Total pages in book: 64
Estimated words: 65167 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 326(@200wpm)___ 261(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 65167 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 326(@200wpm)___ 261(@250wpm)___ 217(@300wpm)
“I know,” I say. “I’ve fought my vampire half my whole life, felt it was unnatural. But I had to embrace it, Rogan. I had to be both human and vampire to defeat Eris. I used my human intuition, my vampire strength and speed. It was all I needed. I didn’t use the forces that Alara helped me harness.”
He raises his eyebrows.
There will be time enough to tell him what I must do. What those forces are ultimately for.
I draw in a breath. “I’m exhausted, but I’m also disgusting. I need a shower.”
“I’d join you,” he says, “but I don’t want to exhaust you further.”
I let out a soft laugh. “Are you kidding? You’re exactly what I need. I just witnessed death. Now I want to witness life. And what better way?”
“Thank God,” he says, “because my cock is so fucking hard for you right now.”
“And my teeth are ready to sink into your flesh, Rogan. Now.”
He wraps his arms around me, and I clamp onto his neck.
The dark elixir flows over my tongue, down my throat.
The taste is sweet in contrast to the bitterness of Eris’s blood. It’s rich, heady, and intoxicating—like a fine wine that leaves a warmth in its wake and a buzzing euphoria in my veins. It’s everything it always is and all that I need it to be. I taste the strength of his spirit, the depth of his love, and the echo of a thousand unspoken promises. His essence, his life force—it’s pure, raw, and undeniably Rogan.
His moan reverberates against my lips as I drink from him. I relish each drop of his precious blood, careful not to take too much. The world around us fades away until all I am aware of is him beneath my touch, his life flowing into me.
My fangs retract and I pull back slowly, licking the puncture wounds closed. His skin is warm against my tongue, and I place soft kisses over the healed wounds.
“Sated?” he asks.
“For now.”
“Then it’s time for you to sate me, princess.” He lifts me into his arms.
63
He carries me to the shower and turns on the water.
When the air becomes steamy around us, he sets me gently onto the tiled surface. I close my eyes as the warm water pelts my aching body. Rogan reaches for a bottle of body wash and pours some into his palm. He slides it over me in gentle strokes, navigating every curve and crevice.
His touch is like therapy. It’s like he’s healing the superficial wounds Eris inflicted. But more powerful is the emotional healing, the soothing salve of his strong hands on my weary body.
He wants me to sate him.
I’m ready.
I grab his cock.
“Let me take care of you first,” he says.
And I fucking love him all the more.
“You’re beautiful,” he whispers against my ear.
His words make me shiver despite the hot water cascading over us.
“I feel like a bruised peach,” I say with a chuckle as I lean against his hard golden body.
“Then you’re the most exquisite bruised peach I’ve ever seen.”
I open my eyes to meet his gaze, and there it is—the love and the affection that I’ve been craving. It’s an affirmation that I’m not just a creature of darkness, not just a pawn in a deadly game. To him, I’m more than what my blood makes me.
After all, he defied fate for me.
He continues the slow exploration of my body, tracing the contours of my muscles, lingering over the jagged scars that litter my skin. He kisses the hollow of my throat, the curve of my shoulder, the rise of my breasts.
“I see you,” he says. “I see you as you are, princess.”
I meet his gaze in the steam-filled shower, and I see a depth of love and understanding that takes my breath away. His green eyes shine with affection.
He sees me. Not the human, not the vampire, not Richard’s stepdaughter. Not even the mother of his child.
He sees me.
Just me.
A sob wrenches up from my chest.
I’m not a crier. But the sob is a release.
Rogan holds onto me as I let the tears fall onto our entwined bodies, washing away with the steady stream of water. It’s a purge of fear and guilt and rage that have coiled tight within me for so long.
“I love you,” he whispers into my ear. His voice is raw, stripped of all pretenses and full of sheer honesty.
Before I can respond, he takes my lips in a searing kiss. The utter intensity of it steals my breath. I can taste him on my tongue—earthy and wild, unmistakably Rogan. He’s all around me, inside me, filling me with his warmth, his scent, his essence.
Slowly the tension starts to leave my body. The aches and pains recede, and in their place comes a sweet surrender—a submission that I’m glad to give him.