Free Bitten By Magic by Kelliea Ashley Page B

Disappointment filled his voice as he stood up, leaving her feeling bereft at the absence of his touch.
    “Oh, really? Forgive me if I was wrong. Oh, wait!” Anger galvanized her as she pushed herself up off the bed, turning her head so he could clearly see the puncture wounds on her neck. “Yeah, pretty sure you already did the biting.” Her anger flashed out at him in the form of cutting sarcasm. A trait she’d personally tried to harness when she became the Keeper of the Treaty. Alexa instantly regretted her lapse as he turned to stare at her with a red glint to his dark eyes.
    “Hello...Vampire!” His returned sarcasm made her want to laugh up at him, but the ominous threat in his slow smile stopped her. “Now, I guess all that’s left is the bedding.”
    Alexa’s breath hitched in her chest as she stared up at him. “Since you are a Vampire, I’ll understand if you need to sleep. The urge to jump your bones has passed.” She raised her chin, aiming a cold stare meant to freeze him in place. His smile told her that he knew she was lying through her teeth. She wanted him with a need like she’d never known. Her head was spinning as her body throbbed for his.
    “Ah...if only it were that easy, Keeper. Right now I’d like nothing better than to send you on your way, but a deal is a deal.” He sighed with a dramatic flair to his rolled eyes. Alexa frowned as she pulled the silk sheet up to cover her breasts. She should have been insulted, hurt and ashamed, but all she really felt was tired. Shoving a hand through her hair, she pulled her knees up to her chest defensively. He let out a slow hiss, turned, and moved to a small bar on the other side of the room. “Where are you going?” Her alarm made her voice high. The need for his touch, his taste, was still throbbing painfully through her body. And if her nipples got any tighter they’d cut through the silk sheet!
    “I’m getting you a drink. Grant said you needed to drink a lot to replenish your blood levels.” He came back to the bed with a tall glass of water and a short glass of amber liquid. She took the glass of water, surprised to find she was thirsty with the first small sip. Wilhelm sat on the bed with his glass and casually flipped the television on.
    “Thank you.” Awkward was a simple word for how she was feeling as she sat there beside him still bare from the waist up. She wondered if the cold Elder had ever been jumped and molested. All she wanted to do was turn around and crawl into his lap. What would the Elder think of that? She didn’t think he’d be all that pleased or surprised.
    “Drink it all,” he ordered as she held the glass in her hand. The cold water helped with the fever, but didn’t douse it completely. Alexa held the cold glass up to her forehead in an attempt to drop her temperature. Verbally fighting with him wasn’t helping either of them.
    “Done with the glass or would you like another?”
    She held the glass out to him, her breath catching as his long fingers brushed and held hers for a second too long before he took the empty glass and set it on the small end table beside him. After a healthy swig of amber liquid, his glass followed hers. Wilhelm turned back to focus on her quietly. The silence stretched as Alexa firmly held the satin sheet up to her in a move of defense that had his lips pulling back in a semblance of a grin.
    “I’ve already committed your curves to memory, Keeper.” His smile transformed the dangerous predator into an attractive male, one too handsome for her liking. She felt her cheeks burn as she looked away from him. Being the Keeper of the Treaty gave her a certain cloak of protection from the unwanted advances from the males in her Coven. No one wanted to risk offending the Keeper, which allowed her to remain single and celibate. The few who had worked up the courage to approach her had always been too arrogant and power hungry for her liking. She was the Keeper of the Treaty,