Page 94 of Blood Mosaic

What, what, what have you done, Tatyana?

She was shaking and exhausted and wired all at the same time. Her skin felt like it might fly away from her body. The top of her head was going to float off. When she closed her eyes, she could still feel Oleg inside her, stroking her to a pleasure so extreme she couldn’t wrap her brain around it.

Her body began to shake again, likely an aftershock from stress. Her anxiety spiked, and she gripped the seams of her skirt with tight hands.

“Breathe.” She inhaled through her nose and let the air into her lungs in a slow and deliberate stream.

Breathe.

She opened her eyes and looked around the room.

It was a luxurious suite with a balcony that overlooked the ocean. When she’d woken that morning, the sun was shiningat an angle through the wide French doors. There was a silver thermos of coffee and a tray of fruit and pastries under a sterling silver dome on the table outside.

None of it felt real. Not the luxury. Not the intrigue. And definitely not the romance.

Romance?

No, Oleg wasn’t a romantic. None of what had happened in that car had been romantic. It was hunger and desire and power. He’d given Tatyana pleasure and taken none for himself, and yet somehow all of it had felt… selfish?

What was going on? She didn’t understand him. The moment he’d seemed even a little bit human in the car, when she’d reached out to him—finally understanding how his feud with Zara would end—he’d taken control back and pushed her into giving him everything.

And she’dwantedit. She’d asked for every touch, then craved more. She felt like an animal, her body operating on sheer instinct. She could still taste his blood in her mouth.

What have you done?

Tatyana had behaved like a vampire, biting into his lip until she could feel his flesh give way and his blood entered her mouth.

Oh God.

She’d tasted vampire blood. Her heart started to race and sweat bloomed on her forehead. She put her hands to her cheeks. Did she feel different? Was she hotter than normal? Colder?

What did drinking vampire blood mean? She didn’t feel any different, but she didn’t know and she didn’t know who to ask. Who could she ask?

She reached for her phone and scrolled though her texts.

Not Elene.

Definitely not her mother.

Her stylist’s name caught her eye.

“I’m here to help, Tatyana. I hope you can trust me even though I know that everything must feel very strange right now.”

Lorala would know, wouldn’t she?

She tapped Lorala’s number and quickly typed in a question.

If I tasted vampire blood by accident… She racked her mind for some kind of explanation that wouldn’t give her away. …if there was a fight and some flew into my mouth, what would happen? I’m not going to become a vampire now, am I? Will I be sensitive to the sun or anything?

It was a few moments before she saw Lorala typing back in her messaging app.

Definitely not. Vampire blood will heal surface wounds or scratches. If you ingested a lot of it, it might make you throw up, but you’re not going to become a vampire. You’d have to be nearly dead from blood loss and then drink a lot of vampire blood for that to happen. It’s not something that happens by accident.

Tatyana let out a breath and pulled her knees up as she rested her forehead on them in relief. She let Lorala’s information sink in for a few moments before she responded.

Thank you. I didn’t know what might happen, and I was going a little bit crazy.

Are you okay?

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