Page 58 of Unholy Gambit: Checkmate in Blood
“Only for a minute. I just hadn’t wrapped my mind all the way around the wholeI shift into an eaglething. I’m good now.”Mostly.
“You’re on your way to being good, and I appreciate that.”
“So, what have you heard on your super-secret supernatural grapevine?”
“A lot of respect for your badass vampire, some fear in there too, which is to be expected with his rep, but he didn’t have to agree to be whipped, and what he said after, about owing it to him, and the debt being paid — he earned a lot of respect from that. Not just for taking the hits, but for the way he handled the whole fucking thing. Forcing recompense instead of just brutally beating the fuck out of him, and then the way he…fuck, Aury. Most shifters and vampires cry and beg after the first dozen strikes, and he stood strong and quiet all the way through to the end. Even for the silver, and for those of us allergic to silver, that’s a feat.”
“I’ve always known silver makes you break out. I guess it’s more than that, huh?”
“Oh, yeah. Serious burns. But it weakens me, too, can even give me silver poisoning. Bad news for predatory shifters. The prey shifters, not so much. Some are sensitive, but mostly, it’s the predators. Like nature gave us kryptonite.”
Aury thought of Axel, silent under the whip, blood running down his back, pooling on the floor around his feet, and realized she’d never once wondered whether he’d break.
She could feel his strength — she understood it when she was five, and she could feel it in her bones now, as an adult.
Chapter 17
Tonight, Axel had rented a home on the mountain, overlooking Chattanooga.
He’d had to tell Marco where he was staying, but no one else needed to know where he beds down for the day. With her thoughts so open, he couldn’t take her to his rented home, but this was better.
He looked around at the dozen-dozen red roses. One hundred and forty-four of them.
They made a nice backdrop for his plans.
He heard the limo in the driveway. Adelaide was playing chauffeur for him tonight. Keeping his Aurélie safe.
So brave. So strong. She’d stood and watched him whipped, watched another vampire carve his back with knotted leather and barbed silver.
He needed to show her how special she is to him. How much he values her.
The chef had left an hour ago, flown in from Provence and compensated so handsomely it bordered on bribery. Adelaide had called it sentimental madness. Maybe it was.
Tonight, he would feed Aurélie with his hands. Warm hands, because he’d spent an hour in a one-hundred-and-fifty-degree hot tub. Tonight, he would be warm for her.
He wanted her to see him and remember pleasure, not horror.
The duck breast had been prepared with near-religious care — rendered slow, flesh pink at the center, skin seared until crisp. The cherries had been reduced with shallots and black wine, and finished with a final shave of truffle, flown in that morning, bundled in cloth and earth. The scent filled the room. Sweet. Wild. Primeval.
He welcomed her inside, nodded to Adelaide, who would watch over them a few hours so he could focus solely on his Aurélie without worrying about an enemy surprising them.
She’d worn a black, sleeveless dress with red piping along the fitted bodice, and low red heels, which a dip into her mind confirmed felt sky-high to her.
She turned in a circle, looking at the roses, and met his gaze. Speechless.
“I love you, Aurélie. Let me show you?”
She nodded, and another dip into her head told him she didn’t trust her voice. He’d brought her close to tears, the good kind, and she didn’t want to ruin it by crying.
He pointed to two dining room chairs, placed at an angle, with a small table for her food and drink off to the side. She sat in one, he sat in the other, and he lifted the first decadent bite to her mouth.
* * * *
Aury sat in a sea of roses, the smell a backdrop to the Magret de Canard aux Cerises meal she could see and smell, and her stomach growled in expectation. He’d told her to dress up and come hungry, and she’d done both.
He was in a charcoal suit with a black dress shirt and charcoal tie with tiny little strips of red. They matched and hadn’t planned it.
She wanted to ask a million questions, but it would’ve spoiled the moment. The soft music, the flowers, the food, the exquisite home with the view of the river and city below.
