Pietro’s lips twitched up into the barest of smiles as he turned his gaze from the woman at his side to the panorama before him. It really was a beautiful spot, but the word that had just been dragged from his lips had nothing to do with the landscape and everything to do with Cassia Romanov.
He had known instantly that he would climb down that stupid tree to be with her. The moment he realised that she was intent on waiting for him, it had simply been a matter of when he would finally give in to her compelling allure, as opposed to if. She had been on his mind since her last visit, when their hands had touched for that split second and every nerve ending in his body had come alive.
He had tried to work out what it was about her that penetrated the emotional barriers he’d constructed so carefully over the years. He’d known many beautiful women in his life and yet none of them had even remotely caught his interest the way Alexei’s daughter had. She was cloaked in an aura of serenity; an understated intelligence draped in graceful elegance that made his soul feel as if he had been cleansed with a soothing balm. Although he typically chose to avoid others, being with Cassia didn’t stir that need for solitude. She was, quite simply, refreshing; he found himself craving her company, if only to alleviate some of his more negative emotions.
Cassia set the picnic basket off to the side, and sighed heavily as she realised she had forgotten to bring a blanket.
“Here…” Pietro unbuttoned his shirt and shrugged it from his body in one sinuous movement without a second thought.
It was only after seeing Cassia’s mouth drop open and her blue eyes flash with intense emotion that he realised what he had done. He noted the flecks of amber that danced around the edges of her irises, and knew that her wolf was close to the surface. Pietro stiffened as he felt her eyes settle on his body and waited to see them fill with disgust as her haunting gaze traced the scar that ran down his collarbone, and then slowly drifted to the scars that framed his left nipple.
The repulsion never materialised though her wolf remained alert, its silent presence apparent, as she moved around behind him. He knew what she seeing having viewed his own back in the mirror. He stood rigid as he felt the heat of her gaze travel over the three diagonal scars down his right shoulder blade, an uncontrolled flinch rippling across his skin as tentative fingertips lightly caressed the wounds. Her fingers moved to his lower back where the horizontal scar slashed across in a jagged line, her touch soft and gentle.
She murmured something so quiet he had to strain to hear it, and her words made his heart bang painfully in his chest. “Beautiful imperfections.”
For a moment longer she remained behind him, and then she accepted the shirt still clutched in his hand and spread it out on the rock face before retrieving the picnic basket. “Thank you, Pietro.”
Even though her words were as restrained as her touch had been, there was a wealth of emotion in them. He knew she wasn’t just thanking him for the loan of his shirt, but for the trust he had inexplicably given her by allowing her to witness his greatest shame.
“You don’t know a whole lot about us Varcolac, do you?” she asked as she laid out her food and poured two mugs of tea from the thermos.
He sat beside her, leaving enough distance between them that they didn’t touch, but still close enough to feel her body heat. “I’ve been away a long time, Cassia.” He kept his gaze frozen ahead, staring into the trees as he accepted a mug of tea.
“Each of us has magical talents deep within. It’s what allows us to generate clothes when we shift back from our animal form. I probably could have conjured up a blanket so there would have been no need for you to remove your shirt. I still could…”
Cassia was offering him a tactful opportunity to cover his scars without losing face if having them on display made him uncomfortable. That simple kindness was so thoughtful that he felt tears threaten his eyes, but he held them back by sheer strength of will. Her soothing touch against his skin had been unexpected and he found he didn’t mind the scars so much in her presence.
“It will do me good to have sunlight and fresh air against my skin. It will help with my healing.”
They lapsed back into silence as Cassia ate a pastry, her eyes closing with enjoyment as she savoured the sweetness in her mouth. Pietro watched her, fascinated, his eyes riveted to her lips as she slowly chewed her food. His body stirred and he stiffened in shock. Sexual hunger suddenly overwhelmed him, as did the burning need to taste blood! One moment he was fine and in the next, he was overcome with dual gnawing pains flooding his body.
He simply couldn’t be hungry so soon after having a full transfusion of blood, which even included Ancient blood from Demetri! It should have been weeks before he needed to feed, and yet, he was suddenly ravenous. Vicious hunger clawed at him as if it had been over a month since he’d last eaten, and he was stunned by the ferocity of his need. What the fuck was wrong with him? Was this some kind of residual side effect from the poisoning?
Pietro rose in an abrupt movement, panic setting in as his need escalated. He had to get back to the compound, had to find out if any of the vampires there had a private stock of blood he could use. He had to get away from Cassia right now, before he did the unforgivable…
*****
“What is it, Pietro?” Cassia was startled by his sudden move, her heart kicking up a beat. Everything had been going so well until this moment, and she has no idea what had changed. He’d allowed her to look at him and touch him, and he’d appeared so comfortable in her presence that the long silences had been companionable ones. What the hell had gone wrong?
Her eyes met his own as she stood, and she gasped in shock. The black iris remained unchanged, but his hazel eye was glowing deep scarlet-a sign that a vampire was close to going rogue from lack of food. The man before her was fighting to keep his beast leashed; he needed to indulge, and he needed to do so immediately. She didn’t even consider her actions, as she stepped towards the large male and bared the left side of her neck.