Total pages in book: 230
Estimated words: 217798 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1089(@200wpm)___ 871(@250wpm)___ 726(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 217798 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 1089(@200wpm)___ 871(@250wpm)___ 726(@300wpm)
The Prince became very still, so much so that I feared for a moment he’d died right there and was about to topple over, but when he didn’t, I continued.
“I thought I saw you in the hospital, but I wasn’t sure. You were there and you did something to make sure I pulled through.” Now my heart was pounding fast, too fast. “That’s why the doctors said I was a miracle. Because I was.”
The Prince closed his eyes.
I wanted to ask him why, but we’d already wasted too much time. Hopefully there’d be a chance to find out later.
“You saved my life, so I’m going to return the favor,” I said, stepping back.
His eyes snapped open. “That’s not why I did it. So you could return the favor.”
“Well, I would hope not.” I kept walking backward, relieved when he followed me like an animal stalking its prey. Probably not the best comparison to make at the moment.
The back of my legs hit the bed at the same moment I figured it out. “You saved me because I helped your brother the night everyone fought the Queen.”
His head tilted to the side and he didn’t answer. He didn’t need to.
I knew.
Reaching into the pocket of my peacoat, I pulled the stake out and placed it on the dresser. “So, I, um, don’t accidentally stab myself or you.”
His chest was rising and falling rapidly as he watched me.
Nervousness nearly made my knees shake as I fiddled with my jacket. Then I undid the button, thinking it was too hot in this room. I shrugged off the ruined peacoat, letting it fall to the floor.
The jeans and the light, loose sweater still felt like too much, but I wasn’t going to strip. “I’m not going to leave, Mr. Prince, and I’m not going to let you die.”
In a blink of an eye, he was right in front of me. Caught off guard, I lost my balance and sat down on the edge of the bed.
“Do you know what will happen when I feed?” His voice was barely above a growl.
Staring up at him, I swallowed. “I know… I know some people like it… or so I’ve heard, but I guess…no, I really have no idea.”
“You’re going to like it.”
A wholly unexpected thing happened. Heat boiled my blood. “I wouldn’t go that far.”
He stared at me for a long moment. “You have no idea what you’re getting yourself into.”
“I know what I’m getting myself into.”
The Prince’s hands moved faster than my eyes could track. His fingertips touched my cheeks. “You can leave.”
“If I do then you die.”
“Maybe that’s for the best.”
Stunned and more than a little disturbed, I lifted my hands and wrapped them around his wrists. “Why would you say that?”
He was getting paler by the second. Soon he’d be as white as a ghost. “You know what I’ve done.”
“It wasn’t your fault.”
“There is no coming back from that.”
“Stop,” I said, my voice cracking. “You have come back from that, because you’re standing here and you’re going to feed so you don’t die. That’s it. This has been decided. Get with it.”
He went still, but I saw the moment resignation settled into his features. Relief mingled with a little bit of fear. He was going to live, and I just hoped I didn’t die in the process.
“I won’t hurt you,” he whispered. “And I won’t let this go too far. I promise you this.”
Before I could ask what too far meant, the tips of his fingers glided down my cheeks, along the sides of my throat. He tilted my head back and a heartbeat passed.
“I didn’t save you because of what you did for my brother,” he said, and then he brought his lips down.
CHAPTER 19
The Prince didn’t kiss me. He didn’t move his lips against mine. It was the lightest touch, and I still felt the contact in every cell, in every part of my body.
And then he exhaled against my lips.
It was like warm silk slipped down my throat and it tasted like sun-baked coconut. How strange was that? The warmth hooked itself into the very center of my being and then pulled.
My entire body jerked as if I too was being lifted, but I wasn’t sure if I actually moved or not or if the Prince was holding me in place when his hands glided down to my shoulders.
It didn’t… it didn’t hurt.
Not at all. Instead, I felt… lighter. Like I was floating in warm water. The warmth from his body blanketed my skin, and I was only vaguely aware of my hands slipping off his wrists, to fall to my sides. But when he tilted his head to the side, the deep, deep tugging intensified and then—oh, God—then it turned into something else.
Everything inside me tightened all of a sudden. My heart raced as my senses overloaded. A rush of acute pleasure came out of nowhere, slamming into me with a force that turned my blood to nothing more than liquid heat as a coiling sensation began deep inside me. There was no stopping the sound that came out of me as my entire body arched—a sound that I knew I would be mortified about later.