Page 45 of Sleepless Beauties
“Did my sister ever mention the vampire who turned her?” I ask.
An uneasiness shifts between us, replacing the erotic emotions that had recently swirled through me.
“Yeah,” he says it so quietly that I can barely hear him.
“Who was it?” I ask in a rush as Aston’s image flashes in my mind.
He shakes his head slowly, his attention never leaving the drifting clouds.
“She wouldn’t say.”
The apprehension and hurt he feels about that is clear in his smooth features.
“She didn’t tell me either. Just… the details.”
He nods. “We looked after her more closely because of it. She wasn’t comfortable around men. She warmed to Prey quickly because they’d both been turned at the same time, but it took her a year to really depend on me. To trust me with more than just menial tasks.”
I kick that thought around a bit.
“What about Rival then?” I can’t help but wonder how she could never have mentioned a lover to me.
His rumbling laughter is so pure, I can even feel it reverberating in my own chest.
“Rival wanted to protect her. Men would test her. Male vampires of a lower rank tend to go mad when a woman is above them. So, Rival made it clear that Kyra was not to be fucked with in any way. He claimed her as his, but there wasn’t anything there for him to claim. They were just friends, really. She didn’t want any physical love, but she appreciated what he gave her all the same.” His sigh is heavy, but reminiscent of better times. “I don’t think there was anything between them but a ruse. He protected her by simply acting like a mate. Kyra would never take one though. She never even tried.”
A comforting warmth sears through me.
Rival? The bitter Irish vampire with a cross too far up his ass? He was kind to my sister?
“That’s sweet,” I finally admit.
But then why did he react so ravenously drawn to me when he first saw me posing as Kyra?
“She had all these people around her who wanted to protect her, and yet none of us could.” A thin line forms between his brows and I don’t know why, but my fingers skim over his temple before smoothing the imperfections away.
Then he rolls over and turns away from his forlorn memories in the sky. He looks at me with a slow appreciation that I feel all over.
“I’m going to protect you, Kira Vega” he whispers like the vow is already set in stone.
It’s unfair that I live in a vampiric house of cruel and crass men, but the sweetest man I’ve ever met isn’t allowed inside.
I’ve even been claimed by one of them. My stomach does a flip at that reminder.
“How does a mating mark work?” The question sneaks out before I can stop it.
His lips quirk at one side before a big smile spreads across his lips.
He’s so chiseled, even his jaw is a hard angle of perfection.
He’s… so damn sexy. Sweet and sexy. How is that possible?
“For wolves, a mating mark is the ultimate goal in life. We travel in a pack of extended families, but we all crave to fill that one opening remaining in our lives. We want affection like most people want love.”
“Aren’t they the same thing?” I ask honestly.
“Affection and love? Oh no. Not at all. Our pack provides us with an unspoken sense of love. It doesn’t mean that we like one another. And it doesn’t mean we’re kind and forgiving. But the mating mark, it doesn’t guarantee love will be there. What it does mean is that one person will always care for us. Their heart is connected to our own, and despite any hate that might be under the surface, genuine affection will always find a way out. We just can’t stop ourselves from being drawn to that source of feel-good feelings.”
Feel-good feelings...
