Prologue

Sebastian

"I'm not going to hurt you." Her voice was soft, placating as if she knew I was working on pure instinct, and she knew I was all but a feral animal cornered.

No, but I'm going to hurt you.

Gods, her smell.

My mouth watered at the very idea of how good she'd taste, how thick and rich her blood would be as it covered my tongue and slid down the back of my throat. My stomach cramped painfully, this stinging sensation covering my arms and legs, my fingers and toes.

My vision cleared for a fraction, my gaze now latched on to the side of her throat, where I could see her jugular throbbing.

I squeezed my eyes shut and threw my arm over them, the limb feeling like it was filled with lead.

She came closer. My fangs were aching, and every feral, predatory part of me told me to drain her dry and become stronger.

She touched my arm and I snapped.

She was so good, better than anything I'd ever tasted, the sweetest wine. I flattened my body against hers and nearly groaned at how soft and feminine she was.

Her blood rushed through my veins, and I felt my strength rise up tenfold, growing and growing until it roared in my head.

And still I drank my fill, swallowing mouthfuls at a time. She struggled against me, but I was too greedy, too hungry to stop.

I moaned. She was tiny, soft.

She was…

Oh fuck.

I ripped away from her and panted, leaning back on my haunches to stare down at her. My heart was beating overtime, her blood rushing to every part of my body and knitting, healing me from the inside out.

With each passing second my vision became clearer, crisper. I could see every minute detail in the dark cave, every little detail of her.

She had long, dark red hair, big green eyes, a splattering of freckles across the bridge of her nose, and pouty red lips that were currently pursed as if she was… pissed.

And with each passing second, her horrified expression turned to one of anger. She lifted her hand and touched the side of her throat, and I lowered my gaze to stare as she pulled her blood-covered fingers away.

I touched my fingers to my lips, looked down at the digits, and a harsh noise left me as I saw that red covered the pads.

I'd just… I'd just attacked my female. I damn near fucking drained her dry.