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turned a shoulder to him, facing the window once more and crossing her arms over her chest.
    She was lovely, even in profile, with her hair drawn back behind her right ear. The shape rose to a stunning fae point, with three amethyst studs leading toward the peak. Exquisite.
    He had a sudden fantasy of licking along that curve, teasing the folds of her ear, the hard edges of the jewels rubbing over his tongue.
    Time slowed to a stop as he watched her staring at the mountain vista once more. And that’s when he caught a faint scent coming from her, something very light. He breathed in, letting the unusual fragrance flow through him. After a moment, he realized her scent reminded him of apple blossoms and once again desire swept through him, so sudden and profound that he barely repressed a groan.
    Images sped through his mind of taking from her neck, then carrying her to the bed and having his way with her.
    He needed to get himself under control, but her proximity seemed to be taking a sudden and profound toll.
    Returning to the table by the fireplace, he gave himself a shake. He didn’t like feeling this edgy and his blood hunger had revved up again.
    He took a few deep breaths to calm his body down. He just didn’t understand why he was reacting to her like this, with such immediate need for both her body and her blood?
    After a long minute, he felt more in control, and took the mug to her.
    “You need to eat.” He held it out to her.
    She took hold of the handle and smiled. “Oh, thank you. This smells like heaven.” Her gaze flitted to him, then away as she brought the mug to her lips.
    She was nervous around him right now. He could see that.
    She took a long drink and her shoulders eased down. “My wolf likes this.” She even smiled again.
    His breath caught. She had beautiful teeth, long incisors that made her look both predatory and adorable at the same time. Why was he so drawn to her?
    Then he caught the scent of her blood once more, only richer this time, like apple blossoms and wine, and he listed on his feet.
    “Are you okay? Mastyr Seth, what’s wrong?”
    “I’m fine.” He righted himself. His doneuse would be here within the hour. He’d tank up and be more like himself.
    “I guess we’ll both be lying for a while.”
    His gaze shot to hers. “What do you mean?”
    “Well, we’re both fine, right?”
    At that, his lips curved. “I see your point.”
    * * * * * * * * *
    Lorelei watched Seth over the rim of her mug. His aromatic, mossy scent had thickened in the air which meant he desired her and that made her want him more than ever. He’d asked what was wrong but she could hardly tell him she wanted his pants off.
    He turned to lean an arm along the support beam next to the window, his gaze fixed outside to the opposite tree-lined ridge. He seemed preoccupied, perhaps with ignoring his interest in her. He would think it inappropriate, part of what she understood to be true about him, not just from her research but because she’d tracked him for weeks.
    Seth had a highly developed sense of propriety.
    She knew as well that his blood hunger had reached a critical point, but how she knew, she wasn’t exactly sure.
    She continued to sip her broth as she watched and wondered exactly what was going on with him.
    Vampires gave off a lot of signals that they wanted to tap into a vein, the most powerful being a spontaneous appearance of fangs. Yet Seth showed no fangs, although she understood why. He was a man of strict control so he’d probably leave the room before he let her see his fangs in a situation like this.
    But what she felt emanating from him differed from anything she’d known before. It was as though she could actually feel his hunger like a soft vibration against her skin and he wasn’t just hungry, or even blood-starved. He needed to feed or he’d die within a couple of hours, he was that close.
    Sweet Goddess, why had he let himself get this far strung out? Yet knowing how