Page 146 of A Bond Beyond Blood

And hell, the way she went for what she wanted was part of her appeal.

Blood bag in hand, I lowered into a crouch in front of Elias.Shaking my head— because how the hell had I wound uphere?—I reached out with my empty hand and patted his cheek.“Wake up, Elias.”He wasn’t just a vampire, he was aking, a born royal, which meant his healing abilities would outshine my own by about a thousand times.The cuts on his face were stitching themselves back together before my eyes.His torso was covered in blood, but though I wasn’t entirely convinced it was his, I couldn’t be sure how deeply he’d been wounded.

But it had to be bad, simply for the fact that he’d shown up here—and promptly fallen at my mercy.

I slapped his cheek a bit harder this time.“Wake up, asshole,” I growled loudly.

Elias’ eyes flapped open.“Is that really necessary, Vincenzo?”Hetsked.“How will we live in harmony with our girl if you begin name calling?Talk about getting off on the wrong foot.”

My teeth clenched at the presumptuous implication, but I didn’t correct him.Now didn’t seem like the time.“What the hell happened to you?”

Elias sat up straighter, then his gaze landed on the blood bag and he swiped it from my hands, savagely tearing into it with his teeth, then gulping it down in three large sips.He sighed loudly, then handed the empty bag back to me like I was his nursemaid.

Rising to my feet, I tossed it into the sink, then crouched down in front of him again.“You look like shit.”

Elias grinned devilishly.“You should see the Council of Lords.”

My eyes widened as alarm trailed an icy fingertip down my spine.“Tell me you’re kidding.”

“Why would I do such a thing?”He began to push up and I reached out for him, but he dismissed my concern with the flick of his wrist and rose to his feet.“They needed to be brought to heel, and who better for the job, really, than the one they once tried to dethrone?”

I blinked as I watched him move to the kitchen and start to undress.He turned on the faucet, then frowned.“I’d like a shower.”

“No.”

“Vincenzo.”He sighed.“It takes far more effort to be disagreeable.”Shaking his head as though I were an insolent child, the vampire king began striding down the hallway toward Jacqueline’s room.

“Guest bathroom is on your right.”

“Yes, but it doesn’t smell like her, does it?”He continued on, walking straight into Jacqueline’s bedroom—what had begun to feel likeourbedroom—and on into the bathroom.As he stripped down completely and turned on the shower, I leaned against the doorjamb and crossed my arms.

“What’s your goal here, Elias?”

His gaze flicked to mine only briefly as he stepped into the shower stall.The vampire king’s entire body looked chiseled from granite and just as cold with that impossibly pale skin.I don’t know what Jacqueline saw in him, but it was obvious she’d seen and felt something in his presence.

Just my luck to finally have the girl in my arms, only to have two vampires come knocking on her door.

“I’m going to return to the throne and create order out of chaos, Vincenzo.”

“Why here?Why now?”

Elias frowned.“Well, this is where the House of Lords is located.”

I huffed.“Whyhere?WhyJacqueline?”

He chuckled thoughtfully, then tipped his head back, closing his eyes as the water streamed over his head and face.

I ran my tongue over my teeth as he made me wait.

Eventually, he lifted his head and turned toward me.

Jesus.

I tried not to balk at the front view, but even I had to give credit where credit was due.

“Yes, I know,” he said, flashing a grin.“Feel free to join me.”

I crossed my arms over my chest and cocked one eyebrow.

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