Free Tales of the Were: Magnus: Redstone Clan by Bianca D'Arc

was almost ready to go out and hunt. And when she did, she’d make her prey come. The blood was always sweeter and more potent at the moment of climax. She’d feed on her prey’s blood and the intoxicating energy of their orgasm.
    She hadn’t had actual sex with anyone since Mag. In truth, she hadn’t had sex with anyone for a long time before him either. He was special. Tempting. Addictive.
    Forbidden.
    She wouldn’t have sex with her human prey, but she’d make them come. It was the least she could do to leave her victims with a pleasant, if hazy, memory of getting off with a pretty girl. That way they both benefitted, and it made her feel better about taking their blood without their conscious knowledge.
    She’d been able to manipulate mortal memories since almost the very beginning. It was a basic skill all vamps acquired and used to maintain secrecy. Most mortal minds were incredibly susceptible to her magic, but not shifters. And especially not Magnus Redstone.
    He’d impressed her from the very beginning. The moment she’d spotted him—or rather, that he had spotted her working her magic on a mortal and made his presence known—she’d known he was different. He’d come over and subtly warned her off the prey she’d chosen that night in a random bar in Las Vegas. The mortal had been a friend of Mag’s and he had made it clear in unspoken ways that the man was under his protection.
    T hen later that night, after they’d gotten to know each other a bit, Mag had made it clear that he’d allow her a taste of his powerful shifter blood in return for a night in her bed. She’d been sorely tempted. An offer of shifter blood was too good to turn down. She’d gone with him to a luxury hotel room on the Las Vegas Strip and spent the night having the best sex of her life and a delicious taste of forbidden shifter blood. The combination had sent her into orbit.
    Then she’d heard his thoughts as if they were her own and for a split second, the universe opened up before her. She knew she had found her One.
    But it couldn’t be. He was a shifter.
    She’d ruthlessly slammed the barriers down between her mind and his , and though he’d looked at her quizzically, she’d quickly realized he hadn’t really understood what had happened. Shifters didn’t normally share their minds with anyone. That wasn’t the way they mated. But for bloodletters, the sharing of thoughts, of memories, of souls…that was what every vampire dreamed of finding, just once in their immortal lifetimes.
    And she’d found that with Mag. A shifter. Someone she could never have.
    “Maybe tomorrow we can go into town and try a little hunting,” Mag said conversationally as he sat down next to her in the library. It had become her favorite room in the house. It was filled with a rather impressive antique book collection and the fireplace was cozy during the cool desert nights. “But before we do, there’s something we need to take care of.”
    She looked up at him when he knelt beside her wingchair. There were two comfy, old leather wingchairs placed in front of the fire—one on either side. She’d claimed the one on the right and he always sat on the left when they shared quiet hours and bottles of wine in this room. But he’d changed things up, kneeling before her, a basin and cloth in one hand.
    “What’s that?” She was intrigued by the serious look on his face.
    “ An experiment of sorts, though Matt’s vampire friend swears it should work now that your strength is returning. You see…” he took her left arm in his hands and gently tugged it toward him. “It pains me to see these scars on your skin. The cuts sealed and stopped bleeding that first night, but they’ve left marks. And the burns are still discolored. Without treatment, Sebastian says they could take months to fade. So he suggested this.”
    “What did he suggest exactly?” She didn’t like him drawing attention to the visible reminders of her ordeal. She