Darius tried his hardest not to growl around Kat. It didn’t work. She frustrated him on every level. Since before he underwent his first transformation, he had never had such difficulties bedding someone.

But Kat…

She challenged him every chance she got. And she made him feel like a fool. It was infuriating and yet he wanted her all the more.

He shut the door and growled louder as he walked around the car. The hunter—pale, young, with orange hair, and leader of the team assigned to be his bodyguards for the night—raised an eyebrow at him. Darius allowed his dark eyes to glow blue with anger.

“Follow on foot, Walla.”

Walla gave a hand signal to the rest of his team, who had been waiting in a warm SUV a respectful distance away. None of them looked happy about the new order. Darius didn’t care. He was at his limit of taking attitude tonight.

Before he got into the car, he forced his eyes back to dark brown and sucked in a breath in an attempt to calm himself. Inside, he found Kat rubbing the leather seat, his jacket folded on her lap.

“Feels nice, huh?”

She stopped rubbing. “This car doesn’t seem very practical.”

Of course she’d say that. Darius shook his head and started his baby; the purr of the engine vibrated through him. “What do I need practical for?” He hit the gas and tore out of the long driveway, accelerating until the estate was far behind them.

The dark, snowy forest blurred past them. In the trees, a green light flashed, followed by another and another.

“Hunters?” Kat asked. “They’re following us?”

“Yes. I’m not allowed to leave without bodyguards.”

“Never?”

“Never.”

“Does that bother you?”

Yes. His entire life he had hunters following him each time he stepped out of the estate. Sometimes they didn’t even allow him to feed privately. At least warriors could go back and forth between the estate and academy without the babysitting team. Not that he could tell her any of that, it would be inappropriate to complain about any of the Lord General’s rules. “I’m used to it. And I would rather not die at the hands of a vampire, even if they’d never attack this place.”

Kat looked back out the window, watching the green flashes. “I’m amazed they’re keeping up.”

Darius glanced at his speedometer; it was over a hundred. He depressed the gas pedal a little more and watched the numbers climb. The runes on his tires auto activated, keeping him from sliding in the snowy conditions. “Hunters can’t maintain this speed for long—their magic has limits—but we aren’t going far.”

From the corner of his eye, Darius watched the woman that sent his mind twisting. He had never before felt such a pull to someone. Her wild hair, her smooth skin, her plump lips…there wasn’t a part of her he didn’t long to run his fingers over. He could spend hours exploring her, tasting her, bringing her pleasure.

Once she knew more about their ways, he had no doubt she’d be more receptive to the idea of him. Incubi were discouraged from feeding from hunters except in emergencies, but nearly everyone disregarded that. Hunters didn’t have a lot of time to meet anyone outside of the corps and often sought an incubus for release. And his people were all too happy to accommodate.

Of course, Darius, being of House Tarrick, had to set an example and found his food elsewhere. But for the chance of a night with Kat, he’d bend any rule. Hell, it took all the self-control he had not to reach over and stir pleasure in her body.

He could have her coming with a few well-placed strokes of his fingers. How beautiful would that be? How sweet would his name sound as it escaped her mouth?

“I can feel you watching me,” she said, breaking Darius from his fantasy.

Busted, he turned his focus to the road. “I’m driving.”

She scoffed.

Nudging the car faster, Darius turned off the road, heading for a grouping of trees.

“Watch out!” Kat yelled, and tried to grab the wheel.

Darius gripped the wheel, not letting her move it. He might not be a warrior, but he was still far stronger than any human.

Out of reflex, Kat’s hands went up to protect her body.

But no crash happened.

The car slid through the trees as if they were holograms.

“What the—” Kat said, an uneasy breath escaping her. Her eyes were wide and she craned her neck to look back at the area they drove through.

Darius continued down the forest road but slowed. They were nearly there. “The trees are an illusion. Permanent—expensive—magic. Placed so that no human finds their way here by mistake.”

Kat laughed. A true, honest laugh. Lyrical and enticing, like the song of a siren. “You’re kind of a jerk, you know that?”

Darius chuckled. “Says the woman who punched my eye and threw a snowball at me.”

She laughed harder. “I lobbed it at you at best.”

“You have a strong arm. I’m certain I’ll have a bruise on my chest.” He wouldn’t. “You should inspect the damage later.”

Kat’s face dropped, and he could feel the sorrow coming from her.

“Now I’ve upset you. Again.”

She gave him a half-hearted smile. “No. The opposite. I can’t remember the last time I laughed. Really laughed. It was a few days before they found my dad’s body I think. We were watching TV…”

Family. An old memory returned to Darius. His mother and father smiling when he’d showed them some drawing he had colored in. He hadn’t thought about them that way in a long time. Most of his memories were filled with blood. So much blood.

And screaming.

And death.

A gentle touch brushed his forearm. He brought the car to a stop and only then did he realize he was gripping the wheel so tight his skin whitened around his knuckles.

Outside of the car, tall leafless trees with long spindly branches loomed over them, as if they might come alive any moment and attack.

Kat tenderly touched his jaw and turned his head. Her gold-flecked eyes wide and beautiful. Full of concern, yet fierce. “Are you okay? You’re…I think you’re…I can feel heartbreak. More than just my own.”

“My deepest apologies. I didn’t intend to sway your emotions.” Kat was having a strange effect on him. Since he’d become a man—since his transformation—he had never once let anyone see the pain he carried. Not the Lord General, not Tane, not even one of the many people he had taken to bed. “I am sorry you lost your parents to a vampire.”

Kat dropped her hand, but he wished she hadn’t. He resisted the urge to reach out and touch her, to feel close to something—anything—right now, but she didn’t know their species. Didn’t understand their desire for closeness. And he couldn’t risk her erecting more barriers.

“You don’t have to be sorry. You didn’t kill them. And besides, it was a few years ago. I mean, I’m going to kill the Pale Man, but I don’t cry every night anymore…so there’s that, I guess.”

“Mont.” The name came out strained.

“Mont.” She repeated the name as if memorizing it.

Darius gripped the wheel tighter again and took in several sharp breaths. “He killed my parents sixty-three years ago, and I still feel their loss.” Why had he told her that? He never spoke of such things to anyone. If other incubi knew the pain he still harbored, it’d put him in a position of weakness, and they’d use it against him. Yet, he wanted her to know.

“How old are you?” she asked.

“Seventy-one.”

“Seriously? You said you were young. You don’t even look much older than me.”

“I am young for my species. We’re considered young until our second transformation, which doesn’t happen until around a hundred. You really should read the book…”

She sat thinking for a moment, and he felt a shift happen within her. Her body posture changed, becoming rigid and defensive, and Darius could sense the beginnings of anger welling within her. He wanted to touch her. Sooth her. Take away the pain. But he knew she wouldn’t allow it.

Especially not when the anger seemed directed at him.

“In all that time—” she started to say, then clenched her mouth shut. He waited, knowing she would be unable to stay silent. “In all that time, why didn’t you go after him? If you had killed him my parents would still be alive.”

Her words stung. They were words that he had asked himself over and over through the years. Ashamed, he couldn’t meet her eyes. “I’m not a warrior. It’s not permitted.”

“You could have gotten the tattoos like hunters and—”

“Don’t you think I would have if I could? Incubi can’t use magic. Only humans and a handful of other creatures can.”

A knock on the window startled both of them. The hunter, Walla, stood there. “Everything okay, my lord?”

“We’re fine,” Darius said, and started the car moving again.

Kat said nothing as they approached the academy’s impressive iron gates. A large wooden sign on the other side read: ‘Welcome to Ashwood VHA Pennsylvania. Est 1753.’

“VHA? Vampire Hunting Academy?” Kat asked as the car slowed, waiting for the gate to open.

Darius nodded.

“This place has been here since 1753?”

“It was set up a year after the High Lord General drove out the vampire lord, Ascelina, and made Ashwood his home.”

“Vampire lord?”

“Like Mont. A really old vampire. A few centuries into their life—and I’m not kidding here—they cocoon like caterpillars and go through physical changes. Most get wings, but some get different abilities, like turning into bats or mist or bloodhounds. Silver has less effect on them. They become stronger, faster. That kind of thing. Most get an extra blood pouch.”

“Blood pouch?”

After driving past the gate, Darius stopped the car. “You really are new to this. How on earth did you manage to kill vampires on your own without knowing what a blood pouch is?”

Kat crossed her arms. “I staked them, then burned them or took off their heads. Are you going to tell me what it is or just mock me?”

Darius laughed. “You are an impressive creature, you know that?”

“Of the two of us, I’m not the creature here. Incubus.”

Smiling wider, it pleased Darius she wasn’t a pushover. He studied her face, his eyes lingering too long but she said nothing. “It’s like an extra stomach where vampires store blood and convert it to energy. You pierce it, and it’ll weaken them. It’s messy though. Blood everywhere. My species has something similar, a gland we call a ‘soavik’. It’s where we store sexual energy.”

“And if I pierce your gland, would it be messy too?”

Darius raised his eyebrow. “Are you planning on killing me? Or another incubus?”

“I don’t know yet. Depends. You’re a monster. Do you kill humans?”

Again, Walla appeared outside the car, no doubt eager to get somewhere warm. Darius shot him a glance and the team leader backed off. “No. Our race doesn’t kill humans if we can avoid it. Sometimes it happens by mistake before we learn to control how much energy we’re draining from a human, but that’s rare.”

Kat tucked her wild hair back behind her ear. “So you take what you want then discard us when you’re done?”

“‘Us’?”

“Humans. The ones you feed on. The ones you make have sex with you.”

“Wait a moment, we don’t make humans have sex with us. Humans have sex with us because they want to.”

“Because you change our emotions.”

“Do you think I need to do that? I walk into a club, and I have ten people lined up begging to ride my cock. I manipulate their emotions to enhance pleasure, not so they’ll fuck me. I don’t need to.”

Kat fell silent. Shit. He shouldn’t have been so crass.

“I’m sorry. You—” he sighed. “You are the first to refuse me.”

She laughed as if she didn’t believe him. “Ever?”

Darius held out his hand. “Let me show you why people seek out incubi.”

She stared at his hand, unmoving.

“I won’t harm you. I’ll stop when you say stop.”

Cautiously, she placed her hand in his. “So warm.”

“I told you we run hot.” With care, he pushed pleasure into her hand and expanded it outward, letting the feeling bloom across her body. Her arousal was immediate, and Darius watched as splendid golden threads surrounded her. It was such a shame humans were unable to see the beauty their sexual energy held.

Darius leaned over. He needed to taste her. His entire body shook with the desire of it.

Before he could consume any of her, Kat’s eyes shot wide. “Stop.”

He pulled away, keeping his face blank to hide the powerful effect she had on him. Stop, she had ordered. And he had done it. Right now, she could order him out of the car and to his knees, and he’d fall to them.

Not that he could tell her that, she’d probably laugh in his face at such a notion.

“See?” he said. “If you’d allow it, I’d give you the most mind-blowing sex you’ve ever had. I am quite skilled.”

Kat blushed, and Darius beamed. He loved how she responded to him.

“I just want to see the academy.” She didn’t. She wanted more, her body clearly on board with the mind-blowing sex idea. Normally, Darius had to be touching his prey to get a clear reading on their emotions, but she broadcast so strong that a newly transformed incubus could have read them.

The sweet scent of her arousal drove him mad. His incubus form stirred beneath his skin, trying to force its way out. He fought it. “I don’t understand you, Kat, you clearly want me. You—” a thought came to Darius, one that should have come to him earlier. Sitting back into the seat, he laughed.

Kat frowned. “What?”

“You’re a virgin. That’s what this is about? That’s why you reject me? You don’t need to worry, I’ll be gentle. I could teach—”

“I’m not a virgin, okay? I’m not here looking to get laid. I’m here to kill vampires.”

“It’s possible to indulge in both.”

Her eyes flared. “You aren’t human, and I’m not going to jump in bed with you just because you’re hot.”

“You think I’m hot?” he asked, smirking.

She got out of the car. “I’m walking the rest of the way.”

The door slammed shut, leaving Darius stunned as she stormed down the road. He wished she hadn’t done that so publicly. He couldn’t see his bodyguard team but he knew they were out there, and hunters were almost as bad as incubi with keeping their lips sealed. Now the entire household would know about the rejection, and he’d likely have to deal with the fallout for weeks.

Surprisingly, the social humiliation was secondary to the rejection itself. And that bothered him. This…feeling. He cared what she thought of him and he hated that.

He got out of the car. “Wait.” Darius ran to catch up. “Wait. No. I’m sorry, Kat.” Kat spun around on her heels. He reached out but stopped short of touching her when she glared at him. “I know this is all new to you. I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“I don’t think I like you.”

“But…everyone likes me.”

“Do they? Why?”

“I’m friendly. And personable. And good-looking. And a high standing member of one of the most powerful incubi households.”

Kat laughed. “Yeaaaaah. I’ll give you two out of four.” She turned and walked away.

“But—”

She waved her hand to let him know she was no longer listening and kept going. Darius couldn’t hold back his incubus side anymore. His shirt ripped as his wings emerged and his horns came forward. His eyes began glowing. For the sake of his shoes, he managed to stop his hooves from emerging, but couldn’t stop the low animal-like growl from bubbling from deep within him. It filled the cold winter silence. Kat paused as he stalked towards her. When she didn’t turn, he grabbed her arm and whipped her around.

Her face was hard, he could feel her anger rippling off her, but the fierce warrior didn’t fight him.

He wanted her more than he wanted anything. She’s yours. Take her. His incubus said to him. But no, he couldn’t. He wouldn’t.

Instead, he stood paralyzed by her beautiful fury. Soft lips he’d never conquer. A body he’d never feel pressed against his. A wildfire he could only admire from a distance. His chest felt tight, and his breathing labored.

“Please,” he started, “one kiss.”

For a moment he thought for sure she was going to punch him again, but Kat tossed a hard glance at the clawed hand gripping her arm.

He released her but couldn’t bring himself to step away, not when every part of him wanted to step in closer. “Commander Lock made a mistake pairing us together. It’s clear I’m a poor choice to introduce you to our world. I’ll let him know he should find someone else for you.”

He braced himself, waiting for her to walk away from him.

She didn’t. Her face softened. “You’re really arrogant. And vain. If you took like two seconds to think before you spoke, I might like you better. And—”

He didn’t wait for her to finish. Leaning down, his lips crashed onto hers, possessive and passionate. She parted for him. Triumphant, he swiped his tongue into her mouth and drank in her sweet taste.

Unable to hold back, he wrapped his strong arms around her. She melted against him, and golden light emerged from her body. Darius fed on it. It was a small amount, but it was heavenly—a delicacy sent from the goddess Ilertha herself.

He flapped his wings, satisfied by the victory.

But he wanted more. Not just a taste. Not just a night. More. All.

A wonderful moan escaped her as their kiss deepened, and his hands slid up her back, claws tangling in her hair. He wanted to completely envelop her.

“Ah, so this is why you ditched me tonight,” a deep male voice said from behind them.