Page 87 of Your Coffin or Mine
I close my eyes, straining to locate where Doyle is, but don’t sense him anywhere in the castle.Shit.
“Vlad?”
Strumming my fingers on the couch, I snatch at a decorative pillow and toss it onto my lap in the hopes of hiding my predicament. “Why don’t you go downstairs and meet the others, hmm?”
“And go to the spa with Bianca?” She makes a face. “Gag. No, thank you.”
I’ve been holding my breath for what seems like hours when a soft hand strokes across my forehead. Oh, damn me,her touch.
Her eyebrows wrinkle. “Strange, you don’t feel warm. You’re kind of cold.”
She moves back and fidgets awkwardly, her expression concerned, and I have to stop myself from reaching for her again.
“I’m just tired and need rest, but don’t want you to feel I am keeping you here. George, I am sure, would love the company.” I try again to get her from the room as sweat beads on my forehead and I close my eyes, blood rushing in my ears.
“Or I could stay and take care of you.”
“No.” My tone is full of hostility, and I wish I could take the word back when a flash of hurt crosses her face. “I mean to say no, I want you to enjoy your day. Why do you think I went through all the trouble to doanyof this?”
“Because Doyle?—”
If she knows nothing else, she will at least know the lengths I would go to for her. “Hang Doyle. The only reason the rest of today is happening is because of you.”
“That is the sweetest thing,” she says softly, spinning to sit next to my side on the chaise.
“Yes, it is. Now be gone, woman. I can’t handle this headacheandan aching hard-on when you get near.”
My fangs pierce through my gums, wanting to fully emerge and bite into her neck.
Her teeth snag her bottom lip, and her cheeks blush beautifully.Fuck, I want her.
“Okay, just let me check your fever one more time.” Her touch makes my control slip, allowing her scent to invade my nostrils. Her voice hesitant, she says, “You really don’t look so good.”
The perspiration dotting my forehead is revolting, my clothing suffocating. I push up off the chaise and stand, leaving her puzzled as I head to the bathroom, needing to feel cool water on my feverish skin.Feverish. Me?I will take Frank’s head for this. He will suffer for the rest of his undying days. It can only be the sunscreen doing this.
I know I extended too much of my power after not utilizing it for an age, but I should not be reacting so intensely.
“I’m fine, truly. You and Doyle both fuss like mother hens,” I manage to force out, pulling off my suit shirt and undoing my pants.
I am not fine at all. My vision waivers and my skin feels hot and uncomfortable. I inhale roughly through my nose and everything in me seizes.
I lean against the stone wall of the bathroom, my stomach churning with the need to go after her.What the hell is happening to me?
“We’re allowed to be worried about you.”
Her scent gets stronger the closer she comes to the bathroom, and fear like I haven’t felt for centuries fills my chest. My self-control slips again, my vision fading to red, and I can’t clear it. I hit the button on the wall and damn near yank theshower door off its hinges in my haste to get under the spray of water and away from her.
“Can I get you anything?”
Eyes wide, I leap back against the cold tile in the furthest corner of the stall and meet her gaze through the glass.
Her eyes drop and dilate instantly at the sight of my cock, her mouth forming into a soft O shape. “Oh, wow.”
My fangs fully erupt from the top of my gums, and I pivot toward the spray of one of the jets to hide them. I brace against the wall and shake my head. Hunger gnaws at my insides and makes me veritably convulse with want.
Fucking hell.
I glance at her, at the cloth of her sweater lovingly hugging her breasts, and I begin trembling at the sight of her nipples that tighten to peaks under my gaze. “Mother Mary and all the saints.”
