Page 43 of Love Bites
“What?” she asked, shifting uncomfortably beside him.
“Can you forgive me?” His honey eyes were glossy as if filled with tears he couldn’t shed. Funny how a broken heart could be seen through the eyes. “If you want nothing to do with me, I’ll understand, but please forgive me.”
“Ignacio, I forgive you.”
He took a breath. “You do?”
“And I—” This was the harder part. The part where she gave in, where she fell face first into love. “I want to be with you.”
A shuddering breath sucked into his lungs. He murmured something in Spanish that sounded strangely like a prayer and then he kissed her.
Katheryn leaned into him, wrapping her arms around his shoulders. His hands found her waist, slipping his fingers inside of the back of her shirt—well, technically it was his shirt—sending fire over her skin. His body felt so good against hers, safe and warm.
His kiss was steady and firm. Not at all demanding, yet at the same time possessive. It was all giving, satisfying, and she took without thought. His fingers moved up the bare skin of her back.
She pulled away, breaking the kiss and breathing hard.
Ignacio pressed his forehead to hers. “I truly am sorry, Katheryn.” He laced their fingers together. “I never meant to hurt you, and I swear on my life, I will never do anything to hurt you ever again.”
Katheryn’s breath hitched at his promise.
“I want to be with you, Katheryn. Forever. I know it’s so soon and we may not knoweveryaspect of each other, but our souls recognize each other. I may not be as rich or as proper as your ex-fiancé, but I swear I will never cheat on you. I cannot promise you the world, but I can promise you my heart and my soul, which is all I have to give.”
Katheryn placed her hand over his heart, feeling the rough pounding of it. Her own heart thumped a crazy rhythm in her chest.
“I accept your heart and your soul,” she whispered to him. And she did. She couldn’t explain it, but she wanted all of him, and neither time or anything else mattered but them and the promise of their future.
A promise they sealed with a kiss.
19
“So, are you two, like, in love now?” Antonio asked as they sat around a table at the family bar where Katheryn had met Rosa. She leaned over her menu, trying to decide what to order when Antonio had asked the question.
Ignacio’s arm was thrown over her shoulders and he leaned close to her. He would occasionally press kisses to her temple or whisper something in her ear that would make her burst out laughing.
The table was surrounded by Ignacio’s friends—all of them guys, and all of them vampires—whom Ignacio had eventually introduced her to. A week had passed since their “incident”, and it was completely behind them both. Ignacio was comfortable enough with her to introduce her to his friends and teammates, and Katheryn was comfortable enough to joke around with them.
The occasional flash of their red eyes and fangs no longer sent chills down her spine. She’d quickly gotten used to the sight of Ignacio’s fangs. Especially considering he had to feed. The idea of him feeding from another woman upset Katheryn enough that she’d bravely volunteered herself as his own personal snack.
The second time he’d sunk his fangs into her neck hadn’t been at all like the first time. It wasn’t fast or rough or painful. He had laid her on the bed and aroused her to the point where she felt she would explode. Then he’d made love to her and sent waves of wonderfully delicious emotions through her mind. It was so pleasurable, so distracting, she’d barely felt the tiny needlelike pricks on her skin.
She had tensed for a moment, but Ignacio soon had her relaxed again. His pleasure and need for her thrummed through her, and she no longer felt the pain. Instead, she cried out, scratching her nails across his back.
“Don’t stop, don’t stop,” she ordered. It was as if all other sensations were heightened when he took her blood. She found it an incredible feeling.
She did love Ignacio, though neither of them had said the words to the other, and having all his friends staring at her made her uncomfortable.
She shot Antonio a glare. “Shouldn’t you be at home watching cartoons or coloring or something?”
His friends laughed and poked fun at him. At sixteen, Antonio was the youngest of all of them. Katheryn didn’t approve of anyone so young being in a bar with older males, but she supposed Spain, and vampires, had different rules in general.
The place served special drinks for vampires. Ignacio had explained the drinks were made from blood extracted from humans, who were under the influence at the time. That’s what he and his friends drank in the bars, as plain alcohol would make them sick. The others made sure Antonio didn’t drink anything other than blood during their gatherings.
Now, Antonio threw his head back and laughed. “No need to get defensive, Katheryn. I’m just asking.”
He reached across the table and ruffled her hair. She pushed his hand and attempted to smooth her hair back in place. When it didn’t work, she gave up and shot the boy another glare.
“It’s okay,” he said with a cocky grin. ”You can tell us the truth.”
