Total pages in book: 53
Estimated words: 51358 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 257(@200wpm)___ 205(@250wpm)___ 171(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 51358 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 257(@200wpm)___ 205(@250wpm)___ 171(@300wpm)
No. I won’t. I can’t. She deserves more. She deserves better.
“Dagon?” Annika asks, noting the shift in me.
Fuck, the way she says my name like that. I want to scoop her up and race us back to my bedroom where I can fuck her properly.
Bite her. Claim her. Fuck her so good no one else will ever follow me.
No. No. No.
Shutting the instincts down, I hurry out of the pool. I really need to cool off so I can get my head on straight.
“Where are you going?” she asks, then lets out a startled yelp.
I spin around, eyes wide.
The entire pool is frozen. She’d barely got her feet out before…
Before I’d frozen it over.
The ground shakes again, my powers thrashing inside me as I battle all my baser instincts. I’m out of control. That’s so fucking dangerous for me.
I flash her an apologetic look and do the only safe thing I can.
I run.
CHAPTER 8
Annika
My body is flushed, my skin sensitive to every soft breeze that blows through the balcony patio where me, Cassandra, and Aurora sit among the wrought iron furniture. The space is just off the main kitchen, overlooking the beach below, offering the perfect tranquil view of the water. The moon hangs high in the sky, a blanket of indigo and diamonds wrapped around it.
Ocean waves roll along the beach, the sound almost soothing my tangled nerves.
Dagon’s lips against mine. His tongue lapping at me like I’m his last meal. The way he handled my body like it belonged to him.
Desire floods my veins, my fangs pulsing behind my lips. I haven’t been able to get him out of my head since he delivered the best orgasm of my existence. It was so easy for him to send me into orbit, and we only crashed together for a few minutes. What can he do if I gave him an entire night?
A lifetime?
I sit up straighter in my chair, not because I need to adjust my position, but because I can’t stop my racing thoughts. Irrational, impossible thoughts.
“If you’re going to sit there and stew in all those lust juices,” Cassandra says, eying me from across the round table we sit at. “You may as well share some details.”
My cheeks blaze, but I huff out a laugh. Her blunt statement clears some of the tension in my body, and honestly, it feels good to have someone to confide in here. Daphne has been my closest friend since Olivia brought me back to the residence, but since she’s been away at college and I’ve been here, it’s nice to have connected with Cassandra. And Aurora too, when she has enough energy to connect.
“Sorry,” I finally say. “I can’t control it.”
“None of us can,” Cassandra says, waving me off. Sometimes being a vampire and being able to scent lust on a person can be a real drag. “Now,” she continues, shifting to face me. “Spill.”
“Who says there’s something to spill?” I tease.
She grins. “Please,” she says. “Dagon has been avoiding you since we left for the feeder island the other day. Something happened.”
I sigh, my body heating all over again at the memory.
“Damn,” she says, arching a perfectly trimmed brow. “It must’ve been something good.”
“We didn’t kill each other,” I say with a laugh.
“Clearly.”
“We…” I don’t know why it’s hard to get the words out. I’m not ashamed of what happened between us. We’re consenting adult vampires. But…maybe it’s because I’m worried if I admit it happened, it’ll burst whatever fantasy bubble I’ve fallen into. “Kissed,” I finally say. “And he handled me in a way no one else ever has before.”
Cassandra leans back in her chair, clapping. “Hunters,” she says with a dramatic flair. “They’re truly the best in all things.”
My grin widens. “I can’t argue with that,” I admit. “Definitely better than the nobles I’d been paired up on dates with.” I sigh. They weren’t all bad, just not a good fit. The handful I’d dated in the past were more focused on a bloodline than true passion. An outdated notion and priority, in my opinion. The few I’d gotten intimate with had been fine. I thought that’s all sex could be—fine. Until Dagon, and we hadn’t even slept together.
“I just wish I could figure him out,” I say instead of expressing the comparison of noble to Hunter.
“I’m still trying to figure out Talon.”
“Yeah, but you’re mates. You have a trust fate built into you both. You have an eternity to learn all there is to know about each other. I only have until he’s no longer my teacher.” The reality of that hits me in the chest. “Maybe not even that,” I continue.
Aurora reaches for the fruit platter in the middle of the table, plucking a berry from it and popping it into her mouth. She flashes me an encouraging look to keep going, and my smile softens on her.