Page 47 of Destined to Fight

“Well, fuck.” She couldn’t help it—her favorite words always surfaced in times of distress.

“Aye, fuck.”

Kelly gently pulled on his shoulder so he would turn to face her. “So, you’re telling me that a small drop of my blood gave you bloodlust and made your eyes turn amber, and you have no idea why.”

“Aye, that covers it.”

She walked over to the bathtub and sat on the ledge. “Just my luck. I’ll figure out why, though. That’s what I do.”

Kade walked over to her and knelt down. “Yer job is to learn now, not to investigate.”

“Doesn’t learning about this count as part of that?”

He tilted his head in acknowledgment. “I suppose it does. I dinnae ken of anything like this being written about in the past.”

“So much for a night to clear my mind.”

He reached out and touched her cheek. “Maybe I can fix that. It seems there isnae an issue as long as no blood is drawn.”

“I don’t think anything is a good idea right now.” Thankfully, her mind was working; her body wanted to tell him he could distract her all he wanted.

“I willnae push it, I swear.” He offered her his hand, and she took it.

Kade pulled her up and brought her into his arms. “There is something about ye, Kelly Hart.”

She didn’t respond, not knowing what to say. Kade picked her up and carried her over to the counter, setting her on it. He leaned in, his face next to hers, and nuzzled her neck. “I want to kiss ye again so badly.” His lips touched her neck again as he moved in closer to her like a predator would his prey.

Kelly found herself wishing he would kiss her. Hell, for a fleeting moment she wanted him to bite her.

Then, just as quickly as he’d moved in, he pulled himself away and went to the bath. He turned on the hot water and tested the temperature before plugging the drain and letting it run.

When he walked back over to her, it made her body tingle with anticipation of what he had in mind.

“I’ll leave ye to yer bath. Take yer time and relax. When yer done, come out to yer room and I’ll stay with ye.”

Her heart sank just a little. He was being kind and mindful of her privacy, though, and she appreciated that. She nodded to him, unable to do anything else.

Kade laid a towel on the edge of the bath before making his way out to her room.

Kade

Backing up to the bed in Kelly’s room, Kade let himself fall onto it without an ounce of grace.

What the fuck was happening?

He’d never seen a vampire’s eyes that color or even heard about anything similar. Bloodlust was something he hadn’t experienced in over two centuries. Could it simply be that this was the first fresh human blood he’d tasted in decades?

Nothing made sense. His first instinct had been to ask his mother or Fabian, but he didn’t want either of them knowing about this for now. It just felt weird to involve his mother in his relationships with women, and Fabian wouldn’t let him near Kelly if he found out about anything that had taken place. This was between him and Kelly, and they’d have to figure it out on their own.

He ran his hand through his hair and stared up at the ceiling. How life could change in a week. He’d gone from feeling like he had a handle on the Council and being curious about some strange girl, to protecting and providing for said strange girl and dreading the next meeting with the Council.

He always dreaded those meetings, but this was different. He would have to brush off anything that had happened with Kelly and focus on finding out who was involved in the attempts to abduct her.

Kade had always had a knack for business, but he was not cunning or manipulative. His mind worked on the numbers, he was good at finding ways to move things forward, and he could make a product appeal to the people. In the past, when people tried to play games, he simply fired them.

Taking a seat on the Council forced him to look at things differently. He had to gain the respect of people who didn’t even have any respect for themselves. Most members of the Council were self-serving and had their own agendas or angles that they were working behind the scenes.

He’d determined that going back to Dallas was a necessary evil. Scotland would always be his home, but duty called, and duty was in Dallas.

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