Page 102 of A Game of Love and Betrayal

Maybe it was normal to feel some level of doubt. Maybe it was good. A sign she hadn’t lost all traces of her humanity. She could not forget that this was an act. None of this was real, except for the fact that he’d killed her family.

Yes. That was a good, boundary-strengthening thought. Brynleigh latched onto it.

Ryker reached up and cupped her cheek. It took everything she had to remain rigid.

Boundaries. See? They worked.

“Do you need more blood? Sleep? What can I do for you?” he asked.

Her fangs ached at the suggestion. She didn’t think he was offering to let her bite him—and even if he was, it was definitely off the table because biting was an inherently sexual act reserved only for lovers in this modern age—but it was sweet that he recognized her hunger.

Brynleigh paused. What? She never thought anything was sweet. Maybe she wasn’t feeling so great after all. Maybe the medicine from earlier was addling her senses.

Actually, now that she thought about it, that seemed plausible. Could drugs make vampires doubt everything and forget their murderous purposes? Probably.

She latched onto the thought like it was a lifeline, and she was drowing. That’s all this was. Just the drugs. She needed to sleep them off.

“More sleep.” Abandoning her plan to explore The Lily, because now it seemed monumentally stupid, Brynleigh moved backward until she felt the reassuring curved doorknob behind the small of her back. She grabbed it, thankful the door hadn’t slipped shut. “You’re right, I’m… tired.”

Ryker leaned forward, and despite their audience, he brushed his lips over hers.

It wasn’t a kiss, she reasoned. Not really. It was a peck. It didn’t count.

Her boundaries were still in place.

No kissing, starting now.

“Maybe tomorrow, we can find Hallie and Therian?” Brynleigh asked.

Group settings were good. They should avoid being alone as much as possible. She could respect her boundaries and see her friend. It was a win-win situation.

“I’d like that,” Ryker said. “I’ll see what I can do.”

They finished making plans, and he scribbled his phone number down on a piece of paper for her to program into her phone when she found it before they said goodbye. Thank the gods, her boundaries remained intact.

Brynleigh slipped back into the room and turned all the locks. She leaned against the door, breathing heavily. Damn her body. Damn the pull she felt towards Ryker. Damn it all.

Several minutes went by before her heart rate returned to normal, and her lips stopped tingling from Ryker’s non-kiss.

Two weeks.

She could do this.

First step: sleep.

Drawing the curtains closed, because the last thing she needed was to be burned by the sun when it rose, she stumbled back to bed and collapsed on the cloud-like mattress.

Even as her eyes fluttered shut, the unwelcome memory of Ryker’s lips on hers haunted her.

CHAPTER 25

Welcome Home

“You’ll be at the big house for dinner tonight, right?” River gripped Ryker’s hand with surprising force, and her painted black nails dug into his skin.

A week had passed since the bombing. Today, Ryker’s sister wore an all-black ensemble with as many cut-outs as fabric. It was… a choice, to be certain. One that Ryker didn’t necessarily approve of.

“We’ll be there.” He squeezed his sister’s hand reassuringly. “Is being alone with Mom and Dad so bad?”

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