Total pages in book: 57
Estimated words: 55221 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 276(@200wpm)___ 221(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 55221 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 276(@200wpm)___ 221(@250wpm)___ 184(@300wpm)
“He was right. You said it yourself.”
“Still, I’ll never forgive him. He knows that, knows that one day I will come for vengeance. Not for silvering me, but for keeping me from you.”
“No.” I shake my head. “Coal saved your life. Saved both our lives.”
“I don’t care.” He meets my gaze again, his thumb stroking across my cheek. “You were tortured, and I did nothing. Whitbine took from you—” He runs his hand down my arm to my wrist and strokes my skin, then presses a reverent kiss to my scars. “—and I did nothing.” His eyes are stormy, a raging sea.
“You got me out. I survived because of you. Because of Coal using his head instead of his heart.”
He grits his teeth.
I raise a brow. “Coal is your friend. From the looks of things, your only friend. I think you need him.”
“I only need you.”
“You have me,” I say as naturally as breathing, as living.
His eyes widen, and before I even realize it, his mouth is on mine. His warmth envelops me, his tongue licking along the seam of my mouth.
My blood seems to pulse with new warmth, with an electrical current that matches Valen’s.
I open on a sigh, my entire body humming at the contact. The way he touches me—no more contempt, no more feigned cruelty. It’s everything, tender and demanding and all-encompassing.
My fingers roam his soft hair as his tongue presses against mine, stroking and searching, his body settling over me.
“Valen,” I exhale as he presses his thigh between mine.
“I need you,” he groans against my lips then kisses along my jaw to my throat. He licks and then fastens his lips to me, sucking my skin between his teeth as one of his hands cups my breast, squeezing lightly.
When he drags his thumb across my nipple, I dig my nails into his scalp and arch against him. All the thoughts, the fear, the memories—they fade into the background. In the forefront is the hum of whatever this is. This electrical, undeniable energy between us.
He returns to my mouth, kissing and sucking my bottom lip between his before meeting my eyes. “My Blood never betrayed you. Could never. Will never. My life is yours, kedves verem. From the moment we met, it was yours.” He presses his forehead to mine and whispers in some beautiful, haunting tongue that I can’t follow.
My eyes water. I don’t know why. He kisses me again, stealing my breath, stoking my need for him with each touch. I wrap my arms around his neck, clinging tightly to him, feeling how warm and alive he is. Not a monster. Not a Specter. Not even a vampire. He’s mine. I’m not sure of anything in his horrible new world, but I know that. Bone deep. Sealed in blood.
He groans, his fangs grazing my lower lip. “My Blood,” he murmurs against me. “Everything for you. Everything.” He slides his hand down my side, my skin quivering at his touch, and lower. When he slides his fingers beneath my panties, I jolt at the contact, at the sudden pressure of his fingers on my clit.
“Mine.” He kisses me again, his tongue taking control as his fingers stroke me.
“Valen,” I whimper, kissing him desperately, like I’ve been starved for him. And I have, in a way, starved for the man I fell for in DC. The one who taunted and protected me, who watched over me and kept me at arm’s length. Until he couldn’t.
I gasp when he sinks his fingers inside me.
“So fucking wet for me, kedves verem.” He growls against my lips, then kisses lower as he pulses his fingers deeper. “My love,” he purrs the words.
“Valen.” I move against his fingers, riding them as he slides lower, his fangs skirting over my throat and then to my shirt.
“Off. I need you. Every fucking perfect inch.” He drags his fingers free, then licks them, his eyes fluttering closed as he towers above me.
Glancing down, I swallow hard at the sight of his hard cock.
“Yours.” He smirks, and yanks my shirt away easily, then strips my pants and panties off so quickly it’s as if a burst of wind tore them away. And then he’s on me again, his hard body warm and solid as I drag my fingers through his hair again. He kisses me hard, and I spread for him. When the head of his cock grazes my sex, he hisses, his body going tense. “I need you. All of you. I need you to be mine.” He stares down at me, his eyes lit with that faint predatory glow. Even so, I’m not afraid. I realize I’ve never been afraid of him, not really. Something inside me recognizes him, maybe has always recognized him.
“I am your servant. Your supplicant. I am yours.” His voice, coated with lust and emotion, washes over me, through me. I lean up and kiss him. He needs no encouragement, no invitation. He presses his cock against me, then slides inside slowly.