Page 30 of Trapped for Her Blood
“Your point about bias is well taken.” He nods. “It is true that I do not like the man, so, if you prefer, I will stick to the facts.” Our eyes meet and his seem filled with compassion.
“Please,” I snap. “What are the facts?”
“The pirate was offered a deal to save himself,” Zuben says. “A deal that involves his marriage to another woman, a powerful vampire with whom he has a sexual history, and in whom he still has obvious carnal interest.”
My stomach twists and my throat closes again, but I shrug, as if I’m not all that bothered. Not that long ago I was in Ryker’s arms, making love with him in ways more passionate than I ever imagined. His being with another woman—and so soon after we were together—is impossible to comprehend. I’ve got whiplash.
“How do you know this?”
“I heard their conversation,” Zuben says. “I had been taken from the room, but I continued to follow the negotiation. Ryker agreed to be the CEO’s mate in exchange for his release. I heard her call for a priest.”
All the air rushes from my lungs. I thought I was falling in lovewith Ryker, but now all that feels like a dream—just a fairy tale—as if Ryker cast some kind of charm or sex spell over me that’s now lifting.
I was a fool, a naive, inexperienced girl to think I meant anything to a man like Ryker. Meant anything more to him than a soft, tight, virginal place to ram his cock.
As crude and cruel as my thoughts are, my insides contract at the memories of my time in bed with Ryker. And as hurt as I am, it’s hard to turn that hurt into anger. I can’t muster that emotion.
It’s not like Ryker’s my boyfriend. It’s not like heowesme anything. And while his rejection is crushing, I have zero regrets about our time together. I wouldn’t take back what happened—not for anything.
In fact, I owe him a debt. Like it or not, Ryker awakened something inside me. He exposed me to new worlds, supernatural and sexual. He introduced me to a part of myself I didn’t know was there, and for that I am grateful.
Ever since that night, it’s like I’ve got a constant humming inside me, an awareness of all the ways the right man can make me feel. I’m not out of control with desire right now, like I was after drinking Zuben’s blood, but it’s like…like now I’vehadsex, I want—Ineed—to have it again. And often.
I felt desire for sex around Axe too, and in spite of this uncomfortable conversation, I’m feeling it with Zuben. He’s so protective of me—he’s the one who came back—and he’s beyond handsome, one might say beautiful. Although that adjective is normally reserved for females, Zuben wears his beauty without any doubt of his masculinity. He’s beautiful, refined and manly all at once.
And the way he’s looking at me now, his expressive brown eyes, framed in their long thick lashes, measuring my emotions as if he’s genuinely concerned that I might be shattered by what he’s told me about Ryker… His concern and protectiveness stir my desire.
He lightly rubs my back. “Are you in significant emotional distress? Because it is now my life’s purpose to protect you and shield you from pain.”
“Your life’s purpose?” I grin to show I see his exaggeration.
But he nods, solemnly, an unbelievably serious look in his eyes that almost makes me believe him.
Under the glow of his words, I draw a shuddering breath, finding it hard to absorb the weight of what he said—both about Ryker, and about his own pledge to protect me.
“I’m okay,” I tell him.
“I am glad of that.” Smiling slightly, he leans back on his arms, his chest straining the fabric of his crisp white shirt. “If you are certain you are emotionally able, I would like you to tell me all you know about this bear before he returns, since it appears he has us both trapped in this cave and I must keep you safe.”
“We’re not trapped,” I assure Zuben, hoping I’m right and trying to decide how to explain how and when I met Axel.
“After you and Ryker left with those guards,” I tell him, “I didn’t know where to go. The room where you and I were together…” My face flushes at the memory of how desperately I wanted sex from Zuben, and I stare into the fire to distract me from looking at him and revealing all that’s going on inside me. “I couldn’t risk going into any room in that hallway, in case others came in.”
“Very wise.” His voice is like a rich chocolate sauce melting over me.
“Anyway, I kept searching for somewhere to hide and ended up turning into the passageway that leads to this cave.”
“And the bear?” he asks. “Were you not afraid when he confronted you?”
“Terrified.” A shiver traces through me.
Zuben shifts and, faster than I can detect, he moves behind me to straddle my body and put his arms around me, like he assumed my shiver came from the cold.
But after the initial shock of his rapid movement, and the slight thrill of his inner thighs against my hips and his chest against my back, I yield to his new position, leaning against his warmth and strength, surrendering to the safety of his arms.
“You astound me,” he whispers in my ear. “Standing up to a bear. You are very brave.”
“I don’t know about that,” I reply softly. “It’s not like I had a ton of options.”
