It was crazy, beyond crazy. She'd only known Christofer for a few weeks and in that time he'd fired her, irritated her, taunted her, ditched her, attacked her and aided with her kidnapping, but somehow during all that he'd become everything to her. He made her smile, made her feel safe even as she fought to ignore what was happening between them, made her feel wanted and could make her smile. She could happily spend the rest of her life in his arms, she thought as she snuggled back against him, determined to soak up every last ounce of comfort that he had to offer before she was forced to face an uncertain future.

"No," she said, shifting back against him as she laid her hand over his where it moved lazily against her stomach, "I'm fine."

For several minutes they just laid there, staring out the large windows as Christofer lightly caressed her stomach with lazy movements of his thumb. She closed her eyes and inhaled slowly, allowing the peaceful moment to wash over her. She savored his comforting scent, his touch and the warmth that his large body enveloped her in and couldn't help but wonder just how long this reprieve would last.

Not very long as it turned out.

Five days later.........

"It's not going to happen!"

"Cloe-"

"No!" the stubborn woman snapped, glaring at him from the other side of the couch that she'd dodged behind ten minutes ago in a sad attempt to keep him from forcing her to do what needed to be done.

"You don't have a choice in the matter," he said, struggling against the urge to jump over that couch and end this bulls.h.i.t.

"Yeah, I really do," she said, shifting to the left when he shifted to the right, preparing to make another run for it.

"We don't have time for this, mein Schatz," he said with forced patience as he closed his eyes and slowly inhaled, praying for a modic.u.m of patience that didn't seem forthcoming.

"Really?" Cloe said mockingly. "Because it seems to me that we have all the time in the world for this."

His eyes snapped open to glare at the woman standing across from him. "As soon as you do what I asked, we can leave!" he snapped, coming to the terrifying conclusion that he'd finally found a woman more stubborn than his sister.

It was a truly frightening thought, but one that he was going to have to push aside and dwell on later, because right now he had more important matters to deal with, like finding a way to escape without putting Cloe in danger. It wasn't going to be easy. They were too far from the ground for him to risk trying to descend down the side of the building with her. They were also unarmed and trapped on a heavily secured floor in a building filled to the brim with armed military personnel.

To make matters worse he had a newly turned woman with a chip on her shoulder, a temper almost as bad as his, absolutely no clue what could happen to her and she was driving him out of his f.u.c.king mind! He'd never wanted a woman the way that he wanted her, needed her and the reminder that he could never have her only p.i.s.sed him off.

She was his responsibility and he wouldn't f.u.c.k that up by letting his d.i.c.k call the shots. The last time had been enough for him. Not only had he hurt her, changed her life, but he'd been so f.u.c.king focused on her that he'd failed his sister. Because of him, his sister was gone. It wasn't likely a lesson that he'd forget anytime soon.

"One more day isn't going to kill us," the brat pointed out.

"We can't afford to give them another day," Christofer explained as patiently as he could, praying that she wouldn't start another argument about leaving.

Of course he should have known better.

"I'm not going anywhere until we get our answers," Cloe said as she started up the same argument that she'd been using since yesterday when the blood finally ran out and he'd announced that it was time for them to leave.

"We haven't had blood in twenty-four hours, mein Schatz," he bit out slowly, shifting to the left only to have the stubborn woman shift to the right. "The longer that go without blood, the weaker we'll become. If we don't go today, now, then we might not get another chance until they decide to give us more blood."

Which he doubted they planned on doing anytime soon.

He'd f.u.c.ked up by trusting Ephraim, believing that he would do everything within his power to keep Cloe safe. Thankfully, it was something that he'd planned for. What he hadn't planned on was the woman in front of him suddenly acting like a pain in the a.s.s and making their escape more difficult than it needed to be.

"For all you know they could be sending up blood at this very minute," Cloe pointed out as she folded her arms over her chest, bringing his attention to her large b.r.e.a.s.t.s before he forced himself to look away with a curse.

For the last five days she'd been driving him out of his f.u.c.king mind. Every night he held her in his arms, forcing himself to ignore just how good she felt or how badly he wanted to run his hands over her and use his mouth on her while filling her with his fingers, tongue and c.o.c.k. During the day she sat next to him while he drew whether it was on a bed, a couch, chair or the floor. She never bothered him or asked him what he was doing, apparently happy just to be near him.

He was glad that she was feeling more comfortable with him, because it meant that she felt safe with him. What he didn't like was just how f.u.c.king comfortable she felt with him. She didn't see any problem with walking around in just her panties and a small shirt most of the time or heaven help him, walking around naked in front of him. He wasn't sure when exactly she'd started viewing him as a eunuch, but for the sake of his sanity and his d.i.c.k, he really wished that she'd go back to viewing him as a monster. Spending this time with her was driving him out of his f.u.c.king mind and without blood to help combat his hormones he was struggling every second not to grab her, bend her over and f.u.c.k her until they both pa.s.sed out.

Driving. Him. Out. Of. His. f.u.c.king. Mind.

"I'm not willing to take that chance," he told her, in no mood to argue about this for another minute.

"They probably didn't realize that we'd end up going through the blood so quickly."

"We're wasting time arguing about this," he said, shifting to the right and this time when she shifted to the left he made his move. He was over the couch and had her in his arms before she could react and once she realized what he'd done, she fought him tooth and nail to get away from him.

"Let me go!" she demanded, struggling in his arms and d.a.m.n near making him lose his hold on her, reminding him that she was a h.e.l.l of a lot stronger now.

"Not until you feed!" he snapped with a wince when she managed to elbow him in the gut, but he refused to release her.

"I'm not hungry!" she snapped right back, struggling to push away from him, but he wasn't going anywhere, not until she fed.

"It's for your own good!"

"No, it's not!"

"We don't have time for this!" he pointed out, biting back a pained grunt when she managed to slam another elbow in his side.

"I'm not drinking your blood, you sick b.a.s.t.a.r.d!" she yelled, ramming her backside into him in an attempt to dislodge him, but he held on even as the move made him stumble back.

"Yes, you are!"

"No, I'm not!"

"You need it!"

"No, I don't!" she said, twisting in his arms so that she could shove him away, but he wasn't giving up that easily, not when he needed to do this so that he could keep her safe.

"I can't take you out of here until you've fed!" he snapped, sick of arguing over this bulls.h.i.t. She needed to feed if they were going to have any chance of getting her out of this safely, but the stubborn woman refused to listen to reason.

If they tried leaving right now a single injury would have the power to knock her on her a.s.s and keep her there. Feeding wouldn't save her if she was shot in the head or the heart, but it would give her some protection. At least if she fed now, she would have a chance to heal from her injuries and keep moving her a.s.s. As long as she could make it to the exit, he would do the rest, but in order to do that he needed the stubborn pain in the a.s.s to feed!

It didn't matter what he said or did, Cloe refused to feed from him. When he'd suggested this plan last night, he'd a.s.sumed that she would just suck it up and do whatever she had to so that they could escape, but he'd been wrong. She'd argued with him all night, refusing to feed from him no matter what he said. He'd flat out refused to take her out of here until she fed, thinking that would help, but she wouldn't listen.

"I'm not drinking your blood so let it go already!"

"Yes, you are!" he growled down at the woman in his arms as she glared right back up at him through narrowed red eyes.

"I'm not drinking your G.o.dd.a.m.n blood and I'm not leaving here without my answers!" she snapped as she tried to shove him away, but he refused to budge, refused to let this d.a.m.n stubborn woman go until she'd fed and was moving her a.s.s through the front door.

"Fine!" he snapped back, realizing that there was only one way to get her to move her a.s.s.

He had to take the choice out of her hands.

Chapter 32.

"Now that we have that solved, why don't we........what are you doing?" Cloe demanded as she found herself suddenly scooped up in Christofer's arms.

"Helping you get your answers faster," was all Christofer said as he carried her to the bedroom that they'd been using for the past week.

He kicked the door shut behind them as she wracked her brain, trying to figure out how exactly they'd gone from arguing to this. For about ten seconds she'd thought that she'd finally managed to make the stubborn b.a.s.t.a.r.d listen to reason, but now, as she went flying through the air and landed with a soft "ooof" on the plush bed, she wasn't so sure.

"What the h.e.l.l is wrong with you?" she demanded even though she was pretty sure that she could come up with a decent list on her own.

"You want your answers, don't you?" he asked with a careless shrug that she didn't care for, not one bit.

"And how exactly is tossing me on the bed going to accomplish that?" she demanded, pushing herself up into a sitting position so that she could glare at the b.a.s.t.a.r.d as he- "Why are you taking off your shirt?" she suddenly found herself asking as he tossed the shirt over his shoulder.

"Don't want to get any blood on it," he reasoned as he climbed on the bed and headed for her, moving with the grace of a predator as she struggled to register what he'd just said and when she did, she turned over and tried to scramble off the bed as quickly as humanly possible, praying for some of that elusive Pyte speed to help aide her escape.

Somehow she managed to make it to the edge of the bed and even succeeded in getting one foot on the floor before he dragged her right back on the bed. But she didn't go easily.

"Let me go!" she yelled, shoving at the hands that gripped her hips as he dragged her back on the bed.

"As soon as you've fed," the irritatingly stubborn son of a b.i.t.c.h calmly explained as he shifted his hold on her and maneuvered her onto her back.

He smoothly shifted over her until his weight had her pinned to the bed, but unlike the last time that he'd had her in this position, her arms and legs weren't pinned beneath him. She did her best to kick him as she gripped his shoulders and shoved, but the only response she got was a bored sigh as he shifted his weight onto his elbows so that he could look down at her, effectively trapping her.

She gasped, shifting beneath him as she licked her suddenly dry lips while she waited for the panic to hit, but......

It never came.

Instead of freaking out or feeling like the world was closing in on her, she felt safe, protected and if the b.a.s.t.a.r.d on top of her wasn't trying to force her to drink his blood, she'd probably allow herself to enjoy this moment.

"I'm not moving until you've fed."

"I don't need to feed to get my answers!" she snapped, frustrated that she'd once again been manhandled.

"Yes, you do," Christofer murmured, propping his chin on his upturned palm as he continued to gaze down at her, looking bored.

"No," she gritted out, trying to shove him away, "I don't."

"I can't take you out of here until you've fed," he murmured, clearly biting back a yawn, which only p.i.s.sed her off more.

"You lying son of a b.i.t.c.h!" she said, shifting until her feet were pressed against the bed before she did her best to dislodge him, but other than jostling him a little and earning another yawn, he didn't appear to notice.

"The sooner you feed, the faster we can get out of here," he explained, somehow managing to sound rational.

"What about my answers?" she demanded, slightly winded, which had her narrowing her eyes on the b.a.s.t.a.r.d and wondering if he'd lied to her before. "Why can't I kick your a.s.s? You said that I would be stronger."

"And you would be if you fed more," he said with a slight nod against his palm as he reached up with his free hand to push a loose strand of hair out of her face. She slapped the offending hand away and fixed it herself, all while sending the b.a.s.t.a.r.d a murderous glare.

"I've drank more blood than you over the last couple of days so according to your little theory, I should be stronger," she said accusingly as she pointedly shoved at his shoulders again to no avail.

He simply shrugged as he explained, "I'm older and need less blood."

Narrowing her eyes on him, she let out a frustrated growl as she tried once again to shove the b.a.s.t.a.r.d away.

"If it makes you feel any better, you're still stronger than a human," he said with an amused glint in his eyes that she chose to ignore.

"It doesn't!" she snapped back, wishing that she was strong enough to kick his a.s.s.

"All you have to do is take a little nibble," he said, lazily gesturing to his neck, "and we can go get your answers."

"I'm not feeding from you!"

"You will if you ever want to get off this bed," he said with another careless shrug that had her seeing red.

"Get. Off. Me," she bit out, hating him for doing this to her, but hating herself more because right now, she wanted nothing more than to sink her teeth into the tantalizing tanned skin above her and finally find out if his blood tasted as good as it smelled.

"Just as soon as you have a small bite, we can go," he promised her with a teasing smile that made it difficult to hate him.

Seeing him smiling or carefree in any way shouldn't affect her, but it did. She liked this side of him a h.e.l.l of a lot more than the brooding version of him that treated her with kid gloves and acted like she was a ch.o.r.e that he got stuck with. She enjoyed spending time with him when he was relaxed like at night when he held her in his arms or when he was focused on his sketchpad, but other times....

She wanted to kick him in the b.a.l.l.s.

"I know you're hungry, mein Schatz," he murmured as he played with a strand of her hair.

"I'm fine," she lied, squirming wildly beneath him as she struggled to ignore just how good he smelled.

"I'll even make this easy for you," he said, lowering himself on her and turning his head to the side so that his neck was bared to her. "Just sink your fangs in me, mein Schatz, and take what you need."

She closed her eyes tightly and shook her head. "No!"

"Yes," Christofer said, turning his head so that he could look at her. She opened her eyes to glare at him. "You need to eat, mein Schatz."

"Not like this!" she snapped, in no mood for another lecture about what could happen if she went too long without drinking blood. She'd accepted the fact that she had to drink bagged blood for the rest of her life, something that she wasn't happy about, but she would do it if it meant keeping other people safe. But this.......

No, she couldn't force herself to do this, not when there were other options, options that would keep people safe and allow her to keep whatever was left of her humanity.

His gaze turned tender as he looked down at her. "This won't turn you into a monster, Cloe," he murmured softly as he gently caressed her jaw with his fingertips.

"You don't know that," she mumbled, hating the way that her voice shook, giving away just how scared she was that she was about to lose this battle.

"Yes," he said, turning his hand so that he could trace her bottom lip with his thumb, "I do."

She stubbornly shook her head. "I don't want to lose control," she said, remembering the look on his face when he'd lost control, the fear that shot through her when she'd realized what was happening. It was something that she never wanted to experience again, not if she could help it.