Page 25 of Claiming Her Vampire

“Good. I’m not the best cook. That was one of the many things my ex complained about.” I say without thinking.

He drops his fork and turns toward me. “What else did he complain about?” He stares at me intensely.

I find that I can’t meet his gaze, and instead, I concentrate on my food. “It turned out that I wasn’t the woman he thought I was in the beginning. He wanted someone to control, to mold into the woman he thought I should be. I let him. For too long, I was under a spell, it seemed.” I laugh lightly.

Ryler touches my chin to turn my head. “That was not your fault,” he says roughly.

“He made me think it was all on me. I should have left him a long time ago. That is my fault,” I frown.

“What matters is that you did.” He smooths out the scowl lines on my forehead with his thumb. “He doesn’t matter anymore, remember?”

I nod. “He was angry that I left,” I confess.

Ryker grins. “Let him come.”

“He might.” I watch his eyes turn black.

“I look forward to it.” His smile shows me his vampire teeth for the first time.

Being told something is different from seeing it. “Does it hurt?” I ask, nodding at his mouth.

“What?”

“Your teeth, when they come down.” I can’t stop staring at them.

“No. It’s normal to me.”

“Does it hurt when you bite someone?” I whisper the question.

“It depends.”

“On what?”

“If I want it to,” he says.

I look into his dark eyes. “But you don’t want to hurt me,” I state.

“Never. It will bring you nothing but pleasure when I bite you,” he says with relish.

My phone rings from my purse on the table, breaking through our intense conversation.

I dig through my bag to find it. When I glance at the screen, I groan. If I don’t answer, she will continue to call until she gets the attention she thinks she deserves.

“Your ex?” Ryker asks.

“No, almost worse. My mother.” I look down at it, torn. There's nothing like unloading all your baggage right away onto the man you're interested in.

She just jumps right in the second I press the button.

“Why haven’t you answered my calls?”

“I’ve been busy. Did you need something?” I ask her.

“Yes, I need you to come home. Your father and I don’t have the time to comfort Tom for much longer. He’s been over every night this week, worried about you and crying. He’s crying, Serenity,” she huffs.

“I’m sure it’s not that bad. I’m not coming home to him.”

“Why the hell not? Where are you now, anyway?” she demands.

---