tall, Dark & Heartless

He'd experienced starvation a few times and he sure as hell wouldn't voluntarily go through it again or let his mate go through it. There was nothing like watching your body wasting away until there was only skin and bone and a constant hunger that stayed with you day and night and by that point not even bloodlust could take over to give you a reprieve from the pain. By then the body was used to feeding on itself it wouldn't go into bloodlust again until well after it became used to blood again. It was hell and he wouldn't be able to leave her if he thought that future was a possibility for her.

"Stop stalling, Danni, and drink. If you drink it down fast enough you probably won't even taste it," he said, lying once again, but it was for the best.

She licked her lips nervously as she stared at the bag. "You know what? You're right. I just have to drink it quickly," she rambled on nervously and he really couldn't help but find this new version of Danni cute as hell.

"Come on, Danni. I thought you were going to take me down a notch. How can you make me lose control if you can't even feed yourself, hmm?" he asked, taunting her just a bit and enjoying it probably more than he should, but then again it wasn't very often that the tough as nails Danni couldn't handle something. It was actually enlightening to see the woman show a vulnerability.

"I can feed myself," she snapped, looking pissed so of course he gave her a noncommittal shrug and said, "If you say so."

"I can," she said, shoving the bag of blood back towards him. "I'm not hungry at the moment." Her stomach chose that moment to growl.

He cocked a brow as he held the bag up to her. "Drink, Danni. You know that you have to learn," he simply said.

She nodded woodenly before taking a deep breath, closing her eyes and placing the tip of the bag where she'd bitten through in her mouth and took a quick, deep pull on the bag. Not even five seconds later the bag was shoved in his hands and she had a hand slapped over her mouth and was making a run towards the bathroom.

Should this really amuse him? he wondered as he followed her, admittedly enjoying watching the way her bare ass moved as she rushed over to the sink. When she spit the blood out he let out a tired sigh. Great, he needed to bring her across the country tomorrow and she couldn't even keep down a mouthful of blood.

What in the hell was he supposed to do now?

Not only was she going to need extra blood because she was a new turn and her body was still adjusting to the change, but because of the cancer, he thought as he gritted his teeth against the rage that began to simmer. The cancer was destroyed during her turn and had used up most of the blood, leaving her a bit weaker than she should be. She was going to have to play catch up and the best way for her to do that was bagged blood.

"I don't understand this. Why can't I drink it?" she asked, sounding irritated. "Your blood I can't get enough of, but that stuff turns my stomach. It doesn't make any sense."

"Cold blood is an acquired taste," he said, holding out the bag of blood to her.

She stared at it and shook her head as she stepped away from it. "Just the scent of it is making me sick," she said, moving quickly away from it.

"As I said, it's an acquired taste. When you drink from the source, you're getting hot, fresh blood that hasn't had time to settle. Bagged blood on the other hand is kept cold, the scent and taste of all the minerals in the blood intensifies as it settles until it covers the delicious flavor of the actual blood. It will take some time, but you'll get used to it," he said, once again holding the bag of blood out to her.

She shook her head as she edged away from him and the blood. She moved into the large bedroom. "How long did it take you to get used to it?" she asked, moving to the sitting area and putting a sofa between the two of them, as if that would save her ass.

"It took a few weeks to get used to it," he said in an offhand manner as he lied his ass off.

When the Council had agreed to allow him to stick around it had been damn hard. Going cold turkey and drinking the bagged shit had been hard enough, but going through withdrawal and being in a compound full of Sentinels had been pure hell.

Sentinel blood was stronger and sweeter than human blood. It acted as a natural booby-trap for vampires and a few demons who craved blood. The blood drew its intended prey and once it was consumed it would kill the vampire or demon that ingested it. It would only give him a slight stomach ache, something he could easily ignore. It sure as hell would have been more satisfying than the bagged shit.

"I don't have a few weeks," Danni said on a groan.

"This is my fault," he said as he slowly moved towards her. "If I had aided your turn with bagged blood it would taste like fillet mignon to you," he explained, ever so slowly making his way over to her.

She worried her bottom lip as she thought over what he said and thankfully didn't make any moves to get away. "Do you enjoy the taste?"

"Yes," he said with absolutely no hesitation. He did enjoy the taste. He enjoyed it more when it was warmed in the microwave, but she didn't need to hear that. Right now she needed him to bullshit her to get her to drink this blood and get to the point where she could tolerate it. More importantly, she needed to be able to hold it down. If she didn't do that they were going to be screwed.

They couldn't stay here. If they did they'd draw whoever the Master sent after them and Jax's pack would be stuck in the middle. He couldn't do that to the man. Not after everything they'd been through together. It didn't matter that the shifter sometimes irritated the living hell out of him or that he caught the bastard eyeing Danni's gorgeous legs, he owed it to the man to get Danni the hell out of here and away from his pack.

"Are you lying to me?" she asked, noting his approach and once again moving away from him.

This was getting old, he thought with a sigh as he flashed behind her, startling her and making her jump.

"Stop doing that!" she snapped, sounding pissed, as she shot him a glare over her shoulder, but he didn't miss the glimmer of interest in her eye.

"You want me to teach you how to do that, don't you?" he asked, grinning when she muttered something about his balls and something that sounded pretty damn painful so he decided to ignore it.

"I'll teach you everything I know if you give this another shot," he promised, knowing that for a woman like Danni, a woman who craved knowledge and strived to be the best that this was an offer that she simply wouldn't be able to refuse.

Of course she could teach herself, he'd done that, but it would take a long time to master all of her new abilities. That would never do for Danni. She'd want to start testing everything out the moment they had some breathing room and she wouldn't be happy until she mastered everything.

"You'll teach me?" she asked slowly, eying him in a way that led him to believe that she simply didn't trust him.

"Yes," he snapped, not liking that look at all. It was pretty damn insulting.

She eyed him for a minute longer before she abruptly nodded, reached out and took the bag from him. He watched as she placed the corner of the bag against her mouth, squeezed her eyes shut and began sucking, hard. It really wasn't a pretty sight as her face puckered up as if she were sucking on a lemon and those little gagging noises weren't exactly helping so he focused his attention elsewhere.