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interest. What was I supposed to do? Walk away?
I looked at my half-eaten cookie. Nick might have. Nick almost did the first time I had goaded Ivy into
trying to bite me. Until I said no to her and she insisted. Then he stepped in to help. Looking back on the
incident, it seemed obvious I had been jonesing for a bite.
Sorry, I said, thinking of how tenuous I d made everything. I wasn t thinking.
Making a rude snort, he crossed his legs. Do tell, Miss witch princess, he said. Ivy was handling it,
and you go and get curious, tipping her into all but killing you. Bloody hell! When are you going to stop
being afraid of yourself?
I ate a bite of cookie, a big one this time. I m scared, I said after I forced it down, dry.
We re fine, Jenks said loudly, his eyes on the hanging flowers and clearly not knowing where my
thoughts were. We re all fine. Ivy said she isn t going to bite you again. We ll go out for pizza at
Piscary s when we get home, and everything will return to normal. You re safer now than your first night
spent under the same roof.
I put the last of the cookie in my mouth, nervously folding the crumbs up into the napkin. Jenks was
probably right about Ivy never again initiating a bite between us. But she hadn t initiated the first one
either. The thing was, I didn t want everything to return to normal.
Jenks swiveled to face me. Ah, you are too scared to let her bite you again, right?
A slow breath slipped past my lips and adrenaline zinged through me, pushed by fear. It was a feeling I
was beginning to understand.I didn t need fear to feel passion. I didn t.
Crap on my daisies, Jenks breathed. You aren t. Rache&
Frightened, I shifted to put my elbows on my knees, wadding the napkin up and squishing it as if it was
my shame. I m in trouble, I whispered. She didn t bind me, but she may as well have.
Rache& It was soft and pensive, and it ticked me off.
Just listen, will you? I snapped, then slumped back, squinting into the sun as I looked at nothing. My
throat was tight, and I shoved the napkin in a pocket. I& I learned something about myself. And I m
scared it s going to kill me if I ignore it. It s just& God! How could I be that blind about myself?
It might be the vamp pheromones, Jenks coaxed. You aren t necessarily attracted to women just
because you want to sleep with Ivy.
My eyes widened and I turned to him, shocking myself that he was still wearing that disguise and only his
eyes looked like him. I don t want to sleep with Ivy! I said, flustered. I m straight. I& I took a deep
breath, afraid to admit it aloud. I want to try to find a blood balance with her.
You what? Jenks blurted, and I sent my gaze to the people around us to remind him we weren t alone.
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She would have killed you! he said, hushed now, but no less intense.
Only because I asked her to ignore her feelings for me. Flustered, I tucked a wayward strand of hair
behind an ear. Only because I let her bite me without the buffer of emotion that she uses to control her
hunger.
Jenks leaned closer, his curls flashing blond in the sun for an instant as his disguise charm bobbled. But
you re straight, he said. You just said you were.
Blushing, I pulled the bag that had the fudge in it closer. Hunger gnawed at my middle thanks to the
Brimstone and I dug for the little white box. Yeah, I said, uncomfortable as I remembered her gentle
touch on me growing intimate when she misunderstood. But after yesterday, it s pretty obvious shecan
share blood without the sex. I darted a look at him, even as a shiver rose through me, unstoppable, at
the reminder of how good it had felt.
And she almost killed you trying, Jenks protested. Rache, she is still messed up, and this is too much,
even for you. She can t do it. You re not physically or mentally strong enough to keep her under control
if she loses it again.
I hunched in worry, hiding my concern in trying to get the taped box open. So we go slow, I said,
wrenching the thin white cardboard to no avail. Work up to it, maybe.
Why? Jenks exclaimed softly, his brow pinched in worry. Why risk it?
At that, I closed my eyes in a slow rueful blink. Crap. Maybe Ivy was right. Maybe this was just another
way to fill my life with excitement and passion. But then I remembered our auras mixing, the desperation
her soul was drowning in, and how I had eased her pain if only for an instant.
It felt good, Jenks, I whispered, shocked to find my vision blurring with unshed tears. I m not talking
about the blood ecstasy. I m talking about my being able to fill that emotional void she has. You know
her as well as I do, maybe better. She aches with it. She needs to be accepted for who she is so badly.
And I was able to do that. Do you know how good that felt? To be able to show someone that, yes, you
are someone worth sacrificing for? That you like them for their faults and that you respect them for their
ability to rise above them?
Jenks was staring at me, and I sniffed back the tears. Damn, I whispered, terrified all of a sudden.
Maybe it is love.
Reaching slowly, Jenks took the box of fudge from me. Twisting to a pocket, he flipped open a knife
and cut the tape. Still silent, he handed me the open box and tucked the knife away. Are you sure about
this? he asked worriedly.
I nodded, cutting a slab of fudge off with that stupid little plastic knife they put in with it. God help me if
I m wrong, but I trust her. I trust her to find a way to make it work and not kill me in the process. I want
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