Page 69 of The Captive and the First Blood Game
He kissed her ear and lapsed into silence. She lay there, her eyelids drooping. She didn’t want this night to be over. She didn’t want to wake up and find that it had just been another miraculous dream. Yet she couldn’t seem to stop the exhaustion from hitting her.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Beckham was gone when she woke up. The indentation where he had slept was still visible. Evidence that their perfect night had really happened.
There was other evidence, too. Like the groan when she tried to stand. The pain as she hobbled across the room to the shower. Her lower half was tender. They’d definitely gone harder than she’d thought. The bruises on her skin were a road map of their pleasure. She traced them across her hips, thighs, and ass. She liked them. It was proof this life was real. Perhaps next time she wouldn’t need such a powerful reminder, but it wasn’t as if she hadn’t wanted it. She’d begged for it—and she’d do it again.
Her only regret was that in the heat of their evening she’d never gotten around to asking Beckham about Laura’s wedding dress. She’d had it on her to-do list, and then it had just slipped her mind, like most things did when they were together. She’d make it a priority for next time.
Reyna spent the rest of the day in bed, savoring the lingering smell of Beckham on her sheets. Her stomach was grumbling so ferociously by dinner, though, that she finally had to change and go downstairs. She was too hungry to care how she looked.
She was heading toward the door when a knock rang out through the room. “Come in,” she called.
Jodie poked her head in. “Where have you been all day?”
“I haven’t been feeling great.” Not entirely a lie.
“I brought you some dinner,” she said, holding up a bag.
“You’re amazing.”
Jodie shut the door and wandered into the room. Reyna took the bag from her and eased her way back to the bed.
“Why are you hobbling like an old lady?”
“I told you, I don’t feel well.”
“Uh-huh,” Jodie said, unconvinced. “Explain these symptoms.”
Reyna’s cheeks heated. “Don’t worry about it.”
“Oh man, please tell me that you got fucked so good you’re waddling. You look like you’ve been riding a horse.”
“Jodie!”
“Come on. Tell me you got some.”
“Fine,” Reyna said. She pulled herself together and picked at the sandwich and water Jodie had brought her. “I had sex last night.”
“So…vamp, huh? What’s it like? Did you let him bite you?” When she just looked up at her in exasperation, Jodie continued. “Girl talk, Reyna. Give me the goods. I was locked up for ten years. I need this.”
“Ten years is a long time,” Reyna said slowly.
“Yeah. Yeah. And I have a lot of lost time to make up for. So spill.”
“It’s amazing. And he didn’t bite me. He didn’t want to lose control.”
“I heard it makes it ten times as intense.”
“Well, last time, it got out of hand. That’s… Well, afterward, I ran out, and then I got kidnapped and taken to Visage.”
“Damn. Was it better with the bite?”
Reyna considered. “Different. It was already the best sex of my life. Like he understood exactly what I needed and then took it. When I had the bite, it was a complete loss of control. It took over and heightened everything. I’d take either as long as I have him.”
“Well, sign me up,” Jodie said with a laugh. “Where do I find my own vampire boyfriend?”
Reyna shook her head. “You’re outrageous.”
