Demon Moon

low and rough. “It will be. More than a few. I’ll not let you sleep the whole of the night.”
    “That will be good,” she whispered, her throat suddenly dry. She just hoped it would be enough .



CHAPTER 10

    The only alternative food source for vampires is animal blood, but it isn’t really an alternative except temporarily, unless the vampire wants to be a celibate idiot. And the longer a vampire feeds from an animal source—or even human blood from a blood bank—the worse the effect .
    —Savi to Taylor, 2007

    Colin resented every moment Savitri sat perched on the barstool behind the front counter. Her questions shouldn’t be limited to how customers preferred their dishes and what their names were. Why did she and Auntie continue in this business? They could each afford to live well without it.
    How aggravating that she should serve anyone, voluntarily or not.
    She trapped the phone between her jaw and shoulder as she wrote down yet another order. And he resented the twenty feet separating them all the more when she slid her fingers beneath the white shirt collar at her nape, massaging caramel skin that he couldn’t see or feel—only imagine.
    He swallowed and forced himself to turn and look out the window before the bloodlust rose. He’d have her in a few hours; there was no need to torture himself in the interim.
    Though he could hardly believe she still intended to leave with him. The interlude in the office had accomplished what he’d intended, and the conversation had started well enough—but he’d lost control of it over a bit of lipstick. The gratifying jealousy in her gaze had become something wounded, and he’d lost his sense.
    He’d never before felt the need to explain his sexual history…and what a sodding mess he’d made of it. He’d exposed something that must appear dirty and sordid to a human, even as he’d been attempting to convince her of the opposite.
    Only one or two a week . Christ. Her mind was too quick—she’d probably calculated the numbers before he’d realized what his defensive statement had meant: in two centuries, he’d taken blood from seventy thousand humans, and had sex with twenty thousand.
    Little wonder he’d always preferred art to arithmetic.
    He didn’t know how he’d recovered from such a bungle or what had kept her from bolting, but he wouldn’t question his good fortune.
    His teacup and table reflected in the window, and he watched the spoon circle as he stirred it with his invisible hand. Remembering the delight on Savi’s face as he’d lifted her belt beside the car, he pressed his lips together to stop his laughter. The illusion had never amused him before—but he’d never seen himself in that movement, only that he was missing.
    Such a simple thing, yet she’d had to point it out to him. What else did she see that he could not?
    He glanced back at her, and his body tightened in immediate arousal. She’d turned in her seat and rested her arm across the back, her slim torso in a graceful curve. She studied him with her upper lip caught between her teeth, her lower pushed out.
    She was considering something—and whatever it was made her heartbeat and breathing quicken until it was all he could hear beneath the music of the sitar, the murmur of voices from the other tables, the noise from the kitchen.
    She didn’t look away when he met her gaze; instead she arched one of her exquisite eyebrows in a clear query: Why are you laughing?
    Good God, she could ask a specific question with nothing more than a quirk of her brow. He shifted in his seat, gave a small shake of his head.
    He was suddenly quite certain he adored her.
    Her mouth opened, and she touched the tip of her tongue to her upper lip, slightly swollen and rosy from her bite. Her left brow rose. Tell me .
    And now a demand. What would she do if he didn’t?
    Colin leaned forward, rested his elbow on the table, and cupped his chin in his palm to hide his grin. He lost sight of her when Geetha passed between them, heading for the kitchens, leaving Savi alone at the counter. Then he slowly turned and looked through the window again.
    “I want to see your mouth,” Savi murmured.
    Need tore through him, made him as lightheaded as if he’d been feeding. The passing headlights blurred into long, brilliant streams before snapping into sharp focus.
    Her voice was low and a touch playful. “I want it all over me. Your lips, your tongue…your teeth.”
    Christ. He fought the