I know I don’t usually blog on a Tuesday, but I wanted to say a massive thank you to everyone who has visited here since Sunday. The truth is I feel really mean making you email me for the chapter I offered. I know it’s extra hassle for you and I really appreciate those who have asked. In the interests of my day job though, I had to err on the side of caution.

Fortunately in this BTE scene I don’t. 🙂

Happy reading and thanks to everyone who continues to support me. xxx

Kane hadn’t even looked at her in the hour or so that had passed. His coldness only made what she was about to do harder. Caitlin clenched her hands in her lap as she watched him from the bed. No time yet had felt like the right time to approach him. But she knew no time would.

    She thought of the witness statements she’d read about his feeding habits. They were as contradictory as everything else produced about him. Some claimed him to be rough, brutal and insatiable, the sex acts that followed the feed equally fierce and self-sating. Others reported him to be sensual and considerate, but still controlling. None ever wanted to prosecute. All were happy to boast of their encounter. All said they’d offer themselves to him again.

    He stubbed out his second cigarette before standing from the sofa. Crossing the room to the kitchen, he re-emerged with a beer and a bottle of water. He placed the latter on the coffee table rather than take it over to her. She wondered if it was her cue to join him.

    Her thudding heart resonated in her ears as she forced herself off the edge of the bed. She stepped over to the sofa opposite his, tentatively sitting on the edge.

    Kane took a mouthful of beer, the solemnity in his eyes telling her she hadn’t been forgiven even if his anger had dissipated.

    She knew she couldn’t hesitate or she’d lose her nerve. ‘If you tell me what killed my parents, I’ll let you feed.’

    He lifted his eyebrows slightly in faint amusement. ‘Excuse me?’

    ‘You heard me.’

    ‘Yeah, I heard you. I just want you to say it again.’

    ‘It’s a fair exchange.’

    ‘You’re offering to let me feed? On you?’

     She nodded.

    ‘What happened to the systems and protocols?’

    ‘I want a name, Kane. I need to know.’ She dug her nails deeper into her perspiring palms. ‘Before you’re going to do whatever it is you’re planning to do, I want to know what it is.’

    He lifted his bottle steadily to his lips, took a slow mouthful then lowered it again, his gaze not flinching from hers as he subtly licked away the remnants. ‘I’d need to control you for every moment of the feed. Are you sure you can take that?’

    She couldn’t let her gaze falter. ‘More than sure.’

    Her stomach flipped at his flicker of a smile as he reverted his attention back to the TV.

    ‘This is not an open-ended offer, Kane.’

    He was a vampire. It should have been the easiest thing in the world to tempt him to bite.

    ‘What’s the problem?’ she asked, her tone laced with an urgency she hadn’t intended.

    His eyes snapped to hers again. ‘The problem is that I could forget myself, Caitlin. I could decide I want more than just your blood. Like you said, if I do anything you don’t like, it could jeopardise my plans. And believe me, during a feed I could do a lot of things you don’t like.’

    There was a stirring low in her abdomen at the threat, but she forced herself to focus on the significance of what else he’d said. ‘So you do need to get to my heart.’

    He narrowed his eyes slightly. ‘You do know what goes on in a dual feed, don’t you? A master vampire gets you to the height of arousal until all that built up energy gets fit to explode and then he bites – hard and fast. And just as you climax, at that exact moment, he drinks, taking every last shred of energy. You don’t remember who you are, where you are, you don’t even care. Humans can’t survive it. Even you shadow-readers, with your constantly self-generating energy, can only take so much. And I’m capable of taking more than you can even imagine.’

    She refused to look away despite every facet of common sense screaming at her to retreat. ‘But you won’t forget yourself, will you? Not if your need for vengeance is that strong.’

    ‘That’s still one hell of a risk you’re willing to take.’

    ‘I have nothing to lose, do I?’

    Her chest tightened as he held her gaze for an uncomfortable couple of seconds.

    ‘And you thought me trying to seduce you was tragic,’ he said. ‘You offering yourself to me in exchange for information you won’t be able to do anything with is what’s tragic, Caitlin.’ He lifted his bottle back to those sexy, bow lips. ‘It almost breaks my heart.’

    She slid her hands from her lap to grip the sofa either side of her thighs. ‘I just want to know what it is.’

    ‘You really want to trade that flawless skin for information you can do nothing with?’

    ‘Do you really want to turn down a free feed?’

    He licked the bottom of his lip as his gaze swept from her throat to her mouth. ‘I’d want to bite you full on,’ he declared, the intensity behind those navy eyes as they locked on hers telling her he meant every word. ‘No numbing. I’d want you to feel me go in. And I will hold you down. I can’t risk those magic fingers wandering.’

    She nodded despite knowing he was still angry enough to make this difficult for her. But she knew if she pulled away now, she was unlikely to regain the courage to offer herself to him again.

    Kane assessed her carefully for a few moments longer before pushing the coffee table aside with his foot, freeing the space between them. He placed his drink on the floor and leaned back, draping his arms over the back of the sofa. ‘Come here,’ he said, his gaze resting squarely on hers.