Blood Lust (12 page)

So if I’m ur alpha and
I order u to bring me ice cream at 3AM, u have to do it?

You’re not taking this
seriously,
he accused me.

He was right. I wasn’t.
Tell
me why u weren’t in wolf form at the carnival the other night. It was the night
before the full moon, and it was after dark. U should have been changed
already.

It took him a long time to respond, so I knew he was
explaining something, and I waited impatiently, tapping my fingers on the
headboard behind my pillow.

You learn to control
it after a while. Everyone shifts on the night of the full moon, but the night
before and the night after- that’s optional once you’ve gotten the hang of it.
I usually only shift once a month, on the full moon.

Wasn’t that interesting? I wondered how long it had taken
him to master that little trick, but as I was about to ask, another text came
in.

That’s why Amy was in
such bad shape on Friday night. She wasn’t drunk, but she was having trouble
maintaining control. It happens. She’s young- turned just a couple years ago.

Ah. Well, that answered that question. It took years to
master the art of
not
transforming on
the nights before and after the full moon. Which meant I had no chance of doing
it before the next full moon. But that didn’t mean I shouldn’t try to glean
some extra information out of Max. Maybe I could learn faster, with his help.

Will u teach me?
I
asked.

It’s not something
that can be taught,
he replied.
It’s
something you learn naturally once you gain control of your bloodlust. When the
thirst doesn’t seem so bad anymore, you’re on your way to gaining control.

I want to learn. Any
way I can speed up the process?

Sure, kid,
he
answered, and I could just picture him laughing at me.
Stick with me. I’ll even teach you to shift when it’s not the full
moon. It works to your advantage occasionally.

My eyebrows shot up. I could turn into a wolf even if there
wasn’t a full moon? That sounded amazing. Not that I’d get the chance to use it
much- but it could be helpful. I could just imagine walking an alley in New
York and coming across a mugger who thought he’d found the perfect victim. What
a surprise that would be for him.

I thought for a moment, and then texted,
Want to meet for lunch tomorrow?

I must have surprised him, because there was a long pause,
several minutes, between my text and his response.

What about your dad?

I don’t know what time
he’s actually flying in,
I wrote.
But
I’m pretty sure it’s not before lunch. He doesn’t like getting up early.

Sure. Firehouse at
noon?

I’d never been to the Firehouse Brewing Company, and I
wasn’t old enough to drink, but I knew that it was a restaurant, too.
Sure,
I texted back.
Maybe we can talk more then.

Looking forward to it.

Goodnight, Max.

Night, Eve.

I put the phone back on my nightstand, and lay in bed,
staring at the ceiling. I didn’t quite buy that you couldn’t teach someone how
to control their bloodlust, or at least that there weren’t some tips or trade
secrets Max could share with me. He was my best shot at getting a handle on
this whole werewolf thing, and I was going to get as much information from him
as I could. If I could manage to limit my transformations to once a month, that
would make my life
so
much easier.

I don’t know how long I lay awake, but at one point I heard
something clatter against my window, and I bolted upright.

Another pebble hit the glass pane of the French doors that
led to my balcony, and I frowned. Climbing out of bed, I moved closer to the
door. I couldn’t see anything. Another pebble struck the pane.

I unlocked the door and pulled it open, stepping out onto
the balcony.

Jericho stood below me, his eyes glowing in the moonlight.

“Oh, my gosh!” I exclaimed, and, remembering Gram, lowered
my voice. “What are you doing here? Are you okay? I’m so glad you got away all
right!”

He was wearing a t-shirt in place of the sweatshirt now,
this one stretched tight over his torso and outlining every muscle. “Can I come
up?”

“No way. Gram would hear you. The wood floors are all
creaky-“ I broke off as he braced himself and leaped, landing right beside me.
We were only inches apart.

Speechless, I stepped back and motioned him to come inside.

“Did everything go okay this morning?” he asked in a
whisper, and I nodded.

“Yeah. It was Max Good Crow. He let me go right away, and
even helped me come up with a story to tell my grandma. Everything’s good now-
well, except that my dad is coming to visit because he was all freaked out, but
I can handle that. At least I’m alive, and the wolves know I’m not the nomad.”

I sat down on my bed, and Jericho sat down too, but not
close enough for my tastes. Just seeing him again had the lust roiling inside
me. My fingers were itching to reach out to him, to pull him close to me. I
tamped down the desire. Jericho was going to think I was some kind of sex freak.

The silence stretched on.

“Where did you go last night?” I burst out finally. “I was
so worried about you. I didn’t know if you’d made it to safety before
sunrise…or if someone had captured you. I didn’t know what to think.”

“I made it,” he said. “The wolves didn’t even come after me.”

Smart move, I thought, because Gloria had more than proven
last night that she didn’t think her pack of four could defeat a vampire.

I blew out a breath and ran my hands over my hair, smoothing
it behind my ears. “I’m glad you’re okay. Gosh, I was so worried.”

When I looked at him, he had a pained expression on his
face. “You were worried about me?” he said gently, reaching over to touch a
strand of my hair.

“Of course. They threatened to kill you, Jericho. That’s a
pretty good reason to worry.”

He smiled then. “I’m the one who should be worrying. I
already failed you once. I don’t want to let you down again.”

“Failed me?” I repeated, trying to stay calm as my heartbeat
sped up. “When did you ever fail me? You saved my life that night. The wolves
would have killed me if you hadn’t stepped in.”

He edged closer on the bed and pulled me into an embrace,
and my pulse was pounding so fast I thought I might black out.

“I didn’t get there fast enough,” he murmured against my
ear. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t want to tell you…but it was my fault. You could
have avoided all this if I’d only been there sooner.”

“Been
where
sooner?”
I drew back, confused, and met his gaze.

“At the barn,” he said. “When the wolf attacked you.”

I remembered back to Friday night, when Jericho had walked
me to my car, and I’d driven home, and seen the barn door open…

And then I remembered the wolf attacking me, and a black
blur tackling it off me, fighting the wolf while I escaped.

“That was you?” I said in disbelief. “You saved me that
night?”

His eyes were molten silver, burning through me as he leaned
closer. He stopped less than an inch from me, eyes boring into mine.

“Eve,” he whispered, and I lurched forward, bumping my
forehead against his as our lips crashed against each other. His hands came up to
bury themselves in my hair, his grip steadying me as I tried to keep my balance
on the bed.

He tasted impossibly clean, his mouth a revelation of
sweetness. Desire unfurled within my belly, and I moaned against his lips. He
responded with a low growl, pushing against me. For some reason I reacted
instinctively, fighting his dominance, refusing to retreat as he pressed
closer. His hands were rough in my hair, and I responded by placing my own
hands against his chest and pushing.

He didn’t give. Instead he pulled his hands from my hair and
wrapped them around me. He moved us sideways on the bed, shifting together, and
he lay down with me. We lay on our sides, facing each other, and his hand
trailed down my back, sending shivers up my spine. I wanted to be closer, and I
tried to maneuver so that I could climb on top of him, but his hand was firm on
my hip, refusing to allow me to move.

Frustrated, I let the tip of my tongue caress his lower lip,
and I felt him shudder against me. He crushed my hips to his, his hand moving
even lower, gliding over the back pockets of my jeans before he pulled my thigh
up and draped it over his hip.

He was pressed so insistently against my core that I was
finally the one who gave in, groaning as I pulled him on top of me. It wasn’t
so much a submission as an admission of trust, and I felt his lips still
against mine as his hips settled between my legs.

When he pulled back, I wondered if I’d done something wrong.
“What-“

“Shhh,” he said, putting one finger against my lips. He
leaned down and kissed the corner of my mouth gently. “Eve, don’t misunderstand
what I’m about to say.”

What? How was I supposed to respond to that? “That depends
on what you say,” I replied, and my voice was stronger than I’d expected it to
be.

A smile played around his lips. “You have no idea how much I
want you,” he muttered, and lowered his mouth to my neck. His tongue traced a
line along my collarbone, and silvery trills of desire shot through me. I
brought my legs up to lock around his waist, and nearly cried out when he bit
down gently at the curve of my shoulder.

He rolled off me suddenly, breaking the physical contact,
and I was left feeling cold and empty, like I’d been doused with a bucket of
water.

For a few moments the only sound was my shallow breathing as
I tried to calm my racing heart.

His fingers laced with mine, holding my hand as we lay
side-by-side.

“I don’t want to rush this, Eve,” he said at last, and
raised my hand to his lips, kissing my wrist. “I’m not going to push you into anything
you might regret. We need to take our time.”

I pulled my hand from his and rolled onto my side, propping
my head up on my fist and staring incredulously at him. “You think I’d regret
being with you?”

He raised a hand to trace a finger along my cheekbone. “I
think you need to get to know me better before you decide to give me something
so precious.”

I felt myself blushing, and averted my eyes. He talked about
me like I was some kind of rare treasure- a far cry from the boys I’d dated
back in New York.

Jericho leaned up to press his lips to mine again, and this
time the kiss was pure and innocent, as chaste as any kiss between lovers could
be. “Lie with me,” he murmured against my lips, and laid back, his eyes
gleaming in the moonlight.

I snuggled into the crook of his shoulder, resting my hand
against his chest. “You could at least take your shirt off,” I said hopefully.

His chuckle rumbled against my ear. “Go to sleep, Eve.”

It was nearly an hour before I fell asleep like that, secure
in Jericho’s arms.

Chapter Seven

I traced the intricate lines of the design on my wrist,
imagining Jericho’s hands against my skin as I slept.

The blaring of my cell phone had jolted me out of slumber at
eight AM. It was the first day since I’d been turned that I’d woken up at a
reasonable hour, and I was hoping this was the last I’d see of my
twenty-hour-a-day sleep schedule.

The phone call was from my dad, confirming that he’d be
touching down just before noon. That did complicate things, but when I’d
explained that I had a lunch date, my dad had said he’d meet me at the brewery.
I hadn’t asked Max, but I assumed it would be all right. If Max seemed weird
about it, I’d just send my dad a quick text saying I would meet him at the
hotel, and cut out early on lunch.

When I’d hung up the phone, I realized rather suddenly that
Jericho was gone. I sat up, looking around the room. There was no sign that
he’d ever been here at all. I lay back against my pillows, and half-wondered if
it had all been just a dream. It was only when I’d lifted my right hand to
brush a strand of hair out of my face that I saw the elegant J inked on the
inside of my wrist. The drawing looked like a curving blade of grass, with tiny
offshoots sprouting into blossoms.

I’d obviously been asleep when he’d left, and he’d drawn
this on my wrist as a way of saying goodbye. Somehow it was much more
meaningful and poignant than a simple note on my pillow, which is what I would
have expected- and this had the added bonus of meaning something only to me. If
Gram had found a note from a boy who’d spent the night in my room, as I’m sure
she looked in on me this morning, there would have been hell to pay.

She’d been thrilled when I told her I was meeting Max for
lunch. If she only knew the reason why.

I checked my cell phone. Two minutes to noon. Was Max the
type to be late or early for things? I had no idea.

“There you are,” he said, and I looked up to see him
standing beside me.

“Whoa! Where did you come from? How long have you been
standing there?” I didn’t even hear his footsteps.

He grinned. “I just walked up. You must have been
daydreaming again.” His eyes flicked to my wrist, where the J was prominently
displayed. “I didn’t know you could draw.”

I didn’t want to lie to him any more than I had to. “You
think I’ve got potential? Maybe NAU has an art program. Sounds so much easier
than Pre-Law,” I joked, and stepped through the door when he held it open.
 
As I passed him, I sensed him tensing up, and
a split-second later, his hand grasped my arm firmly.

“Hey,” I protested as he pulled me back out of the Firehouse
and pushed me around the corner of the building. There were no people sitting
outside just yet, so we were in a relatively private area. I jerked away from
him. “What the hell, Max? You can’t just manhandle me when you feel like it.”