Page 43 of Eternally Yours

We withdrew from each other, but our mouths still hovered close. We’d given each other a piece of our bodies, but we wanted more. And in that moment, I realized this feeling we shared, this connection, was more than the bloodbond. I cared about him. Deeply. More than I’d ever cared about anyone before.

Nic guided us further away from the shoreline until only our necks and heads were above water. He let me wrap my legs around him, but my chest caved when I noticed he’d tucked his cock back into his pants. I ground my hips into him.

“Greedy,” he whispered in my ear as he nibbled on my skin.

“You’re still holding back.”

His mouth pressed into a hard line, but he didn’t reply. Instead, he feathered kisses along the curve of my neck, making me tilt it more to the side. I purred in annoyance, wishing he’d stop teasing me so much. “Why are you doing this to me?” I asked.

His laughter vibrated across my skin. “I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he said. “You were the one parading around naked.”

“You’re going to make me beg, aren’t you?”

“Well…”

“Nic, please—” I cut myself off, turning my face from him. I’d promised myself he’d be the one to beg. Sighing, I said, “Nevermind.”

“Loren, look at me.”

I refused.

“Loren.”

Not turning around.

“Beastie,” he said softly.

Huffing a short breath, I turned my face and looked into his eyes. “What?”

“You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen, human or vampire or whatever wonderful new creature you are. I want you more than you will ever comprehend. This is not the bloodbond speaking. Only me. I just need to figure out how to make this work, okay? Will you grant me that?”

Pouting, I said, “I don’t know. Maybe.”

He leaned in close and whispered, “If I make you come with my tongue, will that win me your grace?”

Denying me the chance to reply, he took my lips in his, showing me how skilled his tongue truly was.

“Well?” he asked.

I giggled, realizing our game would never end. Roping my arms tighter around his neck, I said, “My clit would like very much to give that tongue of yours a trial run first before I decide.”

“I can arrange that.”

I couldn’t explain it, but being out there in the lake with him made everything seem okay. All our issues, my anger, his troubled past. Everything had disappeared to make way for one sliver of happiness. We were alone. Just the two of us surrounded by the night and all her splendor. Nothing could touch us. Nothing could take this beautiful moment away.

Feeling weightless in his arms, my gaze swept over the shoreline dreamily, wondering if the doe was still out there, watching over me. But as I kept sweeping over the land looking for her, two yellow eyes glowed in the brush, and every muscle in my body clenched in terror. I scrambled off Nic, breath seizing in my lungs.

“What is it?” he asked, his eyes searching the shadows.

I blinked, unable to see them anymore. Scanning the surrounding area, a surge of panic iron-gripped my lungs. “Right there. I swear it.”

“Loren, what did you see?”

“Eyes. I could never forget those eyes.”

In the distance, a howl erupted, and hundreds of birds squawked as they erupted from the trees. Their numbers so many, their dark bodies blotted out the light of the moon.

“We need to go,” Nic said, his voice grim as he grabbed my hand and guided us out of the water. I grabbed my clothes and threw them on as fast as I could just as another howl ripped through the night. A sharp whistle sliced through the air, and I threw myself at Nic—hearing and feeling the arrow flying toward us before seeing it. It missed my shoulder by millimeters and embedded into a nearby tree.

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