Page 92 of Taken By Touch and Torment

“You’re not a monster,” she whispered, the sole source of light and warmth in this enclave of shadow. “Like I told you before, your rise to power had always been an act of love. You chose to preserve your humanity when it would’ve been far easier, and far less painful, to succumb to the apathetic cruelty of vampirism instead.”

She was far too generous with me. It was hard not to think of her as human. Who knew demons could be this damn sweet?

“When you were on the cusp of adulthood, I knew I could never see you again,” I continued. “It had never been right, but it was even less morally sound to watch an adult woman. I couldn’t risk you seeing me, or ever interfering with your life. So I stopped. But then, six years later, I had an excuse to return. Known trafficking scouts were in the area, looking for high-value marks for Durian. I followed them to Crescent Haven and eliminated them, but I’d been distracted for long enough during the night for them to send word of you back to their vampire contacts.”

Scarlett mulled this over. “Distracted by what? Also, how in the hell would it be less creepy to watch an adult rather than a child?”

“I suppose I have the same answer for both questions,” I said, shifting slightly. It wasn’t often I felt the heat of guilt crawl up my spine. “When you were a child, I checked in on you because you fascinated me, because you reminded me of the man I’d killed to become what I am now. It was innocent, or as innocent as such an act could be. But when I saw you in Noel’s, as a twenty-three-year-old woman… my obsession twisted, no longer anything close to pure and decent. I’d grown distracted because I saw just how easily you drew the obsession of other men, too.”

Scarlett stared at me, her eyes flitting through every emotion imaginable. Most surprising of all was the unmistakable scent of her arousal that had my fangs aching in my gums. The wicked little thing settled on anger even as she shifted her thighs closer together. But when a spark of confusion and shame eclipsed her features, I was quick to distract her again.

“I was distracted by you, as I have been every day since. I saw you being followed, and I wanted to make sure you were safe before I left you for good.” I glazed over the details of that night. She could connect the dots on her own. “I hadn’t realized your sister had been taken until you told me. Until then, I was utterly perplexed by how you’d ended up in Aristelle after you’d been set on traveling with your friend.”

Scarlett went heartbreakingly silent for a moment, and I knew her well enough to tell the exact moment she thought about those disgusting drunks groping her. Then, as she always did, she pulled herself back to me. She continued to choose life, no matter how fiercely it had shoved her down.

Even if I didn’t deserve her, I prayed she still wanted to be mine after everything I’d done.

I awaited her verdict patiently. As if her decision to leave me of her own volition wouldn’t shatter this immortal heart she’d made irreversibly exposed.

“I should be disturbed,” she said. “I should be running.”

I stroked her cheek. “Go ahead. You know I love a good chase and capture.”

Her breathing grew shallower.

“You should hate me, but you don’t.” My voice was low, a gentle caress of her buried truths. “You still can’t do anything but love me.”

She glared at me in confirmation, adorably frustrated. “You dosed me with your blood my first night in Odessa.”

“Yes.”

“You’re insane!”

I smiled. “Yes.”

“You saw me as yours the very first time we met.”

“Yes, baby,” I drawled. I moved closer to her, staring at that spiteful mouth. When she bit her bottom lip, I wanted to run my tongue where her teeth had been. “I told you that you’ve always been mine. My soul has always known. I fed you my blood so I could track you in a city full of vampires who wanted a taste of you and men who wished to hurt you. I fed you my blood so I could protect you, my soul. And I fed you my blood because it made my cock throb to see you marked by your God.”

Scarlett gasped. Her eyes were ferocious, and it made me grin.

“Run from me, Little Flame. I dare you.”

Her heightened arousal was driving me into an insatiable craze, reminding me that I’d broken my promise to Uriah. I’d let myself become far too hungry and depleted. I hadn’t fed since I unleashed my shadows upon Hatham and saved Scarlett.

I couldn’t drink another’s blood. Not with Scarlett sleeping in my bed, traumatized and clinging to me for safety. Not with her intoxicating scent all over the castle. It would feel like yet another betrayal. The thought of drinking someone else’s blood, even from a chalice, made me sick.

“Why are you so hungry?” Scarlett suddenly asked, cocking her head.

She might not be able to manipulate me, but she had clearly gotten better at reading desire.

“I’m not,” I lied.

“Why are you lying about it?”

I let out a long, exasperated exhale. Damn this woman. “Because it wouldn’t be right to tell you the truth.”

“Do it anyway,” she demanded, leaning back in her chair.

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