Page 87 of Cloak of the Vampire
His hand dropped when I didn’t speak, and he moved to sit down next to me. “Are you all right?” he asked, voice low as he wrapped his arm around my shoulders.
As though my body knew what I needed before I did, I leaned against him and buried my face in his chest in response. He pulled me closer, embracing me to him, and leaned against the back of the couch, cradling me in his muscular, warm arms.
It wasn’t about comfort. It was about human touch. And it felt good. So, so good.Toogood. But my self-preservation had taken the back seat for now, and I burrowed deeper into him while he simply held me in silence.
It’s an illusion,the voice of reason whispered in my head.He doesn’t care about you. He just uses you, like you once used Logan. He won’t ever be yours.
The thought made me wince, my heart dropping in my chest. I tried to pull away, but Ragnor’s arms tightened around me. “It’s okay,” he murmured, his lips brushing against the top of my head. “Let me.”
But it wasn’t okay, was it? Because the man I was leaning against, the man whose arms I was finding solace in, was the very same one who’d brought me here and stolen everything from me, whatever his reasons, or lack thereof, had been, and who might be planning to sell me tomorrow to the highest bidder.
And yet I’d had sex with him multiple times. I jumped his bones thoughtlessly, blinded by lust and the absurd attraction that sizzled and was still crackling between us. I didn’t bother to stop and think; instead, I succumbed to the feeling of being wanted.Needed.
I didn’t need a therapist to tell me that was supremely fucked up.
So I pushed at his chest until he reluctantly let me go, then rose to my feet. “You’re selling me tomorrow,” I said as I stared at the wall ahead. Because by this point, I had the sinking feeling it wasn’t even a question.
He didn’t reply.
I would’ve laughed if my situation wasn’t so bleak. “Then I guess nothing’s okay after all.”
He stood up and grabbed my wrist, pulling me back to him. “It’s not that simple,” he said quietly as his hand gently held my chin, tilting my head toward him. “You have to understand that.”
“You don’t see me as special,” I gritted out. “What we have is just sex, isn’t it?”
“That’s not true,” he said quietly, squeezing me to him. “Just accept this comfort, Aileen. It doesn’t have to mean anything.”
Something inside me broke. “Comfort should be given out of care, not out of pity.”
I felt his chest rumble as he tensed. “I told you, it’s not that simple—”
“I call bullshit,” I cut him off, fury cleaving through my numbness like a knife. I shoved his hands away and stepped back, glaring at him. “You’re a fucking Lord. You can buy whoever you want. It’s not like anyone else has a say about it.”
His eyes flashed and his lips pursed. He opened his mouth to say something but hesitated. Then he looked away, seemingly torn. And that was an answer all by itself.
I stepped back and feigned a smile. “I see, my Lord,” I said without an ounce of irony, and his eyes snapped back to me, glowing and full of emotions I could not acknowledge. “All I hope for is that you sell me to a good League.”
He took a step toward me and raised his hand as if to reach out to me, but I held out my own hand, silently begging him to stop. “Good night, my Lord,” I said emphatically, giving him a deep, tense bow, before I fled the room.
CHAPTER 33
The day of the Auction had finally come.
It felt like the entire Rayne League had been waiting anxiously for this day, and so all non-Auction activities came to a grinding halt. The hallways were empty. The gym was deserted. Everyone was either in the cafeteria for breakfast or making some last-minute arrangements.
As for me, all I could think about was that Auction Day was no longer a distant threat.
It was here.
And it was then that I remembered one important detail. I had forgotten to get a recommendation from Lon. And if I wasn’t already panicked enough, my fate was now sealed with that one mistake.
After looking everywhere for Lon and not being able to find him, I entered the cafeteria to try and grab some breakfast even though hunger eluded me, what with my stomach tied in so many knots that I felt sick.
After putting somespaghetti aglio e olioon my plate, I was about to grab a seat at one of the single tables when Zoey waved from her table with the rest of our classmates and called, “Aileen! Today we’re all eating together!”
All right, then.
I took a seat next to Tansy and Zoey, with the rest of my soon-to-be-former classmates; put my plate on the table; and began eating. I didn’t feel like talking, and no one seemed interested in hearing my voice as they continued speaking among themselves, so I just listened in, trying to gather some info while I was at it.
