Page 44 of Incandescence

Her lashes fluttered and she sighed against my mouth, for a moment clearly losing herself in the kiss. Then she pulled back, a determined glint in her stare. “What about you? I know so little about you.”

I shrugged. “Honestly, there’s not a lot to tell. My childhood wasn’t anything to complain about. I had strict but loving parents who provided me with everything I could want materially. They were proud of my good grades, of my rising star in the law firm where I worked.”

She seemed to process the fact I had once been a lawyer, before she asked, “How did the vampire get you?”

A sigh shuddered from my lungs at the memory. “I was working late at the firm. Everyone but a couple of cleaners had gone home hours before I finally finished working on a case. I made it as far as the car park before the vampire intercepted me. I have vague recollections of his voice washing over me, and not much else.”

“He brainwashed you into following him into the nest,” she whispered, clearly appalled that the vampire had been able to mislead us with such ease.

“Yes, though I don’t recall following him like a dumbass sheep. I think he must have oversaturated my mind with his command, because I’ve never experienced that level of persuasion since, not to the point of having big memory blanks.”

It was her turn to touch my face, her fingertips gently grazing along my jaw. “I’m glad you had a wonderful childhood. You would have needed to draw on that while living in the vampire’s nest all those years.”

She was right. At first Ihaddrawn on my childhood memories to endure the vampire and his nest. But at my lowest point I had despaired at having known such happiness, and had done my best to forget my old life. The only way I’d survived was to neutralize my emotions, ensure nothing touched me and made me yearn for what I’d once had.

“Oddly enough, I blocked out my childhood memories, while the most recent memories of my marriage and my career faded without even trying.”

“Maybe all those women the vampire brought to the nest had something to do with it?”

I didn’t like the thick lump of grief sitting deep in my belly from the women who’d arrived then died at the nest. I’d played my own part in not once trying to help any of them to escape. After all, I’d been stuck there for so long, I’d never once entertained the thought that it was remotely possible to leave.

“Maybe,” I said hoarsely.

She smiled, but there was more sadness in her face than joy. “Let’s sleep on it. Things always make more sense in the light of day.”

Chapter Twenty-One

Alexander

Bright sunlight hitmy face when I woke, Charley’s soft warmth and womanly vanilla scent filling my senses. My dick stirred, but I resisted waking her. She’d been through hell and back these last few days and only sleep would truly soothe her soul.

But as I stepped through the bedroom door, I almost wished I’d stayed in bed.

Jasper lay on his belly on the hallway floor, blinking up at me and licking the last of the black blood off his muzzle.Jesus. I scanned the rest of the floor. There was no more of the black sludge to be found.

My gut clenched with unease. I had no way of knowing how this would affect the dog.

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