Page 43 of Sleepless Beauties
They’ve tagged this man as a low ranking vampire. A servant. He knows it would be an embarrassment for a High Council woman to bear his mark.
I’m not a high ranking anything, though. I’m just a girl wanting to put an end to the death count. I want to make what happened to my sister right.
And now I’m suddenly a woman who doesn’t want to hurt Prey’s feelings.
“I covered it because Kyra would have marked you a long time ago if that were an option. It would be too suspicious if I suddenly woke up with your mating mark and a human heartbeat to go along with it.” My gaze flicks away from him, toward the floor. I still feel his attention burning over my features though.
His hand around my wrist is a strange caress now. Long fingers sweep back and forth along my pulse. It’s a soothing sensation that reaches deep into my chest.
“I need a fucking cigarette,” he whispers.
And then he’s gone once more.
My eyes close. The air in my lungs slips out in a heavy woosh as I tread on with the bizarre nightmare of a life I’m currently living.
* * *
“Where are we going, exactly?” I ask as my high heel sinks into the grass for the fourth time in ten minutes.
Kyra would be absolutely pissed at the sorry state of her beloved shoes.
A chill clings to the air, despite how nice the sun feels across my face. Acessa leads me along through the tall grassy field without a single wavering of her steps. Somehow, her sunshine yellow wedge sandals are without stain or scuff while I nearly break my ankle with every misplaced step behind her. The morning laughter of small children and the rhythmic sound of the runners along the sidewalk of Lincoln Park faded away long ago. We’ve been weaving deeper through the trees and empty grasslands of the park for around an hour, and the hint of the cars and lives that fill this city aren’t even a whisper any more.
It’s just us, and nature. Suddenly, five enormous fucking wolves are lounging lazily in the bed of grass laid out before us. The tall grass is folded in on itself, pushed down and formed just right to create a fluffy bed for each of the five wolves.
The dark one of the pack lifts its head and immediately my heart stumbles as his eyes widen and his pointed ears perk up all at once.
Then he’s running toward us at full speed.
The thumping of its paws mirrors my pulse. A growl of some kind rumbles from his throat as his big paws eat up the span of space that’s safely between us and the monstrous beast.
Closer he comes. Faster.
He leaps!
And then in midair the shape of a man emerges from the fur of the beast and in less than a shaking breath he grapples Acessa to the ground.
A screech crawls up her throat and just as I take a step forward to pull the man off of her… Musical laughter, untamed happiness shakes out of her throat as he holds her to his chest and nuzzles his mouth into her neck. He whispers sweet nothings as he kisses her, and she just melts right into him.
It’s Louis.
His lips seal over a black shape etched just behind her ear.
A crescent moon with patterns similar to mine.
A mating mark.
My mouth hasn’t closed in several seconds and I’m not aware of anything else as I blatantly stare at the beautifully happy couple who haven’t truly smiled once since I met either of them.
Until now.
“You came,” a deep voice like warm honey calls out from over my shoulder.
My stomach flips at the simple sound of his familiar tone. I’m smiling like a giddy idiot when I turn to gaze at Vuitton’s handsome face.
Oh. My. God.
And his mostly erect cock.
