Page 59 of Auctioned for Her Blood
“Until the day they came.”
“Who? Who came?” His voice is filled with urgency, his eyes too. “When? What happened to you?”
I shake my head. “Nothing happened to me. I was a coward. She told me to hide and I did. I acted on instinct, the way I’d been trained to. If I’d known it was real…” My voice cracks. “I could have saved her.”
He strokes my back, my hair. “Hey, now. You were a kid. Hush.” He holds me against his chest and the rhythmic thud of his heartbeat penetrates my body, filling me like a calming mantra, and I rub my cheek on his chest, loving the contrast between his solid muscles and the soft hairs there, loving the warmth and the smell of him, like musk and vanilla and rum.
I want to melt into Ryker, to be absorbed so I never have to live without his comforting arms and body again. Not since my mother disappeared have I felt this seen, this safe, this loved.
“So your mother.” His fingers trace down my spine. “She was a witch.”
I raise my head from his chest to be sure he isn’t teasing, but his eyes show no such thing. “A witch?”
“You said she could do things, magic things.”
“You’re telling mewitchesare real too?” I’ll believe anything he tells me right now.
“Most certainly.” He shrugs. “But I haven’t known many.” A wistful thought drifts into his eyes and he glances away for a moment. “My best guess is that your mother cast some kind of spell on you. A spell that effects vampires and makes them want you.”
“You mean I’m catnip for vampires?” Suddenly, my heart sinks. Does that explain Ryker’s attraction? Zuben’s too? Disappointment drags me down. They aren’t attracted to me, just my blood.
“Zuben told me there’s something special about my blood.”
Ryker’s eyes widen. “Did that assholedrinkfrom you?”
“No.” I shake my head. “Not like you did.” Desire tugs inside me and I stroke his cheek as my eyes flutter shut for a moment. I wish I could go back in time, just a few minutes to when I thought Ryker wanted me just for me.
Ryker frowns. “But he did drink from you.”
Crap. Telling him what Zuben did will only add fuel to his jealousy. “When I first met Zuben.” I look into Ryker’s eyes. “I cut my hand and he…he kissed my palm while it was bleeding. I thought that the cut was superficial. It healed so quickly, but…”
“Zuben healed your cut with his venom and he had a taste of your blood.”
I nod.
Alarm invades Ryker’s face, his entire expression and his body goes rigid, his arms tightening around me. “Does Zuben know where you live?”
I nod. “He was here.”
His eyes widen. “In your apartment? When?”
“Last night. Before you came.”
“Why?” His brows draw together.
“To warn me…”
“Warn you about what?” He shifts and looks down at me. “Listen Ember, you need to be straight with me. This is serious. You’re in grave danger.”
“Funny, that’s what he said. He came to warn me about you.” My body tenses. What have I done? Moments ago, I trusted Ryker with my body, my life, and now… I shift to get out of the bed.
His hand lands solidly on my leg, stopping me. “Ember, you aren’t safe here. As soon as it gets dark we have to leave.”
His normally teasing eyes are so serious, and he seems genuinely concerned. I close my eyes as my mind swims through a swamp of murky contradictions.
Both Zuben and Ryker claim they want to protect me from the other. Each has made me uncomfortable and scared, but both have also shown kindness and I can’t deny that I’m attracted to them both. If Zuben had won the auction, I would have happily gone out with him instead, and he might even have been the one to take my virginity, although it’s hard to imagine it being as magical as it was with Ryker.
The two men are so different, one serious and steady, one joking and exciting; both have shown kindness and generosity and both are devastatingly handsome and shockingly interested in me. Although now I wonder if that’s only about my blood.
