Page 29 of Eternally Yours

“Loren, do you trust me?”

After another bout of quiet, she whispered, “You haven’t lied to me yet, but really, I don’t know you. How can I trust you?”

“We can remedy that,” I said. “Ask me anything. What would you like to know?”

“Why did you leave your coven?” she asked. Of course, she’d go for the hardest question first.

“Can’t we start with something a little less heavy, like my favorite color?” I asked, hoping I could steer her away from probing into my family drama off the bat.

She huffed. “Fine. I’m guessing blue,” she said dryly. “Am I right?”

“Red. Your turn.”

With a slight turn of her neck, she crooned, “Green.”

Did she just flirt with me?

Because I had the slight inkling she was referring to the color of my eyes. I exited off a ramp and as we stopped at a red light, I glanced over to see her blue eyes twinkling under the silvery light of the moon. “I changed my mind.”

“What?” She blinked, confused. “You’re changing your answer?”

The light turned green, but I didn’t bother to press on the gas. Reaching over, I tucked a strand of her red hair behind her ear, and said, “Blue is my new favorite color.” I let my finger linger by her ear then traced her jaw, the softness of her skin beckoning me to feel the rest of her.

How the hell am I supposed to resist this girl?

She turned away, her blush brightening her pale cheeks all the more.

We drove in silence, the roads leading us out of the bright cities and into the more rural parts where the trees were thicker, and the darkness of the night pressed harder on the earth. The car’s headlights barely pierced the inky blackness ahead of us, but I knew that meant we were heading in the right direction. Loren sat a little straight in the seat, her easy demeanor a balm across our bloodbond.

The thought of being alone with her for the next few days, maybe even weeks, had me questioning my decision to bring her to the cabin. Not because I didn’t want to be there with her, but because I couldn’t wait to get to Vermont. Because I couldn’t wait to have her all to myself. To know more about her. This was one hundred percent a tropical storm churning the ocean, about to catapult to a category five hurricane.

“Do you feel it?” I asked, wondering if she could feel what I was thinking. Wondering if she could also sense the indecent thoughts circulating in my mind.

She looked at me from over her shoulder. “What? The air conditioning?”

I huffed out a small laugh. The girl had humor. “It’s called a bloodbond. Through the sharing of blood, we’ve become connected. We can feel what the other is feeling. Or thinking.”

She sat straighter. “So, you can feel my emotions? Hear my thoughts?” Then she paused as if she realized something, and her eyes widened. “Oh my God…”

I couldn’t help the grin that stretched across my lips. “Don’t worry. Feeding is not just about sustenance. It’s a very intimate act, especially between two vampires. The sexual arousal is instinctual.”

“So… you felt that, too?”

My breath caught as the thought of us in the kitchen sent a signal straight to my groin. I recalled the moment she latched onto my neck. It was euphoric, but when she lapped my skin with her tongue, everything male in me roared.

Did I feel it? I’d tell her to ask my cock, but that could be inappropriate. “Yeah. I felt it.”

Her stare lingered on me for a long moment. “I don’t really feel anything now… No feelings from you. No thoughts. Am I doing something wrong?” she asked.

That was interesting. Why wouldn’t she be able to feel me? Then it dawned on me. I hadn’t fed fromher.She carried my blood, but I didn’t carry hers. “This is all new to me also, but I wonder if perhaps it’s because I haven’t fed from you.” The idea burned in my mind, and as much as I craved to taste her, the fact she couldn’t feel or read me meant my thoughts were still my own. It was better that way.

“That doesn’t seem fair. I’m not sure I want you in my head.” After a few minutes, she asked. “Can you… see my dreams?”

“I don’t think it works like that,” I said. “It’s just this humming in your veins. A feeling.” I thought for a minute, trying to find a way to help her understand. “Okay. When you left my apartment and I woke up to find you were gone, it’s as if I already knew where you were. Think of it like a GPS. And as I drove my car through the city streets, a sense of dread settled over my chest. I knew you were in distress, even if I didn’t know why.”

“Oh okay,” she said, blowing out a long breath. “That’s good then. I thought it might be… more specific.”

She was hiding something from me.