Page 42 of Blood Vows
“My lord… Please… She came here terrified, she needed…” she stammered,
“I know what she needs!”He snapped angrily, lashing through her words with his cutting tone.
“Please, my lord, she is just an innocent… You promised…” The housekeeper’s plea made my head snap toward her, confusion striking deep. The words echoed, sharp and haunting,as the question burned on my tongue… What promise was she speaking of?
“Enough!” He thundered dangerously, making her stagger back.
The power in that single word silenced her. I gasped, looking back at her to find her swaying slightly, blinking as though her will was being pulled from her body. I reached for her, fear twisting inside me.
“What are you doing to her?!” I cried, but he didn’t answer. His eyes glowed faintly, that dark, shifting light burning behind them. His words came slowly and deliberately.
“You will sleep, Mrs. Ashcroft,” he said softly, almost kindly, gifting me with the kind lady’s name for the first time.
“And when you wake, you will remember none of this.” Her lips parted as if to protest, but her voice never came. Instead, her body slackened, her eyes fluttering closed. He stepped forward and caught her just before she could fall. He moved so quickly. All I felt was the breath of air as he passed unseen before he lowered her gently into the chair beside the fire. The act should have been tender. Instead, it chilled me to my core.
“What did you do to her?!” I screeched, stepping back.
“I protected her,” he replied coldly.
“From me. From you. From what she shouldn’t know.” Then he turned to me, and in the next instant, his hand was around my wrist. The strength in his grip was unyielding as he pulled me toward the open door.
Back into the storm.
“Let me go!” I shouted, struggling, digging my heels against the wooden floor.
“You can’t do this!” I cried again, but he didn’t stop. He dragged me into the rain, the door slamming shut behind us, the sound lost to the roar of thunder. The downpour swallowed uswhole, cold and punishing, drenching my already soaked skin in seconds.
I twisted in his hold, wrenching my arm free, and ran.
The mud was slick beneath my feet, the wind tearing at my clothes as I sprinted across the courtyard, my heart thundering louder than the storm. But I didn’t get far. His hand caught me again, spinning me back, forcing me to face him.
“Stop!”he growled, his voice rough with restraint. His chest rose and fell hard, every breath as ragged as my own.
“Let me go… You don’t get to control me like this… I am not… not yours… to…” I demanded, my voice shaking into nothing more.
“Nessa,”he said. My name left his lips like a confession, deep and raw.
I froze.
Something in the way he said it broke through the chaos, through my fear, through everything I thought I knew. The darkness that half consumed his face, moving under his skin like shadows filled his veins. The silver glow in his eyes narrowed down at me.
“Why can’t you just let me go?”I implored as tears overflowed.
“Because you're mine,” he declared, making me shake my head and correct him,
“Your prisoner, you mean!” I snapped, trying to pull my arm free of his fingers that still shackled my wrist. But his hold tightened, becoming an impossible force to fight against. Then he shook his head, ignoring the venom in my tone before telling me,
“No, but you are a prisoner to my soul for…You. Are. Mine!”He stated firmly, and as I gasped, it became an invitation for him to affirm the claim. His arm snapped out, taking my own with it, stretching it to the side so I had no choice but to stumbleinto him. His other hand clasped my waist as both worked together to keep me locked against him. Then, before I could utter a word of protest or longing,
He kissed me.
And the world exploded around us.
It wasn’t soft or cautious. It was desperate. Fierce. A collision of everything we had tried to deny. His hands found my face, framing it and dragging me closer. And for a fleeting, impossible moment, the storm ceased its turbulent strikes at the earth. For we were a far greater force to be reckoned with as we consumed its power.
It was inside us, alive, wild and utterly unstoppable.
The kiss burned through every fear, every secret, every warning.
