my
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incisors elongated. Holy crap. Had that happened before? Well, duh. I'd punctured and sucked on Patrick's thigh twice, but this was the first time I'd been aware of my fangs. "Please tell me," I said, talking carefully around my new incisors, "that by 'donors,' you mean there is a blood bank somewhere."
Stan stared at my teeth, and then his eyes lifted to mine. "Vampires need live, circulating blood. Humans are, for the most part, a vampire's main food source."
"You mean I have to kill others to survive?"
"No, no. Donors are not killed. It only takes a pint to satisfy most vampires."
Yet Lorcan had drained me and God knew who else to alleviate his thirst. Had he done so because he was starved or because he was a vampire-lycan? All this thinking and talking about blood was making me kinda hungry.
"You're human." I knew because Stan smelled like a ham-and-cheese sandwich slathered in mustard with a dill pickle on the side. I heard the blood frantically pumping through his heart as he picked up on my sudden interest in his neck.
"Didn't you feed?" His voice squeaked on the last word.
I nodded. "For some reason, though, I feel… peckish."
Stan flinched. He stood up and leapt for the door. Then he realized it had no handle and he yelled,
"Ernie, open the damned door!"
"I'm not going to eat you," I said, even though I felt like gnawing, just a little, on his neck. I knew exactly where to place my new fangs, too, and how much pressure it would require to pierce his flesh and sip from him. "But, you know, if you're willing to donate a pint…"
"Ernie!"
Chapter 4
"Why is Stan avoiding you?" asked Patrick, his hand slinking up my back to massage my neck. We were standing in the high school gym, near the end of the retractable seats on the left side. To my surprise, several townspeople and vampires milled around the basketball court, while others sat on the bleachers and chatted.
"I told him I was feeling peckish and he freaked out." Just thinking about drinking blood forced my creepy teeth to emerge.
Patrick stared at me. "You didn't take enough sustenance from me?"
I shrugged. I had felt replete this morning, er, evening until the incident with Stan. "Can't I have anything else?" I asked. "How am I going to live without chocolate?"
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"Your body will reject regular food, including sweets," he said, dashing all my dreams of indulging in a champagne truffle. "You don't need them, love."
"Oh yeah? Well, here's some news, pal. Women cannot live without chocolate. Just try to get us through PMS without it."
A corner of his mouth quirked and he dipped his head near mine. "You don't have to worry about PMS.
You will never have another period. Or menopause."
I had to admit, on some levels, this vampire thing was okay dokay. "I'll still miss chocolate."
"I will try to think of ways to keep your mind off it." Patrick nibbled my ear, his tongue darting out to caress the lobe. A different need shivered through me. I had no idea why we were so lovey-dovey after two days of knowing each other. I suspected my willingness to be fondled by Patrick had to do with drinking his blood. The man was almost 4,000 years old and I bet that meant his blood packed some wallop. And there was the mysterious fede ring to consider. Patrick seemed to believe that my ownership of it made me his soul mate.
"I'm not a sexual slave, am I?" I asked in half-jest.
Patrick pulled me into his embrace and placed a soft kiss on my lips. "Not yet."
Sure, I realized genuine desire threaded through the arrogant words, but just hearing the purr of possession in Patrick's voice was like getting a bucketful of cold water dumped on me. I wriggled out of his grip and stood back, crossing my arms and giving him the stink-eye. "I don't belong to you."
He seemed more amused than angered by my rebellion.