Total pages in book: 51
Estimated words: 47359 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 237(@200wpm)___ 189(@250wpm)___ 158(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 47359 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 237(@200wpm)___ 189(@250wpm)___ 158(@300wpm)
She was quick to jump off the couch, snatch her flannel bottoms off the floor, and slip them on. “There’s no point in denying it, since you know everything I think and feel and, of course, you can make me come without any effort at all,” —her eyes turned wide— “oh, but that isn’t enough. Let’s now add to that how your fangs can send me over the edge into oblivion, and I won’t even give a damn!”
She turned to hurry off.
“Lara—”
“No,” she shouted and turned, shaking a finger at him. “Don’t you dare say a word. You’ve made me feel things I’ve never felt before. And now you’re telling me I can feel even more, but at what cost to me? And I’m the only one who can protect me, so I need to step back and—”
“No!” He bolted up off the sofa, though didn’t approach her. “Don’t step away from me. And you don’t need to protect yourself; I will protect you.”
“And who protects me from you?” She shook her head. “I need some time alone. I’m going to take a bath and you’re to leave me to my thought, so stay out of them.”
“That may be difficult.”
“I don’t care how difficult it is, stay out of my head.” She hurried to the open doorway.
“I will make love to you again, Lara, you’ll want me to.”
She turned. “That’s what I’m afraid of.”
Lara rushed into the large foyer and up the stairs to her room, locking the door behind her, not that it would do any good. But she had to believe that Michael would respect her wishes and give her this time alone. She needed it.
She was glad there was a bathtub as well as a shower stall in the bathroom. She wanted to soak away her worries. She adjusted the water to a temperature that suited her and added some vanilla bath salts from the jar on the shelf. She then returned to the bedroom and collected some clothes. She had brought her long, gray knit skirt that worked well for any occasion, including wearing it around the house to relax in, and she needed something comfy like that today. She paired it with thick black socks and a long-sleeved, black knit top. She seldom wore shoes when home for the day. She added undergarments to her pile and carted the bundle to the bathroom.
She planned on washing her hair, so she left it free, stripped off her clothes, and sunk into the water that was just hot enough to ease her muscles and relax her worries. She slid down along the back curve of the tub until the water framed her face, then she closed her eyes and let her thoughts float away.
Wasn’t she afraid of what he had become?
Her eyes shot open. Michael had never answered the question about his grandmother. Had the snow diverted his attention, or had he purposely not answered? Was there something about his grandmother that he didn’t want her to know? He had mentioned that his grandmother held her age better than his grandfather. Was it only because of the many children she had or was it something else? Could his grandfather have made her a vampire? And had she wanted him to or had it been an accident? In his immaturity as a vampire could he have taken from the woman he loved something she hadn’t wanted to give? Or are sexual appetites of vampires so ravenous that there comes a point where they can’t control it?
She shook her head, slushing the water around her face. Michael would have told her, or would he? Should she trusted a vampire to tell her the truth? Was she that gullible? She thought about her blog and all the reasonable explanations she had come across for explaining the strange phenomenon she had investigated. She had never let herself be gullible before, but then she had never fallen in love with a vampire before.
Love.
What was she some romantic idiot?
This was nothing more than sex while stranded together in a snowstorm with a vampire.
She groaned and sunk beneath the water. Love. Sex. Vampire. Nothing made sense.
Except when making love with Michael, then everything seemed right.
That was the most difficult part of all this. She couldn’t wrap her head around her feelings for Michael. Was she falling in love with him? Was it only lust because she had finally experienced mind-blowing orgasms? Or was she simply intrigued by the vampire in him?
She started washing her hair, scrubbing her scalp quite vigorously, wishing she could scrub away her doubts and confusion and reach a sane conclusion. She hurried through the rest of her bath, the water growing cold.
It didn’t take her long to blow dry her hair with the dryer she found in the cabinet and slip into her clothes. She applied moisturizer to her face and a touch of gloss to her lips, nothing more. She preferred the natural look. It worked for her. She wrapped a slim white knit scarf around her neck, for warmth or to protect her neck from bites, she wasn’t sure.