Page 16 of Rescued By the Vampire Assassin

The guards' voices faded as they moved directly below them. Still, Joshua didn't move. Keri understood why — any motion now might alert keener vampire senses to their presence. But the prolonged contact was doing dangerous things to her self-control.

She shifted, trying to ease the ache building inside her. Joshua's arm tightened around her waist in silent warning. The movement brought her hips flush against his, and — oh.

He was hard.

The realization sent a jolt through her. She bit her lip, fighting the urge to press back against him. This was madness. They were in danger, on the run, and all she could think about was fucking him again. This time, she didn’t have the pheromone compulsion to explain the feelings away.

The vampires passed directly beneath them, oblivious to their presence. Keri hardly dared to breathe. One wrong move, one tiny sound, and they would be discovered.

Timing it perfectly, Joshua dropped down on top of them. In a matter of seconds, he snapped their necks and reached into their chests to rip out their hearts. Their bodies twitched and then lay still. So... that was how you killed a vampire.

“That’s so gross,” Keri said.

“But necessary.” He sounded unconcerned. “Can you jump down, or do you need me to come and get you?”

“I’ll give it a shot.” And with a literal leap of faith, she dropped down as easily as if she were hopping off a bar stool. “I could get used to this.”

“You’re going to have to,” he said dryly.

Chapter 5

“IT’S ONLY A MATTER of time before they realize we’ve escaped,” Joshua said as they slipped through an ornate doorway into the main part of the vampire stronghold. The transition was jarring — from dank, utilitarian dungeons to corridors that wouldn't have looked out of place in a gothic castle. Gilt-framed portraits lined the walls, their subjects' eyes seeming to follow their progress. Thick carpets muffled their footsteps, and crystal chandeliers cast dancing shadows.

She could hear other people or vampires moving around on the floors above her. A lot of people. Maybe twenty. How would they fight them all?

“If I get you to the front door, can you find your way home from here?”

“I’m not sure where here is,” she said.

“You’ll figure it out. I can’t go with you. I need to stay here and finish my mission.”

To kill all the Vasiles.

“I need to finish my mission, too,” she said.

“You don’t have a mission,” he said irritably.

“I have to find Chrissy and rescue her. I need to find out what the Vasiles shot me up with and if there’s a cure. And I have a story to finish about these assholes.”

“You can’t write about vampires. No one will take you seriously, and one of the clans will send someone like me to kill you.”

“Would you kill me if they asked you to?” Keri wasn’t sure why she blurted that out. She most certainly didn’t want to hear him say yes.

“I could not. If you die, I die. That’s part of the mating bond we share.”

“Are you sure we’re mated?”

"Oh yes," Joshua murmured, his cool fingers encircling her wrist.

The touch sent a jolt through her body, and Keri had to stifle a gasp. Ever since their escape, her senses had been in overdrive. Every brush of fabric against her skin felt electric. Every scent was intoxicating. And just being near him made her pulse race.

“Does it work the other way too? If you die, I die?”

He nodded.

"Then I’m staying with you.”

"You’d make a good vampire." Joshua's lips curved in a predatory smile that made Keri's heart skip.

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