VET Vampire Romance 01 - Covet

wrapped his arms around her and closed his eyes, savouring the feel of her in his embrace and the warmth of her against him.
    Would she have ever asked to be anyone’s?
    Would she have ever consented to be his?
    “Javier... is it different if I’m acting against my master... if I choose to sleep with you?” she whispered and it felt as though she had heard the questions in his heart, as if it had spoken them to hers and she had voiced her answer to them. He held her closer to him, breathing her in, making the most of this stolen moment with her.
    He had lived six centuries in this world and had never found anyone like Lilah. She was a little piece of Heaven in his arms, brought colour to his world and turned it into a paradise. Even if their time together was only this night, it had been worth waiting six hundred years for.
    Lilah drew back, her hands still against his chest, burning his skin with their soft touch, and looked up into his eyes. “If he doesn’t have enough power over me to stop me from doing as I please... are we still breaking the law?”
    “I don’t know.” Javier was certain that no one else at the theatre would know the answer to that question either. Snow was the oldest, over two thousand years old, but Javier doubted even he could tell them whether they were free of the law. It was too much to hope for and Lord Ashville wouldn’t care about such technicalities when he came to act out his vengeance. “Most owned humans don’t struggle against the thrall of their bond to their master. It is a violation of their will if another vampire touches them, something that pains them greatly. You are different. Lord Ashville might have given you blood, but no sacred bond lies between you. I am not sure what that means... but if he felt what happened tonight, he will still be coming for me.”
    Lilah lowered her gaze again and then looked back into his eyes. “Perhaps if we made sure that I was the one breaking the law and not you... if the rules speak only of a vampire violating them, not the human, then if I’m the one to initiate things... wouldn’t we be safe?”
    The idea that she was planning to sleep with him again wrought havoc on his body, causing an intense wave of desire to roll through him, destroying all sense of control in its wake. His heart said to kiss this angel who offered herself so freely to him but his mind overruled it and forced a reminder from his lips.
    “I already violated them.”
    She frowned. “We can say that was me too... I won’t let him touch you... I won’t let him take you from me, Javier.”
    Javier stared at her, lost in her eyes and the force behind her words. The sound of his name on her lips echoed around his head and warmed his heart. A touch of rose slowly coloured her cheeks and she went to look away from him. He caught her cheek, holding her steady so her gaze remained on his, and swallowed. He wasn’t sure whether her claiming to have initiated things between them would make a difference. He wanted to tell her that but she leaned towards him and as flimsy as her logic was, he couldn’t resist her.
    She dropped her hands to his knees, pushed herself up, and brought her mouth close to his. She hesitated and he realised why. He had leaned backwards, away from her. She stayed there for long seconds and then started to move away. Javier caught her around the nape of her neck and dragged her back to him, intent on kissing her, and faltered again.
    His gaze fell to her mouth.
    He wanted to kiss her. His blood burned with the need until it bordered on controlling him but couldn’t bring himself to go through with it. To kiss her would be to violate her. Not the bond with her master, but her purity. Just the thought of her soft mouth on his made him feel like a beast. If he kissed her, he wasn’t sure he could retain control.
    “What’s wrong?” she whispered and he heard the hurt in her voice, saw it in her beautiful golden eyes when his leapt to them. Her eyebrows furrowed and she touched his cheek, fingertips burning his flesh, the scent of her blood filling his senses. His fangs dropped, pressing against his lips. He saw in her eyes the moment his changed, bloodlust swamping his irises and turning his pupils elliptical.
    He raised a trembling hand and ran his thumb across her lower lip, and even that small caress was almost too much for him, branding her name on his soul.
    “I want to kiss you,” he uttered and her eyes dropped to his