Total pages in book: 120
Estimated words: 113936 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 570(@200wpm)___ 456(@250wpm)___ 380(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 113936 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 570(@200wpm)___ 456(@250wpm)___ 380(@300wpm)
Callum lifted his head. “Is she dead then?”
They were going to have a tiger by the tail if anything happened to that female.
When it happened, that was.
“No.”
As the male stared across the fire, Callum became very aware that he was naked in the spring. “So what are you doing here.”
When there was no answer from the guy, he tightened his own lips. “That was a bloody cruel thing to say, you know. Back at the hunting cabin.”
“I know. That’s why I came.”
There was another pause, and then the vampire crossed his arms over his chest. As his jaw worked like he was trying to chew his own molars to stubs, Callum felt the resolve to hate the bastard ease up a little.
“What the hell is your name, vampire.”
“Apex.”
Callum threw his head back and laughed. “Oh, they named you right. Top of the food chain, ready to eat anything, you are.” As he righted himself, he narrowed his eyes. “So are you here to apologize, then.”
“Yes.”
More silence. And Callum lifted a brow. “Well, get on with it, mate.”
“I’m… sorry.”
“And?”
The vampire, Apex, frowned. “I said it. I apologized.”
“That’s it? I’m sorry? That’s all you’ve got.”
“What else is there? That is the very definition of ‘apology.’ ”
Callum tilted his head to the side. Then he lifted his forefinger. “Question.”
“What.”
“When was the last time you apologized to anyone? Or are you so ‘Apex’ that you just don’t bother with courtesy and consideration?”
“Mostly, I kill people who are in the way.”
“Ah, so we’re not well versed in the common practice of apologies. Right. Well, let me explain something to you, predator. Usually there is context around the two words you’ve staked your claim upon. There is an explanation, a promise to do better, perhaps a plan to improve oneself.”
The vampire narrowed his eyes. “You want all that? Really.”
As the vampire stood in the firelight, dressed in that black uniform he’d taken off a dead prison guard… he was really quite sexy, his short hair, his glowing eyes, those broad shoulders and strong body the kind of package a wolven didn’t get to see very often.
And this awkward apology, sheepish thing was pretty frickin’ cute.
Abruptly, the soft water that moved with a natural current no longer felt like something to bathe in. It felt like hands on his body. Lips… on his body.
Caressing him in places he very much wanted this predator standing in front of him to get into.
“Actually, forget the apology,” Callum drawled. “I quite fancy something else from you.”
“I don’t sing. I don’t dance. And I can’t read.”
“I was thinking of something else entirely.” He crooked his finger. “Come here, predator. I’ll tell you what I want from you—or show you, if you prefer.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Inside the red hut, Kane shook his head at the old female. “No, no. Not me, you have to help her.”
He smoothed his hand over Nadya’s forehead again. She was even hotter than she had felt on the way here, yet her skin was as dry as the desert. On her face, he could understand how the scarring might prevent perspiration, but the same seemed true of her extremities where she hadn’t been hit with the acid.
“On the contrary, it is up to you and you alone if she is to survive,” the old female said. “You are the one who can draw the heat away from her. Lie down beside her, and put your naked flesh onto hers.”
“That will just make her hotter!”
There was a pause, and the expression on the mystical female’s face changed. But he didn’t care if he offended her.
Just as he was about to point that out, she looked over her shoulder to the exit. “Not tonight. Surely not tonight.”
“Madam,” he said sharply as he tried to be both demanding and respectful. “I need you to—”
“Stay in here,” she said urgently as she refocused on him. “And do as I tell you. You must put your skin upon hers—”
“It’s not going to work—”
“Then watch her die—it is your choice!”
The old female’s tone got through to him like a slap in the face, and he felt his brows pop up. “All right… I’ll do that.”
Not that she seemed to hear him. She went to the hut’s flap and lifted it partially. As she leaned out, he had a thought that she was testing the air for scents, but he wasn’t sure.
Turning around, she met him in the eye. “You must stay in here. I can protect you if you are under this roof. If you leave, you are on your own—and she will definitely not survive. It is your choice.”
Then the female ducked out. What happened next… Kane wasn’t too sure about.
The walls of the hut began to flutter, as if there was a wind swirling around outside, and then there was a vibration that came up through the earth, the kind of thing that entered him through his contact with the ground and traveled up his own body.