Page 52 of Sacrifice of the Vampir
"I'm glad you did." He caught my hand, the one still resting on his chest, and brought it to his lips. Pressed a kiss to the inside of my wrist, lingering a moment over my fluttering pulse. "That sun creeps any closer and I would've woken up in a much more painful way."
My eyes widened. "Oh. Shit. I'm sorry. I didn't even think about that."
"Obviously not. You were too busy ogling me in my sleep." When I went to get up to try to black out the room, he pulled me back down.
"But, the sun?—"
He rolled us to the far side of the bed, pinning me beneath him, his heavy weight pressing me into the mattress. One hand came up to cup my face, thumb brushing across my cheekbone with devastating gentleness.
"Won't get to me here," he said. He brushed the hair out of my eyes. "Tell me you don't regret last night."
"I don't." The words came easily, because they were true. "I just… I'm not used to this. To waking up with someone. To..." I gestured vaguely between us, unable to articulate the enormity of what we'd done. What we'd become.
"Neither am I." He stared down at me for a long moment, his dark eyes troubled, before his lips curved into a slow, dangerous smile. "But I think I could get used to it."
His words should've reassured me. Should've chased away the doubt coiling in my chest like smoke. But they didn't. Because what if last night had just been the mate bond talking? What if the silver thread binding us together had made him say all those things he'd said about my body, about my scars, about me being beautiful?
What if he woke up tomorrow and realized what he'd tied himself to?
"Stop." Elias's thumb pressed against my lower lip, his eyes narrowing. "Whatever you're thinking, stop."
"You don't know what I'm thinking."
"Don't I?" He shifted his weight, settling more fully against me. The movement brought every inch of his bare skin into contact with mine, and I both loved and hated how my body responded. How heat pooled low in my belly despite the soreness and the anxiety churning in my chest. "I can feel you pulling away from me. Right now. While I'm still inside you."
My face flamed. We weren't—I mean, we were, but?—
"Not literally," he clarified, and there was something almost amused in his tone. "But I can feel it. Through this." His hand moved to rest against my sternum, right between my breast and my scar. Right over the place where the silver thread pulsed beneath my skin. "You're pulling away from me."
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Liar." He leaned down, his mouth hovering just above mine. Close enough that I could feel the ghost of his warm breath. "Talin. Look at me."
I forced my gaze up, and found his dark eyes waiting, intense and unwavering.
"I meant every word," he said quietly. "Every. Single. Word."
"But how do I know that's you talking and not just—" I gestured helplessly between us. "This. Whatever this is between us."
His jaw tightened. For a moment I thought he was going to argue. To tell me I was being ridiculous. Instead, he pulled back, putting space between us that felt like a chasm despite only being inches.
"You think the bond made me want you." His voice was flat. Carefully controlled.
"I think the bond makes you need me." The distinction mattered. It had to matter. "Your body needs my blood now. You can't feed from anyone else."
"No. I can't." There was no denial in his tone. No attempt to soften the truth. "I tried."
Hot rage instantly filled me at his confession, sending heat across my face and chest.
Elias watched the blood rise to the surface of my skin, and his lips parted, the tip of his tongue touching the sharp tip of one fang. "Settle down, little witch." Despite the appearance of his canines, he sounded perfectly calm. "After the first time I tasted you, I tried to drink from one of the donors at the club—from a glass—and nearly vomited."
The confession should've made me feel powerful. Should've made me feel wanted. Instead, it just made the fear worse.
"So you're stuck with me," I said. "Whether you actually want to be or not."
Something dangerous flickered in his eyes as he repeated my words. "Stuck with you."
"Yes."
