Quench by J. Hali Steele Page A

have to change her. Not an
option. Viv was undead, not a cat, and she needed stronger sustenance than his
blood.
    Did Alek plan to make her his mate against her will? Why
would he lie to her?
    “I’ve fed from the prince for many years.” Pain, anger,
infused his words. “I will not make you what you don’t want to be.”
    Don’t…trust you.
    His eyes became hooded and she winced at the anguish her
words had caused as they raged through his mind.
    He lowered his head, opened his wrist and pushed it against
her lips.
    Unable to move her head, Viviana had no choice as Alek’s
blood poured freely from the punctures. His life force filled her mouth and she
swallowed.
    Something else happened—the dark place in his mind opened.
    Memories, pained and raw, assaulted her thoughts. A
kaleidoscope of pictures with him and Nikolaus flashed before her like a movie.
His love, his guilt at loving a man, dripped into her heart. His need, his
desire and lust for the prince boiled through her veins.
    Her eyes closed as she let it wash over her. All his years
of fighting feelings for his best friend streamed alongside his new and
wondrous need for her. His vampyre side understood and could accept loving a
man, the cat never would. Tigers were solitary creatures, searching out females
only when the need arose. Male lions had a pride of lionesses, another male
would not be accepted.
    Alek pulled his arm away, her head lolled back against his
shoulder. Still too weak to think or utter a single word, she opened her eyes
and gazed at him.
    “Now do you believe me? Do you understand why I can never
have a mate?”
    He lifted her gently into the bed and, using her ancestors’
magic, he removed her blood-soaked clothes and cleansed her body.
    “Rest. I’ll return at dusk to feed you again.”
    She watched weakly as he walked to the door. Turning, he
leveled cold red eyes on her. “Do you trust me now?”
    Love she had felt all along lanced through Viv. The words
lodged in her throat, producing only a whimper. Alek didn’t vanish but before
she could force the words out he had opened the door and walked out. When it
clicked shut, the syllables slipped from her mouth.
    “ Draga moja .” she whispered.
    Alek was gone and he’d locked her from his mind.

Chapter Five
     
    Alek had pulled his wrist from her before she took too much.
He’d given her just enough to start her healing. Nowhere near the amount she’d
need to become what he was.
    “I’ve never seen you accept defeat so easily. Where’s that
Big-Man-On-Compound attitude?”
    Sitting just inside the doorway leading to the balcony,
distracted by sunrise and the variety of sounds that accompanied daylight, he
hadn’t heard or felt Case’s approach. Alek whipped around. “Not right now,
man.”
    “I remembered uttering those same words not long ago. Didn’t
stop you.”
    “Go to hell, Case. Where’s Tres?” He stood and walked out on
the balcony.
    “The Looking Glass, catching up with Holly. What’s up with
the lady below?” Case came out and stood beside him.
    “She’ll live. If Phoenix hadn’t been pissed at her and
zapped her ability to vanish I wouldn’t be stuck with the fallout.”
    “A man doesn’t buy the vintage champagne you did to share
with someone he considers fallout.”
    “What can I say, weak moment.”
    “Let me see. A few things come to mind. Hanging out the
out-of-business sign is one. The great, the mighty BMOC has gone down. Shit
like that.”
    “Screw you.”
    “Yeah I think I used those words too.” Shrugging, Case said,
“It’s not bad, you know. I like having a mate.”
    They stood in silence looking over the arena.
    Alek turned and rested his hip against the railing. “Don’t
think she’s keen on having me as a mate. Her exact words to me were—’I’m not
cut out to run on all fours’.”
    “Convince her otherwise. Show her the joy and freedom of
being both. Took us a while to get there ourselves so give her some