Total pages in book: 92
Estimated words: 86432 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 432(@200wpm)___ 346(@250wpm)___ 288(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 86432 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 432(@200wpm)___ 346(@250wpm)___ 288(@300wpm)
It was completely unrealistic and Paul knew it but the longer they stayed together, the more the idea wouldn’t leave him alone. He knew he would be giving up his place in the pack but somehow after a long, lazy afternoon of making love with Laurent, being second wolf in the Locas didn’t seem like such hot shit anymore. As for his job, his old man could hire a new mechanic and rent out the apartment above the garage… No, it’s stupid. Don’t even think about it—it would never work. Besides, you wouldn’t be the only one giving things up. Laurent is fucking royalty. You can’t ask him to abdicate or whatever the fuck they call it just to run off with you.
Besides the unreality of his plan, there were other people who would be hurt if he and Laurent rode off into the sunset together. Angel for one. Paul didn’t care much about the rest of the pack but Angel had been his best friend since fifth grade and he didn’t think he could just leave without at least trying to explain. He also had to think about Lucia. His stepmother had seemed genuinely upset when he’d called and told her where he had gone and with who.
“I can’t believe you’re staying with a bunch of muertos, ” she kept saying. “I know that one of them saved your life but I don’t like the idea of you being with them for so long. It’s not safe, Paul. What if they turn you like them?”
“That’s not gonna happen,” he’d tried to reassure her—Laurent had promised him that their blood bond made it completely impossible. But somehow Paul hadn’t felt up to explaining to his stepmother how his sexual love-link to a vampire would prevent him from becoming one of them. So the few words of comfort he’d tried to give her had fallen flat.
The fact that nothing he could say would persuade her he was completely all right bothered Paul—bothered him a lot. He loved Lucia and wanted to tell her the truth— the whole truth about what was going on with him and Laurent. But there was no way he could do that on the phone. And no way she wouldn’t believe he hadn’t been brainwashed into some kind of unnatural relationship unless he could show her in person that he was still her same Paulito.
Guess I’m going back to Miami one way or another, he told himself with resignation. Of course he’d always planned to go back all along but somehow the idea of just getting in Laurent’s Spyder and heading north or east or west or anywhere but back down south seemed like a much more attractive option. Attractive but fucking unrealistic. Get with the program and stop being such a whiny pendejo . This thing with Laurent has to end and it has to end soon. There’s no way you can keep it up and have a normal life. No way you can go back with bite marks all over your throat and let everyone know you’ve been fucking a vampire.
That was the direction his thoughts were headed as he stood at the window and looked out at the waning moon one night near the end of their time. He felt Laurent through their bond before the other man came up behind him and slipped his arms around his waist. Felt the sadness and uncertainty and yearning as Laurent touched him. The heavy emotions caused a lump to form in his throat, which he tried unsuccessfully to swallow.
“Mon amour.” The soft kiss at the back of his neck sent shivers down Paul’s spine.
“Yeah, babe?” The endearment came more and more easily to his lips and the casual affection between them no longer seemed strange. Dios, so much can change in a couple of weeks. Wish it could stay this way but I know it can’t… He was careful to keep his thoughts guarded, not sending them across the mental link they shared as part of their bond.
“This must be our last night here. If I am to return in time for my father’s ceremony and you are to fight in your pack challenge, we must leave as soon as it starts to get dark tomorrow.”
“Yeah, I know.” Paul had been trying to put off thinking of it but it was true—their time was almost up. He turned to face Laurent. “Are you really going to marry some girl? Whoever your parents pick out?”
“I do not wish to. It would be a lie to tie myself to another now that I have found my Coeur de Sang. But whether I take the title and marry the consort of my parents’
choosing or not depends on you.”
“Why me?” Paul frowned.
“Because if you choose to break the bond between us, I may as well do as my parents wish.” He shrugged but there was pain in his eyes. “I will have nothing to live for so whatever I do with the rest of my existence will be meaningless.”