Page 9 of Elegy of Twilight
Perhaps that was why he’d asked my permission to make a deal so that he could move forward without regret. He was a vampire, which made him a liar and a scoundrel. I should not have trusted his word, nor should I have made a deal with him because of a kiss. A passionate kiss I should not have found pleasure in.
Just as suddenly, his lips released my neck.
I pushed hard, forcibly removing myself fromhim. My hand went to my neck as I stepped back, panting. “What was that for?”
He also stepped back, giving me space. “I gave you my mark for protection since you are keen to walking alone at night. Now, none of the creatures of the night will bother you without dire consequences.”
I pointed a finger at him, angry with myself for being stupid. What possible good could come from this? Edith was right. Telling a vampire not to drink blood was like telling a man to live without meat. It could only last for so long. Eventually, a bloody day would come.
“I need more than just your word. How do I know you’ll keep your promise?”
There it came, the glitter in his dark eyes, the curve of his mouth as he licked his lips. “You don’t get to know. You just have to trust me.”
“That’s not good enough,” I protested.
“It will have to be.”
Something like menace flashed across his face. Despite the warning in my soul, I spun on my heel and ran. I’d made a mistake. The word of a vampire was not to be trusted. I should confess to Captain Elroy and work with the knights to spring anothertrap, capture this monster, and end his reign of terror once and for all.
Instead, I’d snuck out in the night, besotted by some dream. Wasn’t that what vampires did? They were tricksters, playing on the idea of intimate pleasures and bewitching their targets.
Silence came from behind me, only hastening my speed. There was no guarantee that he wasn’t right behind me. My hand went to my knife, recalling my training in self-defense. I hadn’t practiced in a while, but now I needed to fight for my life or reach the walls of the abbey before the vampire king caught me. What if all this was for naught? Not only had I sacrificed myself, but I’d sacrificed the villagers.
A weight hit me, and I went sprawling. My chest hit the ground, knocking the breath out of me. My lungs burned as I gasped for air, and then he flipped me over. Hands encircled my wrists, pinning them above my head as he used his body to hold me down. It was darker in the trees, but I could see his face clearly, lit up with silver light. There was no darkness, no anger in that gaze, only a calm amusement, reminding me of the cats in the cellar who caught the rats and played with them, ripping, biting instead of killing and eating.
My chest heaved as I sucked in deep breaths,wondering if I was only a game for him, entertainment until he grew bored.
He leaned over me, eye to eye, nose to nose, and whispered, “Perhaps I got this all wrong. How can I know if I can trustyou? After all, you were the one who set a trap for me. How do I know this isn’t just another trap?”
I gritted my teeth, well aware of my disadvantage. “You’ll just have to trust me.”
“You have spunk, Lucia, which only quickens my blood, but it’s difficult to trust a woman with a knife in her hand.”
“It’s difficult to trust a vampire who just sucked my blood,” I retorted.
“I simply gave you a mark of protection. It’s just that the taste of you is delectable. I could not resist the taste of your skin or the shimmer of your silver runes. They are like moonlight.”
He traced a finger down my neck, over my collarbone, to the fabric of my dress. I stiffened, throat dry as his finger continued lower, tracing circles around the swell of one breast and then over my nipple, making it pucker and ache.
“I wonder,” he said, voice low and seductive. “Is your entire body covered in silver runes?”
Heat from his touch surged across my skin, andmy lower belly went fluttery. I shifted beneath him. I needed to distract him before this went much further. “Who are you?” I demanded, struggling to make my voice sound controlled and confident again. “I’ve given you my name and a promise. You’ve given me nothing but twisted words, a mark, and shades of vagueness. Who are you?”
He paused and withdrew his searching finger. “My name is Titus, and I am cursed. Cursed to live in solitude and darkness while you, my moon goddess, are everything I am not. Light and goodness and purity, perhaps you can lend me a bit of your goodness and lessen the sting of my curse.”
“Titus,” I repeated. “Will you get off me?”
That bemused smirk came again, and he shifted, taking his weight off me. “If I let go of your hands, will you stab me?”
A retort rose and died in my throat because he’d spoken of his curse with a voice tinged with pain, and it made me want to help him. “No,” I admitted. “I won’t stab you.”
Immediately he let go and stood, holding out a hand. I paused before I took it, and as his warm fingers closed around mine, I looked up at his face. “Are you the vampire king?”
His hand tightened around mine, and he pulled me closer. “Does it matter?”
A response did not come readily as I searched his face for answers.
With a shrug, he released me. “I was going to endeavor to be a gentleman tonight, Lucia, but you’ve awakened desires deep inside me. I will bid you goodnight before I do anything we’ll both regret.”
