Page 58 of Crimson Shifter

He made it to me in no time, slanting his mouth over mine in greeting, kissing me as if we weren't in a room full of royal and noble vampires.

He hauled me out of my seat so he could kiss me more properly, a better angle for deeper access. Stealing my breath and making my skin tight and hot all over.

I would never get enough of this male, never kiss him enough or touch him enough or hear his laugh enough.

He pulled back slightly, glancing down at me with those irresistible blue eyes, his smile was just as breathtaking.

“I guess that settles that,” I said, and he tilted his head. I glanced around the room of nobles who were looking at me with either admiration, jealousy, or pure disgust. “I wondered how we should behave in public.”

“How many times do I have to tell you that the opinions of others don't matter to me,” he said. He reached up and cupped my cheek. “You are my mate, and that is all that matters. And if you asked me to,” he said a little louder. “I would rip out the throats of anyone who dared to say otherwise.”

I laughed, shaking my head. “What is it with you and ripping out throats?”

“It's one of the most satisfying ways to kill a creature,” he said, and paired it with a little shrug.

I grinned up at him, teasingly running my fingers over his chest. “I remember a time when my throat was at risk from your skills,” I said. “What was it that you used to call me?”

Talon shifted his hand to my throat, gently squeezing there in a way that set every inch of my skin on fire. “Little viper,” he cooed the nickname into my ear, his lips grazing over the shell.

“Right,” I said, shivering in has hold. “Still think that I'm going to poison you?”

His smile deepened, turning mischievous. “Perhaps the next time I upset you,” he teased. “But if you're asking if I'll ever be afraid of your bite, that's impossible.”

My fangs punch down on instinct, and he chuckled softly. Running a thumb over one of the sharp tips. “Can we get out of here yet?” I asked.

“This room?” he asked. “Yes,” he said. “Unfortunately, I'm not allowed to take a certain amount of time off to go on that vacation we talked about.”

I gripped his jacket, pulling him down for another kiss before inching back. “We have time,” I said. “For the woods. For the island I've inherited. For all of it.”

“Forever,” he said. Then leaning down, he lowered his voice. “Now let me take you somewhere so you can show me what those viperous little fangs can do.”

Epilogue

ZACHARIAH

Lycan territory felt a lot like stepping across a threshold and into a vat of quicksand.

The lycans had allowed my presence on their lands tonight, thanks to Conclave allowing me to go on this mission alone after gathering some information from Mrs. Zorin, but it was no secret that the lycan dogs hated us.

A sentiment I shared. Despite the fact that the king had come leaps and bounds with his alliances with the beasts, I still had not caught up.

Not that they were what I was here for. Mrs. Zorin had told me about a bloodmad vampire trail, and I hoped to find Samuel’s scent. I didn’t tell Saint because he’d been busy helping calm Aurora after an episode. Dagon had been in hiding, dodging Olivia's requests that he help uncover whether her niece was an elemental like him, and Ajax and Talon had been preoccupied with their mates.

Which was fine, because I didn't need backup.

Not for one bloodmad vampire. Especially not with all the powers I carried inside me. Powers that even the king didn't know about. We had to keep most of them under wraps, me and my brothers, because I could be labeled as a threat. The factthat I absorbed the powers of anyone I killed, or anyone who willingly gave them to me, would be intimidating to even the most trusting of kings, let alone his assassins.

And besides, solitude had been calling for me since we’d awoken. Since I'd had to relive the memory of going into stasis and everything that I'd given up.

Lilac eyes flashed into my memory; crystal clear as if I'd peered into them only yesterday.

I never stopped thinking about her. Never stop smelling her scent in the dead of the day when I slept.

She was my first thought upon awakening, and my last as I went to sleep, a constant source of pain in my heart that grew wider every night.

A branch creaked beneath my boot, and I cursed myself for the sound, for getting distracted enough to not watch my footing as I traipsed through the woods, hot on the trail of this vampire who’d tried to seek refuge in lycan territory.

It didn't smell like Samuel, which left me feeling even more deflated than when I'd come out here.

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