Forget the day she laid eyes on me?

If it were only so fucking easy. He should’ve walked away, should have crawled onto the back of his bike and hightailed it out of there. Christ, at the least, he should’ve called Grigore and let him know Raúl was somewhere in the fortress.

Technically, his job was done. Locate Raúl and get out. Instead, he opened the doors she had used to shut him out and entered her space … uninvited. Ryder didn’t make a habit of going where he wasn’t wanted. And surely not when it came to women. He didn’t need to, not when there were enough willing to share his bed or let him sink his fangs into a carotid.

I need my fucking head examined.

This woman infuriated him, and at the same time, consumed his every thought. He wanted her beneath him to the point of madness, the erection in his pants evidence of that desire. His vampire DNA slowly simmered like electricity sizzling through his veins.

Ryder had fed a couple of nights prior, but it might’ve helped his cause had he fed before making the trek out here. Not only was his dick demanding appeasement, the scent of her blood called to his very nature.

Yep, I’m fucked.

His eyes heated, knowing full well they were about to become black, fathomless pools. Hypnosis was his only option. There was no stopping the emerging vampire. The sharp points of his fangs scraped the inside of his lips as they filled his mouth. When the twins informed him he was not just a vampire, but a primordial one, they forgot to mention he felt things all the more acutely as such … which included his sexual cravings. This shit needed a fucking manual like Vampires for Dummies.

Ryder’s nostrils flared, scenting Gabriela’s mutual desire. She could spout a hundred different reasons for hating him, but he affected her in a more primal way. If he gathered the skirt she wore and slipped his fingers beneath her panties he’d bet she was already wet.

Her stern lips drooped, her mouth now gaping. No way to hide the fucking changes to his face. Gabby’s eye rounded and she gasped. Quickly grabbing her by the biceps, he backed her against the wall before she had time to scream and covered her mouth with his free hand. Her eyes filled with fear as they held his. He’d need to hypnotize her fast, before she alerted the entire staff, not to mention Raúl.

Ryder had been damn lucky upon arrival. Whatever they’d used to build the house, he couldn’t detect the scent of Raúl on the grounds, which meant the man couldn’t discern him either.

“Hear me now.” He framed her face between his palms, giving her little choice but to hold his marble-like gaze. “You will not remember everything you see. You’ll feel me, know me, but my face will remain a mystery. You won’t comprehend the changes you see in me. Nod if you understand what I’m saying.”

Gabby slowly nodded, her pink tongue wetting her plush lower lip. His gaze held fixed on hers. As much as he wanted to, kissing her was a really bad idea, considering her current state of fury.

Her anger returned in full force once her confusion diminished and the hypnosis took root. She shoved at his chest. Had Ryder not allowed it, she wouldn’t have been able to budge him. He stepped back. She continued to strike him with her hands. Gabby had a lot of anger and passion needing to be burned. He had been the one to invade her space, so he supposed he deserved her animosity.

“Get out of my room … and get the hell out of my life. You aren’t wanted.”

“Are you sure about that?” Ryder grinned. His nostrils flared again. “I have a feeling if I reach beneath your skirt, I’ll find you wet and a liar.”

Gabby slapped him hard across the cheek. Ryder didn’t so much as flinch. The vampire in him wanted to toss her on the bed and prove to her the truth in his statement. The man in him knew he deserved her fury. He had been out of line.

“You don’t get to talk to me that way.”

Ryder took two steps in her direction. She took one back. “And you don’t get to be a tease.”

Her perfectly plucked brows drew inward. “What? When did I ever tease you? I’ve only been upfront with you since we met.”

“Sweetheart, I can scent your desire and it has me hard enough to drive through these concrete walls.”

Ryder almost laughed as she turned up her nose, trying to detect what the hell he was talking about. He took another step forward, backing her against the wall again. He gripped her hand and placed it over the erection straining the front of his jeans.

“You can’t play with fire if you don’t want to get fucking burnt, Gabriela.”

“I never … that is, I … oh, hell,” she whispered, slowly withdrawing her hand and holding it to her chest as if it had been singed.

Some of the anger left her eyes. Her breathing became shallow. Her pulse hammered at the base of her throat, drawing his gaze and calling to his fangs. It would be so easy to dip his head and take his fill. He nearly salivated at the idea of tasting her on his tongue.

“You do want me, Gabby.” It wasn’t a question. He already knew the answer.

She shook her head. “No.”

Ryder smiled. Sinister, but a smile nonetheless. “Yes.”

She placed her hands on his chest, searing his flesh as if she touched his skin rather than the shirt he wore. She drew her lower lip between her teeth and shook her head with a little less force.

Ryder leaned in, his nose nearly touching hers. “Yes,” he whispered.

He should walk away before it was too fucking late. He was losing control. What started out as a way to prove a point was turning the tides against him. He wanted to pull up her skirt, rip off her panties, and bury himself to the hilt. She wouldn’t fight him, of that he was sure. Ryder needed to be the one to walk away, to put distance between them before she hated him forever. For once she discovered he had used her to find Raúl, she’d never forgive him and he wouldn’t blame her.

When he meant to step back and increase the distance between them, Gabby stood on her tiptoes and kissed him, stopping him in his tracks and numbing his thoughts. Good Lord! All admirable intentions flew right out those double doors he had left open for his speedy retreat. The warm breeze caressed his back, not doing a damn thing to cool his ardor. Even a primordial vampire had only so much constraint. He needed to get the hell out of there before things spiraled out of control.

Sure, they were grown-ass adults and could do as they pleased, including respecting each other in the aftermath. Something told him, though, Gabby would quickly regret her brass actions. He had to be the bigger person. Rather than deepen the kiss, he released her, wiping a hand across his lips. Shit, she tasted like a slice of Heaven.

“Gabby, I—”

“Look, I don’t know what just came over me. I’m sorry…” She placed her hands on her hips and glanced at the floor. She took a deep breath, then looked back up. “You know what? I’m not sorry I kissed you. What I am sorry about is you joining up with my uncle’s men and being a disappointment to me.”

He could still detect her desire, and as long as he continued to note it, the vampire in him would war within. He wanted to do the right thing, walk away and call Grigore. Not take advantage of the situation. That guy was quickly losing out because his befuddled brain could think only about the hard-on straining the front of his jeans and wanting to take her against the fucking wall.

“I’m sorry I’m a disappointment to you.” And he was. In the end, he’d be an even bigger disappointment to himself. “Maybe, I should go. You’ll never understand—”

“I’m angry with you. Hell, I’m pissed at myself for still wanting you. But understand?” She advanced a few steps, closing the gap between them. “More than you know. I live this life every damn day. I can’t walk away, even if I want to. I guess I had hoped … needed you to be different.”

Ryder couldn’t help it. The dirty part of his mind had focused on one thing. “You want me?”

Gabby nodded, her tongue wetting her lips.

Ryder snaked his hands around her back lightning quick, holding her flush, and crushed his mouth to hers.

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