"'There's an ecstasy in feeding, in being fed upon unmatched in all my long years,'" she murmurs, not really aware she's spoken aloud. An excerpt, perhaps the most controversial, from her doctorate dissertation on the study of vampires and vampirism.

She can hear his pulse racing, taunting her, and even in the face of his blatant request, she has the strength to hesitate. (It's heartening, or, rather, it will be later when she has the sense to think on it.)

"What if I hurt you?"