Page 27 of Fated to the Vampire Prince
I ignored her needling. “You have your orders.”
Frustrated, I retreated inside the room and leaned against the door. Watching Claire as she twisted in the sheets. This woman was going to be the death of me.
Chapter 14
Rêver
CLAIRE
Ilay on my back, staring at a sky peppered with a million shimmering stars.
“It’s so beautiful,” I whispered.
The deep voice of a vampire answered. “Yes, it is.”
I could see him watching me from the corner of my eye, and my cheeks burned with heat. Pointing to a constellation, I told Bastien all about the brave witch the sky, a story I’d been fond of since I was a girl.
When I was done, he captured my hand and drew it against his chest, holding it there. The gesture drew my gaze away from the sky to tangle with his. Ice-blue eyes stared back at me, inviting despite their usual coldness, drawing me in like all the heavenly bodies above us.. Captivating and alluring—just like the curve of his lips.
“You are an exquisite creature,” he said, thumb stroking the back of my hand in a way that made me feel like I was sinking into the ground.
Slowly, he pressed a kiss to the top of my hand before rolling onto his side and drawing me to him, molding ourbodies together. His hand fit against the small of my back. I felt so feminine in his arms and welcomed the press of his body. He brought his lips an inch closer. My back arched, and my chin tilted up, closing the distance between us until we were barely an inch apart. Anticipation of what would happen next had me trembling. I didn’t justwanthim to kiss me. Ineededit. Needed him. Needed to be closer.
There was a question in his eyes, and I answered by snaking my hand around his neck, stroking his skin with my fingers. The air was alive with the passion crackling between us. Slowly, ever so slowly, Bastien lowered his lips to mine, and the chaste touch of our mouths shattered everything inside me, like the sky exploding with stars.
He parted my lips, urging them open, and I invited him into my mouth, tasting him as he slowly mated our tongues together. Deepening the connection between us until I was so far into him I thought I might get lost.
I welcomed the feeling. I wanted to get lost with him.
His hand traveled up my waist to cup my breast, teasing my nipple between his fingers until I moaned inside his mouth. He swallowed the sound, devouring it like it was the only thing he needed to live when familiar voice sliced through the balmy night air.Mama. She was angry. I could tell by the way she was calling my name.
Breaking off our kiss, I dug my nails into Bastien’s chest and pushed him away. I shouldn’t be kissing this man that I hated. And I really shouldn’t be liking it so much. This was wrong. But nothing about kissing Bastien felt wrong.
As I looked into his eyes, a strange pressure built in my chest, like the air had gone thin. The stars overhead blurred, then reformed into a thousand gleaming points that all seemed to aim at me. Pain unlike any I’d ever experienced lanced through my throat. And when I looked down, the lacechoker was glowing red-hot—burning through my skin. Smoke curled from the wound, and when I opened my mouth to scream, no sound came out.
Bastien reached for me, but his hands turned to smoke before they could touch me. The ground cracked beneath me and I was falling—falling into a pit of shadow that swallowed the sky, the stars, and him. Everything. I sat up straight, trying to catch my breath. My chest tight, and my cheeks flush. My hands wrapping around my throat.
The vampire appeared at my bedside in an instant. “It’s alright, Miss Donadieu,” he said. “You are safe. You were having a bad dream. That’s all.”
His silky voice wrapped around my shoulders, calming and reassuring, and I tried to settle my nerves. The kiss, Mama, the starry sky, the smoke—it was just a dream. No, not a dream. A nightmare.
Bastien eased himself onto the edge of the mattress and sat beside me. “Do you often have such vivid dreams?”
I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts. “No, I don’t. I sleep relatively light…”
Suddenly, I realized what caused this dream.The sleeping draught. Nightmares were a side effect. The dream had nothing to do with my lust for the vampire, but from the potion. This was all chemical. But if that was the case, why couldn’t I remember anything after getting into the bath?
“How long was I asleep?” I asked.
He canted his head to the side, regarding me with a strange look in his icy eyes. “What do you remember about the bathhouse?”
I blinked, shifting my gaze to the fire. Trying to recall what exactly transpired, but every time I reached for a memory, it vanished.
“It’s fuzzy,” I admitted. “I remember youyellingat me, andI remember getting in the tub, but past that…nothing.” He grunted thoughtfully but said nothing else. “Did I fall asleep when we got back to the room?” I asked, trying to fill in the blanks.
The vampire shrugged. “More or less.”
I studied his face, trying to puzzle out his meaning, and realized how gaunt and drawn his features were. His cheeks were hollow. His eyes rimmed red and bloodshot. His lips paler than they’d been at dinner. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but you don’t look so well, Your Grace.”
