Total pages in book: 27
Estimated words: 25186 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 126(@200wpm)___ 101(@250wpm)___ 84(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 25186 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 126(@200wpm)___ 101(@250wpm)___ 84(@300wpm)
“Who the hell are you?” Arthur hissed, his eyes narrowing when Ren settled his hand at my waist. “Never mind. It doesn’t really matter because you’re the one who’s going to leave and never return if you know what’s good for you.”
“That’s never going to happen.” Ren slid his arm around my back to pull me into his side. “I know exactly what’s good for me, and it’s sticking as close to Celeste as she will allow.”
I appreciated that Ren left the decision to me, but I couldn’t say the same for Arthur. He didn’t even bother to glance at me before he lifted his hands, magic swirling in his dark orbs as he began to chant a spell.
The last thing I wanted was for Ren to get hurt—or worse, since Arthur’s magic was strong—while he was trying to protect me. So I raised my palms to ward off whatever he planned to do to the sexy daywalker. But Ren had another plan to keep us safe.
His muscular arms tightened around me, and then it felt as though I was stuck in the middle of a vortex with Ren as my anchor. Time and space meant nothing as we hurtled into the unknown, but the sensation was thankfully brief.
Blinking my eyes, I took a few slow breaths after Ren set me on my feet. Then I took in our surroundings and realized he had teleported us to another location. The ability was unique to vampires, so I’d never experienced it before, but the ease of going from one place to another was definitely something worth getting used to. “Where are we?”
“Our home.”
4
REN
“This is going to be complicated,” Celeste sighed as she curiously looked around.
One perk of being immortal was that a lot of us amassed a fortune. Especially when you had a cousin who was extremely talented at playing the stock market. Plus, I’d gained hundreds of years of experience in owning real estate.
The material things were great since we tended to live mostly like humans, the same as many daywalkers. Showering, driving, eating—although we consumed food for pleasure, while blood was our life source.
However, those things were not the reason I was so grateful for my wealth. Having money allowed me to spend my time hunting nightwalkers and protecting future consorts. Most human consorts were unaware of the creatures living among them, and even less knowledgeable about their destiny as a vampire's mate.
Nightwalkers were determined to rid the earth of our kind, so they hunted unmated consorts. Once hunters like myself found any future mates, we reported back to the council, who worked to help them find their fated mate.
Of course, now that I’d found Celeste, I’d spend less time in the field…and more time in the primary suite of my two-hundred-year-old mansion.
I’d gutted and remodeled the place myself and kept the old-world charm. Not that I didn’t have plenty of modern conveniences.
Celeste walked around the room, examining everything. When she made a full revolution and was within touching distance, I took her hand. Gently, I tugged her into my arms.
“Yes. Outside our home, it will be complicated. But here, in a space that is ours alone, nothing is complicated about what’s between us.”
Her cheeks bloomed with pink, and I smiled at how adorable she was. And sexy as hell at the same time. “The most important thing is that we face the challenges out there together,” I added, softly running a finger along her jaw.
“I like the sound of that,” she murmured, her lips tipping up at the corners. There was still hesitation in her deep brown pools.
I knew she wasn’t ready to complete the ritual that would cement our bond. Everything was brand new, and she was still coming to grips with the fact that what she’d been taught about vampires seemed to be untrue. Although, to be fair, what she’d learned was a fairly accurate representation of nightwalkers.
Celeste needed time, and I would do my best not to overwhelm her with my desperate hunger for her.
Speaking of hunger…I needed to remember that until we fully mated, she was human and needed to eat regularly.
“Are you hungry?” When she raised an eyebrow, I laughed. Apparently, my attempt to keep that from sounding like a double entendre had failed.
“For food,” I clarified.
“You have food here?”
I chuckled again. “I eat both, but I’ll admit I need blood to survive. However, I can conjure up some food for you.”
“Blood.” She sounded nervous. “Is your…um…mate…your, um, food source?”
I laughed before dipping my head and running my nose up her neck, inhaling her sweet scent before letting her feel the sharpness of my fangs without breaking the skin. She shivered, and I raised my head to grin at her. “Not my food source, but once you are fully mine, it will be my pleasure to drink from you.”