Shadow Touched: A Paranormal Vampire Romance (A Touch of Vampire Book 1) by Becky Moynihan (great reads TXT) 📕

earned a few more inches. I started to shimmy off the counter when he released me entirely, violently throwing himself backward.

The kitchen table exploded in a shard of wooden splinters as he crashed into it, severing the top in two. I pressed both hands over my mouth. Before I could do anything stupid like rush to help him up, he grunted, “Fridge.”

Avoiding the broken plate shards on the floor, I dashed to open the fridge. Inside were several plastic containers and a tall, metal thermos. Going with my gut, I grabbed the thermos and turned. Then shrieked and dropped it when I found Lochlan standing inches away.

He easily caught the thermos, his gaze locked on mine. His fingers shook as they unscrewed the lid. It fell and clanged across the floor, but I didn’t dare pick it up. I didn’t dare move a muscle while he raised the thermos to his lips and tipped it back, drinking the contents deeply.

My mouth dried as I watched his throat work, then realized with a start that his eyes were still on me. Something about watching him drain the thermos felt extremely intimate. Like I was watching him perform an erotic act. I couldn’t help but be jealous of that thermos.

When he lowered it and licked his lips, I caught the barest hint of red on his tongue. Blood. Of course it was. Fates, I’d just been aroused at the sight of a vampire consuming blood.

His shoulders released their rigid hold and he sighed as if a great weight had been lifted from him. “I apologize if I scared you,” he said, searching my face. “I wanted to wait until after you’d eaten, but . . .” He looked away with a frown, then bent to retrieve the thermos cap.

“I wasn’t scared,” I quickly assured him, as something like guilt twisted his mouth. In fact, being afraid hadn’t even crossed my mind. “But I didn’t expect this strong of a reaction from either of us. I thought it would go away, now that I’m not in heat.”

Well, that wasn’t embarrassing to admit or anything.

Raising his eyes to mine, he shocked me by saying, “I’ve always hungered for your blood. The additional pheromones only enhanced that hunger. As for today, I went too long without feeding. My control was weakened.”

I gulped, unsure how I felt about that admission. “And . . . the other thing?”

“What other thing?”

Crap, he was making me say it. “The earlier thing in the living room,” I blurted, already regretting my candor. “And the . . . the—”

“The thing on the counter?” he finished for me, the color of his eyes warming to a burgundy red. At my affirming nod, he stepped toward me. “It’s called sexual attraction. Lust. I’m sure you’ve experienced that before.”

I quickly stepped back, stammering, “N-not like this, no. This is . . .”

“Intense? Consuming?” he offered, pursuing me across the kitchen. “Confusing? Distracting? Infuriating?”

I nodded mutely, relieved that I wasn’t the only one feeling these things.

He backed me against the counter and leaned forward, but only to set the thermos down. Straightening, he stepped away again and jerked both hands through his hair. “It’s why we’re here right now,” he said, clearly agitated. “Time and distance have only exasperated the problem. But being near you again is almost more painful. This shouldn’t have happened. I can’t—”

He glanced away with a muttered curse. “Eat, McKenna,” he said after a moment. “I need some fresh air but will stay nearby. You’ll be safe.”

Then he did what he did best and vanished.

Releasing a frustrated sigh, I ignored the mess Lochlan made of the kitchen and hopped onto the counter again to eat my strawberries and cheesecake. While I demolished the food like a starved animal, I stewed over his words.

Attraction? Lust? Yes, I definitely felt those things for him. Hearing him admit that thrilled me. And also unsettled me. Because attraction and lust sounded so shallow. What I felt for him went deeper than that.

An hour ago, I’d practically felt dead inside. But the moment I’d seen him again, touched him, I’d come alive. Every part of me had sprung awake, bursting with fullness, with rightness. I didn’t crave his touch simply for the carnal pleasure of it.

His touch brought me to life.

Somewhere along the way, the attraction had grown into attachment. I longed to be near him, to hear his voice, to banter with him, even when he annoyingly disappeared mid-conversation. I longed to know his thoughts, to learn his life story. I especially longed to see him smile again.

Those were the feelings he’d failed to articulate.

Attraction? Lust? Our connection was so much more than that.

But what if he didn’t feel the same way? What if this thing between us was merely a case of lust for him?

To think that he only desired my body and not the rest of me soured my stomach. I set aside the remains of my cheesecake and slid off the counter, suddenly needing some fresh air of my own. I peeked inside my school bag, hoping to find some gloves before remembering they were in my coat pocket. My sketchpad was in there though, so I pulled it out.

Escaping into a new drawing was just what I needed to distract my mind. Lochlan probably wasn’t coming back for a while anyway. That boy could brood. Although, calling a century-and-a-half-year-old immortal vampire a boy sounded ridiculous.

Before my brain could dwell too long on that impossibility, I picked up the white parka I’d discarded in the foyer and left the cabin. The cold air immediately helped clear my head, yet I found myself following Lochlan’s shoeprints in the snow. His car was nowhere to be seen, and I wondered why he and Kade chose to park so far down the hill. Probably to keep me from hijacking their vehicles.

After several minutes of walking—more like skidding—down the slope, I paused as the prints forked in opposite directions. One pair must have been Kade’s. The