A Touch Too Much by Chris Lange Page A

to rescue her now. She had only herself to rely on, yet herself wasn’t going to be enough. As he squeezed her wrists so hard that tears sprang to her eyes, Liv finally realised the end had come for her. Closing her eyes, she addressed a silent prayer to the vampire who had made her heart beat with lust and love.
    And it came. An instinctive power infused her body, causing her to open her eyes in a rush. Like a destructive force demanding to be let out, the unrelenting sensation gave her an order. Overwhelmed yet trusting her instincts, Liv obeyed. She wrenched one of her hands free and put it on the warrior’s chest.
    Facing outdoors, she saw Rogan on his knees looking towards her. She heard him calling her name, heard him yelling at her to stop. Impossible. Too late. Although vibrating from the violence of the energy raging inside her, Liv still knew she didn’t want to stop. And why would she? While she kept on staring at Rogan, the corners of her lips stretched up.
    “Bite me!”
    She pushed. The invisible force reached its peak, and rushed out. Impacted. Penetrated into the vampire’s body. Soundlessly. Without stirring a breath of air. But nothing changed. Incredulous, Liv cast a glance at the warrior. Apart from the fact that he had stopped trying to put the watch on her, he hadn’t moved. As far as she could tell he simply seemed a bit at a loss, the watch now sliding from his fingers to fall on the concrete floor.
    Without even a whoosh, Rogan stood by her side. As he shoved the other vampire aside, the weight on Liv’s stomach disappeared instantly. Helping her to stand up, his threatening vampire features stirring a wanton need in her guts, he commanded the warrior.
    “Go home if you don’t want to die!”
    The soldier nodded while striving to find the right spot on the watch he was wearing. He disappeared. As soon as the warrior was gone, Rogan’s face shifted. Fangs retracted, his golden eyes glowing in the darkness, he looked like the Rogan she had stumbled upon in the parking lot, sombre and handsome. Drawing Liv to him, he carefully took her in his arms to brush a lock of hair from her forehead.
    “Are you all right?”
    “My back hurts a little, but I’m fine.”
    “What just happened?”
    The feel of his hand on her hair soothed her, and turned her on at the same time. Would she always react this way to him?
    “I’m not sure, Rogan. I felt something in me, like an incredible force running in my blood. I don’t know how to put it except that it wanted out. It begged to be let out. At first I thought it did, but something went wrong I guess. Anyway, nothing happened.”
    “I know, Liv, I saw it in your eyes. I had the impression something had taken you over. You looked…”
    He didn’t finish his sentence, seemingly getting a grip on himself, or putting a troubling image out of his mind. So close to him, she couldn’t dismiss his odd look as a trick of the moon’s silver light.
    “How did I look?”
    He let go of her and bent down to retrieve the watch the nameless warrior had struggled to fasten around her wrist.
    “Forget I said that.”
    “No, I won’t. What were you going to say?”
    “We can’t stay here. As soon as Khord has reported, the council will send others. Come on, let’s get the hell out of here.”
    “Rogan!”
    Frustrated with his obvious refusal to answer her, she almost shouted his name. He must have sensed she really meant to get it because he fiddled with the watch, and let out a long sigh.
    “You looked like a goddess of justice, utterly gorgeous and impregnable. An iron maiden feared by men and vampires alike. Watching you, I felt…”
    “How did you feel?”
    “Excited. Compelled. And, oh hell, so aroused. You dig up my worst feelings, Liv, and you don’t even know it!”
    That was when she noticed his body still tense and hot from battle, his feverish eyes alight with inner lust. As he talked, his face seemed to revel in the moonlight, his teeth slowly