Page 72 of Hot Blooded
“I figured she’d want to know,” I say with a shrug. “She seems like the type to care about looks.”
Reign pulls out his vibrating phone and shows me the screen. “We won. Your Pooh book.”
I squeak with excitement and laugh at his way off memory of the title. “It’s Winnie-The-Pooh. And thank you. Our future kids will love it.”
Reign dips me low in his arms, pressing a kiss to my lips that makes heat pool inside me.
“You taste spicy. It’s not half-bad,” he remarks when he stands me back upright. “Although the flavor of you is infinitely better than some hors d'oeuvres.”
“Can’t relate, yet,” I test him.
He clucks and shakes his head. “You’re going to be the death of me, Tressa.”
“Not if you’re the death of me first, Reign.”
Chapter 37
Reign
I wake up and realize my trial is in just two days. I still haven’t told Tressa anything about it. Not that I’m going to. Wilson tried to convince me to call her as a character witness, but I don’t want her wrapped up in all this. I need to go down alone, preferably out of sight of the woman I love.
“Should we go downstairs?” I ask Tressa as she stirs against me. “Get you some breakfast.”
She blinks and stretches beside me, making a sleepy sound.
Normally we would lay lie here together and cuddle, I would most likely drink from her, and we might even make love… our mornings have gotten pretty amazing lately in case it needs stating. But all good things must come to an end and my time indulging in the treat that is Tressa is over. Even though I told her to stay after the assignment was finished. She’ll be confused, I’m sure. But things have changed. Too much is against us now. It was selfish of me to even let her think we’d work. Soon she’ll wake up and realize it too. Especially when the news breaks of my conviction.
Wilson says not to assume it will go badly, but I’m being realistic here. I’ve perusedsimilar cases. No one has ever gotten off. I’ll likely be convicted.
And poor Tressa, she still wants me to turn her. As if that would solve all our problems. I can’t. I won’t.Can’t relate, yet, she’d said about the taste of blood last night. I don’t want her to ever relate. Even if it is the most satisfying thing I’ve ever experienced, especially drinking from her.
Our future has been weighing heavily on my mind these past several days. As incredible as things have been with her, I can’t deny our reality any longer. Tressa is a human, and I am decidedly not. It’s my own fault that I’ve allowed things to progress to the point we’ve now found ourselves. I have deep feelings for her, and I suspect that she feels the same. It won’t end well between us, and it’s time to face that reality, it will only hurt her more the longer I drag it out. Kai’s reaction to our relationship is eye-opening too, but she hasn’t pointed out something I don’t already know.
The discussion about her turning has been a constant point of stress throughout our time together. I have been cursed into this life. I will never seal her fate as another has done to me. I stand firm that she will eventually come to regret it, and Ican’trisk her hating me. Iwon’tturn her.
She’s insistent that she knows what she wants, but I’m not of the same mind. She can’t know what she’s asking me for. She’ll never be happy like this. I’m living proof.
“No way,” she says, tugging the sheets down over herself, treating me to the view of her naked, lush breasts. She puts her hands on my chest and moves them down—dragging the blanket with it so I’m bare for her perusal too. I’d slept only in boxers and Tressa slept nude—tempting little tease that she is. It’s a wonder we got any sleep at all.
I’m quickly growing hard and Tressa doesn’t fail to notice. She slowly rakes her fingernails over my skin, turning me on even more.
Do I want to pin her to my bed and ravage her? Of course. But there’s some small part of me that would feel incrediblyguilty about doing that—with our entire future hanging over us like a dark cloud.
She senses my hesitation. “Don’t you want to?” Confusion washes her sleepy features. She’s wide awake now. I’ve certainly never turned down sex before, so Tressa is rightfully confused.
“I just think maybe we shouldn’t.” I choose my words carefully.
Tressa sits up and gazes down at me. “What’s wrong?”
I take a slow breath, if only to pause for time. “Last night was rather eye-opening, don’t you think?”
She rolls her eyes. “Kai is your past. I’m your future, Reign. Isn’t this what you want? We just have to ignore the jealous haters…”
I’m walking into dangerous territory here, and I know it. “I don’t want to take your life from you, sweet Tressa. You should get to do all the things—get married in a church, experience pregnancy, raise a child…”
“What are you saying? This is where I want to be. Here with you. This is my life.”
I look down and feel the weight of the world pressing down on her now as realization dawns.
