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)
Dagon’s pupils are almost entirely blown out as he looks at me, his fangs gleaming in the moonlight.
I can’t help but wonder what those would feel like sinking into my thigh.
“Yep.” He’s out of breath as he gently sets me on my feet. The water is cool against my flushed skin, a bit of reality crashing around me like the boulder had moments ago. He clears his throat. “Can you still feel it? The connection?”
I blow out a breath, trying to remember where we are and why we’re doing what we’re doing. I close my eyes, searching inward. I snap my eyes open. “It’s there,” I say, excited. “Fainter than before, but I can feel it.”
“Good,” he says, his voice sounding scraped raw. He takes a small step away from me. “Make the spheres again.”
I hate the space between us, but I understand. This is physical only. A tool to help me find control.
Too bad I feel anything but.
I feel…undone.
And it has nothing to do with my power and everything to do with the deviously handsome hunter helping me.
CHAPTER 7
Dagon
“Do you live in here?” Talon asks as he finds me in the kitchen pantry for the third time tonight. He snatches the cookie I’d been about to eat right out of my hand. “You’re either in here or sulking in your rooms.” He shakes his head, shoving the cookie in his mouth.
I flip him off and grab another.
“There’s a gym here,” Talon continues, following me out of the pantry. “And three pools. Not to mention the whole ass beach a walk away.”
Saint cocks a brow at the two of us where he leans against the kitchen counter, blowing on his black coffee.
“I’m aware,” I grumble.
Talon laughs. “You’re hiding.”
I glare at him. “What the hell would I be hiding from?” I snap. “There are no threats here.” It’s kind of unnerving when I’ve spent all of my time since I came out of stasis in a constant survival flight-or-fight mode. I don’t know how to just…be.
“There’s a threat here,” Saint says, his voice low and cold as usual. He takes a sip of his coffee. He’s dressed to hunt, the summer edition—light black pants and a black tank top, with a matching fuck you face to go with it.
“What?” I ask, interest piqued. I look to Talon. “Nobles fucking with Cassandra again? Do we need to put them in their place?”
Talon laughs again. “You sound excited by the prospect.”
“Are they?” I ask.
“No one is fucking with my mate.” Talon answers. “They learned what happens to those who do very quickly.” His eyes glow in that animalistic way of his.
My shoulders sink.
“Sorry to disappoint you,” Talon says.
“What’s the threat?” I ask Saint.
He looks at me. “Five nine. Blue eyes—”
“Oh, fuck you,” I cut him off.
“That’s who you’re hiding from,” Talon offers. “Your charge.”
“I’m not—”
“You are,” Saint cuts me off again.
I blow out a breath. Fucking hell, I can never hide anything from them. “Okay, fine. So what if I am? You have no idea…” My voice trails off. I don’t need to go into details. I’m certain they can smell Annika on me.
“You know,” Cassandra walks in, quickly kissing Talon before reaching for a mug in the cabinet next to Saint. She fills it with coffee, dumping in a ton of cold cream before taking a sip. “She’s a fully grown adult vampire,” she continues. “If you simply looked at her that way and not as your student, you’d save yourself a ton of grief.”
Something inside my chest twists. She’s right. It’s hard to not see Annika as my responsibility though. Especially when the king ordered me to help her. But, it’s not that. I don’t do relationships, and Annika deserves someone that will put her first. She agreed to the physical-only situation during lessons, but I’m afraid the lines we’ve crossed will set her back, not send her forward.
“Yeah,” Talon agrees. “It’s not like you’re an actual teacher.”
“You’d be a shit professor,” Saint deadpans. “No offense.”
“None taken.” I shrug. “I know I’m not built for teaching.” I’m built for killing bloodmad vampires. For protecting my brothers. My family. My king. I’m not meant to be bantering back and forth with a frustratingly gorgeous vampire.
One who tastes like a dream and feels like silk beneath my hands.
One who haunts my every waking thought, and stomps through the sleeping ones too.
Fuck, even the thought of her has my fangs begging to punch down. I hold them back, because I’m not a fucking adolescent, but damn.
“How’s Aurora doing?” I ask, desperate to take the spotlight off me. I also genuinely care about her. She’s important to Saint. That much we can all tell, so she’s important to us.
Saint stiffens at the question, his mug poised before his lips. He’s frozen, as if thinking about her too long is painful. He takes another long drink of coffee before answering. “She slept a full six hours last night without a nightmare.”