Free Sweet Ruin by Kresley Cole

she’d had no interest in casual hookups. Now she felt changed again.
    She couldn’t live without the connection she’d just experienced with Rune. There was no going back for her.
    “Did you pick my pocket to lure me here? So you could feed?”
    She released his thumb. “No, I hadn’t planned this. I just wanted something of yours.”
    “Why?”
    “I guess to know you.” She’d
known
him in unforeseen ways. Her gaze flitted from his eyes to her bite mark.
    His hand rubbed along her outer thigh. She shivered when his fingers traced the back of her thong. “You took my forbidden blood, and you drank it down. Instead of dying in pain, you’re blooming. Did you use some kind of spell?”
    She’d known his blood was poisonous but not
lethal
. At least to others. Just as she’d suspected—rules didn’t apply to Jo. “Don’t know any spells. I survived probably because I’m wicked strong and all.”
    “That you are.” He tilted his head, and a black lock tumbled forward.
    She wanted to fist his hair and kiss him till their lips hurt. “Nobody’s ever bitten you before?”
    “No other vampire would dare.”
    Other vampire. More existed.
I’m one of them.
    How had she become one? Did all ghosts become vampires? She was parting her lips to question him when he said, “I still can’t believe this happened, and little should surprise an immortal my age.”
    Immortal? “How old are you?”
    “Seven millennia.”
    Holy shit! Would she live to be that old? Her mind couldn’t wrap around that number.
    “You must be old as well to be this strong.”
Nope.
“Strange you don’t have a vampire’s scent.”
    “What do you think vampires smell like?”
    “Aggression and blood.” He leaned his forehead to hers. “Were you very hungry, or did you enjoy my taste?” His tone was gruff, almost vulnerable. “How do I . . . how does my blood compare to others?”
    “It’s amazing.”
    The corners of his lips curled into that cocky, slanted grin. “What we just did is wicked. Loreans would consider it a taboo.”
    Loreans? “Okay. Whatever.”
    “Whatever,” he repeated in a rasp. “You not only don’t give a shit, you’re looking at my neck like you want seconds.”
    “And thirds and fourths.”
    His brows drew together suspiciously. “Have you drunk another of my kind?”
    “No, never.”
    “Then why did you do it? I warned you I was poisonous.”
    She shrugged. “You smelled . . . right.”
    “Right?” He said the word as though he were testing it, trying it on. “If you prick me with those fangs again, I’ll penetrate you with this.” He thrust, rubbing his dick over her mound. “Just so we understand each other.”
    “Ah! S-seems fair.” She wasn’t the only one who likened her bite to sex.
    His sigh-worthy grin deepened. “Tell me your name.”
    In a breathless tone, she said, “Josephine.” She’d just given him her name? Her
real
name.
    “The pleasure’s mine, Josephine.” He ripped her panties clean off her body. Then he pocketed them.
    Something to remember her by? Because he was going to nail and bail her? As with those other females, he still hadn’t taken off his bow. Ooh, wouldn’t he still have nymph funk on him? And she didn’t have protection. Not that she could get pregnant—no periods—but still . . .
    “Now it’s your turn to come,” he informed her. “I’m going to demonstrate that I’ve got more than
hints
of game. In fact, I believe I promised you I’d make you see stars.”
    “I like stars,” she murmured.
    He leaned in. To kiss her? “My bag of tricks just got far more extensive. I’m eager to explore this with you.”
    Explore.
That sounded less nail-and-bail-y.
Maybe give him a shot.
She eased closer to meet him—
    Giggling sounded from the courtyard gate. Rune drew back.
    Two women in skimpy party dresses whistled at them. A blonde and a redhead. Like the four she’d seen earlier, this pair appeared too flawless to be human.
    “Ah, water