Page 22 of Another One Bites the Lust
We could have used the distraction of playing with the band. Of wailing into the mic. A channel for our anguish. The urge to go back to the ship grew.
To return to our mate, a pale beauty who shielded herself from the sun that warmed my skin. A vampire. Never would I ever have thought I’d be intrigued by one, let alone craving one as my mate. Now I pictured my moonlit queen in peaceful sleep in her suite, and I longed to be there with her.
I forced myself forward, venturing deeper into the forest rich with the scent of earth and moss and small animals. After removing my clothes and stashing them in a storage cube for this purpose, I shifted into jaguar form, my muscles reshaping and limbs reforming to stand on four legs. My jaguar stretched out and sniffed at the ground, but he didn’t bound into the woods the way he usually did, eager to run or hunt or just frolic. Instead, he turned his snout back toward the dock and let out a low, mournful wail.
Mate…
I know,I replied, sharing his pain.
It would be a long day fighting the instinct to return to the ship just to be closer to her.
And then what happened tomorrow?
Would I fight this excruciating urge to be near my mate for the rest of this cruise?
What about after she left?
No… I couldn’t go there. Couldn’t bear to think of that separation just yet. A shifter rejected by his mate… I gulped.
Come on, I urged my shifter.We don’t have much time out here.
My jaguar prowled through the tall grasses while birds sang and fluttered through the trees above. He sniffed for small game, but the thrill of the hunt did little to distract him. Within a few minutes, he turned his paws back toward the Moonlight Siren.
She needs space,I told him, the words bitter in my mind.
I thought what we had together was real. That it went beyond pretend. But maybe I was wrong. I was nothing but a distraction. A diversion.
What a fool I’d been to ever think that someone as sophisticated and elegant as Celeste would be interested in a singing buffoon like me.
CHAPTER 15
CELESTE
Isat up with a bolt. Had I made a mistake?
While I had breakfast with a blood cocktail, I stepped out onto the balcony. We were docked at a private island in the Caribbean. To my right, moonlight waltzed across the ocean’s surface, its silvery threads cascading over the waves. The dark sands of the beach welcomed visitors from the shore. If anyone had been out bathing beneath the sunlight earlier, they’d long since packed it up. Now stragglers walked across the beach or back to the ship, many couples strolling hand-in-hand.
I could have been one of those couples strolling along in this romantic moonlit paradise if I hadn’t let my fears get the best of me. If I hadn’t let Lucien get under my skin, his toxic words worming their way through my veins as they poisoned my happiness.
And now I was left simmering with regret.
Enough…
I wouldn’t sit here on my balcony all night, ruminating on mistakes. After dressing in white linen pants and a shirt, I shoved my key card into my pocket and headed out to the island. The moon bathed everything in silver. The scents of supernaturals commingled as they always did, although they dissipated in the sea breeze. As I stepped through the sand, my sandals sank in. The ground grew steadier as I trekked higher, toward the dense forest pulsing with quiet, hidden life—the flutter of bat wings, the distant splash of something slipping into water, the heartbeat of a small rodent scurrying through the underbrush. The night air was fragrant, tinged with salt and orchids and damp earth—and prey.
One of the key features of this island was that it provided an abundance of wildlife should any supernatural want to hunt. After two centuries as a vampire, I’d learned to control my appetite so as not to lose control at the slightest scent of blood.
Until Van…
When I’d tasted him, it had stirred long-dormant urges, reminding me I was a woman. Awakening a sexuality like I’d never felt.
I frowned and balled my hands at my sides, then forced myself to unclench them. Why had I let Lucien get to me? Van wasnothinglike Lucien. He’d never once shown any interest in my money. Never expected me to pay for everything, the way that Lucien had. He’d turned down my offer to pay him to pretend to be my lover. At the auction, he was going to purchase the painting I wanted for me, although it was much more than I suspected he could afford. And for what? He didn’t ask for anything in return. He’d never asked foranything.
Except to give him a chance.
And I’d turned him down.
I winced, remembering what I’d said when I’d turned him down. His expression, often so devilishly amused, had turned devastated. Crushed. I’d let my fear get the best of me. Let the pain of my past cloud my judgment. Let my bad experience with Lucien ruin any chance of a happy one with Van. In choosing to shield myself from more pain, I sensed it had done the reverse.
