Mine, Bitten

Chapter Seventeen

  Lily

 His hoarse words stirred an immediate heat in her cheeks, prompting her heart into a crazed rhythm.

            He stood so close that she could feel his warm breath fanning her forehead. She had considered herself a seemingly tall woman, but he towered above her as a looming frame of impeccable solidness.

            She was determined to stand her ground with this fang-baring brute. She couldn't avoid the fact that she was thoroughly rattled and somewhat shocked that 'creatures of the night' were in fact undoubtedly real.

She most certainly couldn't overlook his undeniably striking features.

            Even as the thought scampered through her mind, an immediate notion followed. She wasn't about to become a vampire's bride.

            His dark eyes glinted in a knowing, amusing way and she detected a hint of a grin.

            Her eyes narrowed accusingly, "Are you reading my thoughts?"

            His perfectly sculpted mouth pulled into a wickedly charming smirk. "I find your thoughts amusing."

            "Stay out of my head." She snapped.

            He stepped closer until the thickness of him brushed daringly against her. She felt a breath rush up from her throat in a swift and audible gasp. A deep tingly worked its way up her calves settling in her knees until threatening to buckle beneath his intense dark-sienna stare.

            When closer, his eyes betrayed a slight tinge of green, the hue wrapping itself around the iris.

            His nose was strong and prominent.

            His lips, which occasionally pulled at the corners, were an irresistible distraction.

            His hair was as black as the night, falling in a boyishly manner across his forehead. Strangely enough, she had a yearning to push them aside, to run her fingers over the masculine angles that made up his beautifully, dark face.

            She couldn't imagine what had triggered such responses in her.

            She shrank against the wall as he rested an arm above her head. The proximity of him robbed her of breath and his nearness surprisingly was warm despite him being a supposed creature of cold skin.

            "You should stop comparing me to those fictitious characters that you read about." As he said this, his dark-chocolaty stare moved leisurely over the tantalizing display beneath her meager, torn blouse.

            So enwrapped with all that had occurred within the last hour, Lily had not given thought to her appearance or the wide expanse of bra and breast openly revealed to a wickedly attractive vampire with an insatiable thirst.

            With a disgruntled gasp, she grabbed the edges of her blouse and pulled it tightly closed.

            Her spine stiffened when he reached out and smoothed his knuckles down the length of her throat, notably taken aback by the warmth he ignited.

            "Am I cold to the touch?" his voice settled to a deep, sensual timbre causing her stomach to flutter madly.

            He then reached up and teased her lower lip with his thumb, searing a fire deep in the recesses of her belly. She was almost angry with her body's responses. Was he somehow working a dark charm over her?