Page 15 of Sinful Curses
Sahira studied Orin as he rose. His skin didn’t have its normal, healthy glow, and there was something off about his movements even as he glided forward with mesmerizing grace.
It had been a while since she’d satisfied her vampire’s thirst for blood, yet she wasn’t ready to ask Zeth or Elsa if she could drink from them. She’d already fed from Zeth, but it was such an intimate thing that it was difficult to ask others for it.
And she wasn’t asking Orin.
She’d controlled the bloodlust that could occur when vampires fed while she was with Zeth and countless other men before him. She despised Orin and everything he represented but wasn’t sure she could control herself if she fed from him again.
He tasted and smelled too damn good. Not to mention, it would evoke the barely suppressed memories of what passed between them the last time she drank his blood, and those memories could be dangerous if unleashed.
It wasn’t a risk she was willing to take.
As if he was reading her mind, Zeth turned to her. “Do you have to feed?”
Orin stopped shoving his supplies into his bag and froze before lifting his head. From the corner of her eye, Sahira saw him watching her but didn’t acknowledge him.
“You must have to,” Elsa said. “It’s been a while.”
Sahira’s stomach rumbled, but until Zeth offered, her hunger hadn’t been a screaming, clawing thing. It was now.
With Orin’s eyes burning into her, she remained focused on Zeth. If she fed from him now, she had no idea how Orin would react, and it wasn’t something she wanted to deal with.
She could feed on Elsa or Zeth when they were alone again, but not now. “I’m still good.”
“You can’t get weak out here,” Elsa said.
“I won’t.”
Elsa studied her before shrugging. “Okay. Let us know when you’re hungry; we’re here to help.”
Sahira smiled at her as she finished her piece of meat. “I will.”
Elsa wrapped up what remained of her bread and placed it in her bag. Unable to continue ignoring him, Sahira’s attention shifted to Orin.
His face was inscrutable and his eyes colder than black ice. She held his gaze before wiping her hands off and placing the rest of her things back in her bag.
She didn’t know what he would have done if she tried to feed on either of them, but it would eventually have to happen. It was only a matter of time before it became impossible to ignore her thirst and she started weakening.
Rising, she swung her pack onto her back and cinched it in place. Before she lifted her spear, she tried again to open a portal, something she did daily. And, like always, she failed.
She couldn’t stop trying. Maybe one day, she would magically regain the ability to escape this place.
With a sigh, she lifted her bloodstained spear from the ground. She tried not to think about what else lurked out there for them as she started toward the mountains a few steps behind Zeth and Elsa.
Orin fell in beside her. “When you’re ready, you’ll feed from me.”
Sahira didn’t bother looking at him. “I’m not playing your games anymore, Orin. I’ll feed from Zeth or Elsa; there’s nothing you can do about it.”
“Do you want to test me on that?”
“Do you want me to get to the point where I’m starved and weakened?”
“That would be your choice.”
She stopped walking. He continued for a few more steps before turning to face her.
“I’ve made my choice,” she told him, “and it’sthem. You have to accept it.”
He smiled at her as he stepped closer and ran his fingers down her arm. Her skin came alive beneath his touch as all her nerve endings focused onhim.
