Blood Bond (PULSE, Book 5) by Kailin Gow

to be a friendly gesture of love, of thanks, of his great and abiding gratitude. But as their lips touched, she began to feel his desire grow. He still wanted her, despite his attempts at serenity. She could feel their kiss grow hungrier, feel the sparks in their touch.
    Stuart pulled back, surprised at what he had done. “I didn't mean to do that,” he said softly.
    She looked up at him, charmed by what she saw. Good old Stuart, she thought. How she had missed him. Dearest Stuart, who had been the most steadfast of all her vampire friends, the one who had first taught her how to fight, the one who had first shown to her what it was like to be a vampire. He had always stood by her, loyal and faithful, willing to fight for her. Willing to die for her. How could she ever express to him how grateful she was for all of this, how good he had been to her? She shuddered at the memory of the Dark Knight he had been when trapped under the spell. She never wanted to see Stuart like that again – so crazed, so overwhelmed by his desire for blood, his thirst for death. How good it was to have him back again! And yet how confusing. The last thing Kalina wanted right now was to let her emotions be confused further by another vampire. She had already forgotten Stuart, dismissed him as a romantic possibility. But now, as he stood before her, Kalina remembered how wonderful he had been, how much she wished she could turn him human. For he, of all the vampires, truly deserved that gift. If only she could love him, Kalina thought. Perhaps she could.
    Stuart leaned in again, kissing Kalina breathlessly. “I missed this,” he murmured, his lips rough against hers. “I thought I had resigned myself to it – I thought I'd been able to give you up, to accept your choice. But now I'm not so sure.” His kiss grew more passionate. “I was going to stand by, to watch you make your choice, to try to have no part in it. But I can't. Not when I see you like this. Not when I want you this badly. I'm weak, Kalina. Weak when it comes to you.”
    “Don't say that...”
    “Feeling you in my arms. Feeling your lips on mine. The smell of you still manages to intoxicate me – every single time. I remember what you tried to do when I was under the spell, Kalina. You tried to seduce me in order to help turn me back. And I wanted so badly to be seduced, to let you have your way with me. I wanted to believe that you cared enough for me to give me your blood. But I didn't crave that blood any longer, Kalina. When I had Life's Blood in my veins, I no longer wanted to taste it again, for I already had it – it turned me into the Dark Knight once more. And yet I still wanted you, Kalina. For you. Not for your blood.. For you. I wanted you for you.”
    Kalina let out an involuntary sigh. She loved feeling Stuart close to her again, the gentle pleasures of his touch. So different from her tragic love for Octavius, so full of frustration. So different  from her passionate, alive love for Jaegar. And yet at the same time, this Stuart was different. He had been so terribly shy, so overwhelmed by his fear of turning evil that he had held back his passion. He had always been the safe choice – even, Kalina admitted it, the boring choice. But since Stuart had turned, he had been forced to contend with that dark nature that so frightened him. And now that he had been restored, Kalina found, he was more balanced for it. He was open and honest; he was passionate. When had Stuart ever been so passionate before? Had she been too quick to write him off as a boring safe bet – now that she knew what force and hunger lay beneath his handsome chivalrous exterior. It was true what Octavius once said about him, Kalina mused. Behind Stuart's steadfast nature, there lay a truly strong vampire. A vampire that was more in touch with his human needs, his human desires, than any other she had known. Indeed, this very duality of his nature – the good and the bad, the desire and