Page 29 of Outcast Island

“Good day, my diamond.”

There aren’t any windows in Magnus’s bedroom, but I can feel the heat of the sun just like any vampire would be able to. Sunrise is on its way, and that’s when vampires prefer to rest.

I marvel as I stare up at his perfect face. It’s not long before his chest slows to a rhythm of rising and falling, making it evident that he’s fallen asleep.

An Alpha doesn’t sleep with anyone he doesn’t fully trust. It makes a vampire vulnerable, and some choose not to sleep at all.

You want me to see that you believe in us,I surmise.

Unsure about Magnus’s insistence in our bond, I nestle closer to him and force my eyes to close.

Sleep will quiet my stirred emotions. After the powerful orgasm Magnus had given me, I still hum with pleasure, even though my body wants more.

Perhaps if Magnus was really okay with my limitations, I could allow him to knot me.

But I can sense his assurance even now while he sleeps. The emotion betraying the fact he didn’t believe me when I said I couldn’t go into estrus.

Cocky Alpha,I think as a smirk lifts my lips.

He might not be right, but what kind of Omega would I be if I didn’t allow him to try?

CHAPTER 10

MAGNUS

I commandedmy body not to wake until either Guðrún had fully relaxed, or if she was in danger.

When my eyes flash open, I listen to decide which had woken me.

It is nightfall based on the wildlife I hear outside, which means Ja’ar will be returning any moment now. But it isn’t a pack of Vampire Alphas who roused me.

It’s the supple Omega at my side.

She had one leg hooked over me with her wet pussy pressed against my hip. Her arm splays over my chest while she softly breathes. Each breath is deep, indicative of the kind of sleep a vampire rarely goes into.

Oh, little diamond.

My heart melts as I realize what she’s done. She’s gone into torpor.

Torpor, a state of complete and utter rest where a vampire can heal, is an ability that most vampires are capable of, but rarely experience it based on the requirements and the vulnerability it creates.

My poor Omega has likely never experienced torpor a moment in her life. I should have known that it might happen ifshe finally relaxed when she felt safe—but I didn’t dare hope she might feel safe enough with me to fall into the healing sleep of torpor.

She has wounds no one can see. She has absorbed a dark array of emotions from vampires who didn’t care about her, leaving deep scars.

There were wounds within her that she innately knew would never allow her to enter into a true estrus.

Unless she found a way to heal from them—such as a state of torpor.

But that required a protector she trusted enough to put herself in such a deep sleep.

I wasn’t sure if she even knew she could do that. Not many vampires choose to go into torpor. It’s a vulnerable state and one that is difficult, if not impossible, to fall into.

There are two ways to go into torpor.

Near death, or complete and utter trust in a protector and the safety of the surrounding environment.

The impact of making a nest, arranging it in her preference, and then nestling inside of it with her magic-bonded Alpha had been enough to let her go into a state of torpor.

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