Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 90897 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 454(@200wpm)___ 364(@250wpm)___ 303(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 90897 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 454(@200wpm)___ 364(@250wpm)___ 303(@300wpm)
“Anne!” she lied, eyeing an exit door at his back.
For what felt like forever, she endured mind-numbing small talk (shouting) with the Scot. He rambled about the club not being to his musical tastes but he came here with friends (to get laid, though he didn’t add that) and how this wasn’t really his thing. He really wanted her to know that. Like his death metal T-shirt wasn’t a big enough giveaway.
Echo cut him off. “Hey, come with me.” She grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the back exit.
His eyes lit up, his cheeks flushed, and she could smell the musky deepening of his arousal.
Echo pushed open the door and hauled him outside with her.
19
The thing about being able to sense Echo’s emotions was that she couldn’t lie to him. After the initial hurt Elijah felt at her insinuating he was getting on her nerves, he realized that her actual emotions declared the opposite.
He sensed her guilt as she walked out of the hotel room. However, he’d also sensed a desperate determination. And something darker. Something she tried to hide from him. Elijah had his suspicions.
Maybe that was why he followed her.
He shadowed himself and masked his scent and sound, even though he tracked her at such a distance he couldn’t see her. Elijah followed their connection.
That damn bond between them.
The one that was driving him mad with need.
His suspicion grew as he strode into the nightclub, and along with it, jealousy and anger. And, yes, he could admit it: hurt.
Dancers made way for him as he pushed through the sweaty masses zeroing in on the female he hunted.
There.
Elijah found her just as she disappeared through an exit door with a tall, blond male, who shared remarkably similar coloring to him.
Possessiveness roared through him. It was unlike anything he’d ever experienced. Glancing behind him to make sure no one was watching, he did a quick scan of the club and then yanked open the exit door.
His stomach clenched with envy and indignation.
Echo’s head whipped toward him, her eyes silver, her incisors descended, readying to bite the male she had pinned against the wall of the dank, malodorous alleyway. Her eyes widened, and Elijah scented her fear.
He jerked his head in shock.
Why was she afraid of him?
“What the fuck?” the blond bloke yelled, shoving against Echo to no avail.
Elijah sped at him, and it took every ounce of his control not to punch the arsehole. It wasn’t his fault. Echo stumbled back as Elijah gripped the young man’s face and stared into his eyes. “You came out here alone because you needed some air. If anyone asks, the blond you were with left the club.”
“I came out here alone,” the lad repeated quietly, dazed and disoriented.
Elijah shoved him a little harder than he needed to toward the rear exit, and like he was in a trance, the bloke returned inside, the door slamming behind him.
Elijah turned to Echo. She wouldn’t look at him as she stared down the alley in the opposite direction. “I … the hunger … I couldn’t hold off until we reach the pack.”
That’s when he realized why he’d scented her fear.
Elijah sensed her shame.
He charged her. Her startled, breathy cry as he pinned her against the wall fed the arousal that swirled in a thick heat in his lower stomach and groin. “Why the bloody hell didn’t you tell me?”
She glowered up at him, those stunning jade eyes flashing silver in the moonlight. “So you can remember you’ve allied yourself with a monster?”
Jesus fuck. She couldn’t possibly believe that. Elijah gripped her chin, tilting her face, her lips up toward his. “If you’re a monster, I’m a monster.”
She scoffed. “You don’t need blood to survive.”
“No, I don’t. But you bloody well do. And instead of asking me, you go hunting elsewhere,” he hissed angrily. “Do you think I didn’t notice your prey looked like the poor man’s version of me?”
“You’re an arrogant asshole, you know that?”
“For once, just let that bloody guard down,” he growled against her lips. “Ask me for what you need.”
“No.”
“Why?” Elijah pressed his body to hers, letting her feel how hard she made him. “I know you want me just as much as I want you. I can sense it. I can damn well smell it.”
Her breath stuttered, puffing against his mouth. “Elijah …”
At the uncharacteristic, pleading tone, he softened his hold on her. “Let me in. You can trust me.”
“If … I’m afraid if I drink from you … I won’t stop.”
“Why?” he pushed.
“Because I want you so badly!” She shoved at him. “Get off!”
Triumph flooded Elijah’s blood and he crushed his mouth over hers. God, how he’d longed to taste her again. His kiss wasn’t sweet or tender. It was hungry and claiming. Elijah kissed her like he wanted to fuck her. What felt like years of pent-up longing poured itself into his kiss. Echo moaned into his mouth, her hips undulating against his as her vanilla and spice scent turned fragrant with sex. He could smell how much she wanted him, and it drove him mad.