Bloodlust

Crossbreed

— VENICE —

Despite all of the ornate details of the guest bedroom—the fabric wallpaper, soft cream-colored carpet, expansive bay windows overlooking the mountains, and elegant bedside lamps—I noticed the massive four-poster bed.

As in one bed, to be specific.

"I'll leave you two to get settled in," Ophelia said. "I will return in a few hours to fetch you to for dinner." Without waiting for a response, she whirled off.

Liam shut and locked the door after her. I looked around the room again to avoid having to face the obvious.

The sound of him clearing his throat forced me out of my thoughts. Sighing, I turned toward him.

He now stood in front of the bay window, his tall, lean silhouette outlined by the fading sun. His caramel eyes glowed in the backlight. He looked ethereal and beautiful, yet somehow still dangerous and predatory.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

Swallowing back my body's visceral reaction to him, I glanced around the spacious room and said, "Fine, I guess . . . just trying to process everything."

"Fair enough." He blew out a sigh. "This must all be extremely confusing for you."

"To say the least," I said, biting my lip.

A soft growl rolled out of him. My gaze studied him carefully as he moved to the bed, perching on the edge of the mattress. He patted the space beside him and stared expectantly at me.

I padded over to the bed and crawling up beside him. My body felt tingly with nerves.

Am I seriously nervous to sit next to this man?

He angled his body to face me, his hands clasped in his lap. "Venice, I'm terribly sorry that you've been pulled into this," he said. "You were never supposed to get involved."

"I know. I'm sorry." I rubbed a hand over my face. He probably thought I was the dumbest person alive. "I should've just minded my business and gone inside. I just—it didn't feel right," I admitted, my voice tinged with exasperation. "You didn't do anything wrong. I don't understand why Marvin called Hunters in to get you."

His tongue dipped out from between his lips to stroke along his mouth. I caught myself admiring the fullness of his pink lips and the way they gleamed in the light.

"You can't blame yourself for any of this," he said. "I should have never gotten involved with you. I knew it was a risk."

My heart collapsed at his words. I felt devastated, for some reason.

He regrets meeting me?

I didn't know why that thought hurt so much. He was right, after all. If we never talked, never hung out, never spoke, this entire situation probably would have never happened.

"There's no point pondering the possibilities," I murmured, staring down at my tangled fingers. "We just have to press forward and figure out where to go from here."

He said nothing and the silence stretched between us. I lifted my gaze to his, finding those golden pools shining intensely down at me.

"There's more to the story, Venice," he said. "I would feel like I was lying to you if I didn't explain everything."

My brows furrowed at his serious tone. "Okay."

"Rob is a powerful figure in the supernatural world," he told me. "He was able to gather intel on the Hunters who abducted us. They were sent by the Princeps."