Page 50 of Wanted

Shaking the fog from my head, I’m forced to wonder how it’s possible for me to delve into so many unnecessary things when what I have in my arms is the only thing that matters in the universe.

How is it that I keep getting stuck inside my own mind while admiring her beauty? It’s like there’s something there, buried beneath her features, that crawls into my head and sinks its hooks deep inside my brain.

I keep getting transfixed by her…

But I’m not a newborn vampire. I’m over five hundred years old, for fuck’s sake. I haven’t been so easily fascinated or transfixed by something shiny and pretty for hundreds of years.

Fear comes through our bond, faint, but it’s there.

Her wide eyes stare at my mouth in horror. She’s terrified of me, and I can feel two pointy reasons why in my mouth.

Fuck.

Snapping my jaw closed, I try to push soothing calmness into the bond, but I don’t think she’s feeling it.

“I’m sorry, my dear soul,” I whisper in apology. “So very sorry.”

Moving us back to what was once the living room, I carefully set her down in a shabby chair.

“I… I…” she stutters before looking away from me.

Her deep blue gaze turning away from me nearly kills me.

Focus,I tell myself.

Focus on her mental wellbeing. Don’t fixate on her perfection.

“Stars,” I whisper. “I promise you safety.”

“From you?” she asks.

“No,” I growl instantly. “From those who would hurt you.”

Shying away from me, her voice trembles. “But you’re… you’re one of them...”

One ofthem.

“The damned,” she finishes.

I scoff to hold back my angry chuckle. “Ah, I haven’t been called that in a long time.”

The phone in my pants starts to buzz again, but I ignore it. Nothing is more important than her right now. I’d hear another human or shifter’s heartbeat approaching, and I’m positive I’d sense another of my kind anywhere near me right now.

All my instincts are on hyperalert. Not only do I have to protect her, this is the most crucial of moments.

“Please let me go,” she pleads, her eyes finally meeting mine again.

She’s confused and scared, but the feelings are faint. Like I’m only getting the echoes of them.

I don’t know if it’s from the drugs Nikolaos’s coven pumped into her system or something else.

But I should be feeling her emotions stronger than this.

I should be able to share mine as well.

Lifting her hand to her chest, near the swell of her left breast, she rubs it tenderly as if she’s massaging an ache.

I’m not entirely sure she’s even aware of what she’s doing. It’s surely not meant to be an erotic gesture...

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