Page 166 of The Cruelest Undead

This was going to get ugly.

Truth be told, Laurie wasn’t a push over. She was tough, and he was likely going to get his ass handed to him by her when they broke up.

Still…

He had to do the right thing.

Now with Cerise in the picture, he wasn’t entirely sure that Laurie was the right one anyway.

For two years, even though they had good chemistry, he never felt the need to propose.

That was because he was married to his job—that was until he kissed Cerise and felt that heat building from deep within him.

It was combustible.

Jesus.

He wasn’t aware that kind of reaction was possible. Yeah, he got hard with Laurie, and he liked sex, but with Cerise, he couldn’t fight that need. His whole body seemed to know her, and now, he had to face it.

He’d met the woman he was meant to be with for the rest of his life, and she was a vampyre.

Well, shit.

He was screwed.

There was no doubt in his mind that this was a mess.

Moving further into the kitchen, he caught Laurie off guard when she looked up.

“Hey!” she said, heading his way and going into his body to hug him. “How’s my cop? Long one?” she asked, knowing he hadn’t been home all night.

As she touched him, his body went tense, hating that contact. It was as if he couldn’t touch anyone else but Cerise without feeling…ill.

“You look like you’ve been in a fight. Are you okay?” Laurie asked. “Need a nurse to take care of you?”

God.

No.

Instead of giving him time to say anything, she kissed him, trying to lure him into a quickie before work.

And he wasn’t having it.

Well, his body wasn’t.

As her mouth touched his, he was acutely aware of how it wasn’t the same, and how it didn’t feel real. Instead, it felt like he was kissing a complete stranger.

Which was ironic because he’d kissed Cerise and she’d been a stranger, but felt like he’d known her his whole life.

Yeah, this was bad.

As Laurie’s mouth moved over his, he tried to kiss her back, but his heart wasn’t in it.

He didn’t like it.

Jesus.

Was what his partner said true? Was it real? Was Cerise his other half and he’d never be able to love anyone but her?