Page 155 of Prodigal Son

“Well, being that I get squeamish around blood, I don’t think self-control will be an issue for me. Although, I do like my steak rare.”

He chuckled. “That’s not quite the same.”

She also liked when her grandmother used to make arroz de cabidela, a Portuguese blood rice dish. “How is it different?”

“Feeding from the vein can be erotic, which is why—should you need to feed—you’ll only ever take my blood.”

“I thought you said you only drank from animals.”

“I did and I will. But I will drink enough to feed you. Our kind has very grounded beliefs when it comes to meeting the needs of our females. I would make sure you wanted for nothing, Destiny. Every hunger, I would feed.”

She swallowed tightly. Why was all this talk of feeding and hunger now turning her on? She impatiently looked at the test and sank a little when it was unchanged. Cain did as well. Their five minutes were up.

She leaned back, pulling her hands onto her lap. “You don’t have to stay. I know this changes things for you—”

“I told you the results didn’t matter to me, Destiny. And I promised not to lie to you.”

“But you made that promise after you said that.”

“I was telling the truth. I don’t care if you’re mortal. I only wanted to know the truth. It was only a hunch and sometimes hunches are wrong.”

For as afraid as she was only minutes ago, she now felt like something extraordinary had been irrevocably stolen from her. “I’m sorry.”

“Why?”

“Because I know you’re disappointed.”

He lifted her chin and looked into her eyes. “Impossible. And it doesn’t matter anyway.”

Her vision blurred. “How could it not matter—”

“Because the doctor was wrong.”

She frowned. “What do you mean?”

He smiled. “The results take six minutes.”

Her stare jerked to the test strip and she gasped at the sight of a dark gray line. She jumped out of the booth and he was there beside her, pulling her into his arms as she bounced triumphantly. “I passed!”

His lips crashed over hers and her body stilled, her knees softening and her mind falling into a welcomed calm as everything in her heart aligned and the sense of imbalance she’d suffered over the past year disappeared. She was exactly where she was meant to be.

His lips curved against hers as a purr of satisfaction rumbled in his chest. “Say goodbye to your friends.”

Her smile fell. “Forever goodbye?”

“No, but I plan to keep you occupied for a long while. We have a lot of lost time to make up for.”

Anticipation slipped out in a breathy half laugh. “I’ll get my purse.”

CHAPTER 43

Cain’s back slammed into the wall the moment they entered Destiny’s home. Keys and shoes went flying as she pulled at his shirt and kissed him like a woman possessed. He hadn’t known how the return of her memories might affect her, but he was glad to see her feelings for him hadn’t changed. If anything, they intensified.

“You have too many clothes on!”

He ripped off her shirt and tugged at her jeans, fumbling with the complicated belt. “You and your damn male clothing. Dresses, Destiny, I want you in dresses.” The belt whipped free and he threw it across the living room.

The moment her legs were bare, he lifted her and slammed her into the adjacent wall, grinding his cock against her sex. He kissed her with wild, pent up passion and she met him stroke for stroke with her tongue.

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