Bound by Darkness - Alexandra Ivy [38]
“You sacrificed Samuel just to see if I would protect myself ?”
“You misunderstand.” He arched a brow, as if puzzled by her smoldering disbelief. “We sensed the envy that ate at Samuel and we knew it was only a matter of time before he attempted to be rid of you, but we did nothing to encourage his attack.”
Was that supposed to make her feel better?
Holy shit.
If she’d been a half a step slower. Or if she’d hesitated for even one second ...
“And it never occurred to you to warn me?” she hissed.
“Of course not.” A hint of annoyance touched his arrogant face. “This was a lesson you needed to learn.”
“Damn you.” She stumbled backward, disgust toward the Addonexus, toward Samuel, and most of all, toward herself flowing like acid through her veins. “Damn all of you.”
It had been several centuries since Ariyal had woken in a strange bedroom with a thick head and queasy stomach.
In fact, the last occasion had been after a two-year-long bender with a Lamia demon who had taught him the meaning of “party ’til you drop.”
Now he opened his eyes with a wary caution, not entirely surprised to find himself sprawled on the floor of a cramped chamber that smelled of old blood and sex. None of it his, thank the gods.
What he didn’t expect was the unmistakable scent of vampire.
Momentarily disoriented, Ariyal flowed to his feet, instinctively reaching for the dagger he kept at his lower back. Why the hell would he be in the room with a leech ... ?
Memories crashed through him with the force of a sledgehammer as he glanced toward the narrow bed to discover a female so beautiful she made his heart hurt.
Jaelyn.
They had been together at the mage’s townhouse along with Tearloch and his spooky spook. And then Sergei had lobbed a spell at the portal, causing a massive explosion of magic. Dumb-ass.
That’s all he remembered until waking in this nasty hellhole.
So the question was, had Jaelyn carried him away from the townhouse to protect him? Or was this just a brief layover before she handed him to the Oracles?
He forgot to care as she stirred on the narrow mattress, her hoarse cry of pain echoing through the room.
“Jaelyn,” he called softly. “Jaelyn, can you hear me?”
She continued to thrash about and he moved to perch on the edge of the bed. He wasn’t stupid enough to reach out and shake her awake. Poking a sleeping vampire was about as smart as pointing a loaded gun to his head. Instead he sucked in a deep breath; then with one smooth motion he stretched on top of her, grasping her wrists in his hands to tug her arms above her head. Then, using his superior weight, he pinned her lower body to the bed.
He told himself it was the only way to wake her before she attracted unwanted attention, but as he settled against the firm curves he couldn’t deny a low groan of approval from rumbling in his chest.
Oh ... hell. She felt so good pressed against him, her dangerous scent stirring his senses and the cool brush of her power teasing his overheated skin.
He could spend the next several years in this precise position.
Almost as if sensing his treacherous thought, Jaelyn’s blue eyes snapped open, dark with a bleak agony that stole the breath from Ariyal’s lungs. Seconds later she realized where she was and who was perched on top of her and those magnificent eyes narrowed with a sudden fury.
“Get off me,” she hissed, her knee jerking upward with the intention of making him a eunuch.
Blocking the blow with his leg, he smiled down at her frustrated expression.
He far preferred Jaelyn hissing and spitting. The wounded creature he’d briefly glimpsed when she first woke reminded him far too much of himself.
“Careful, poppet,” he teased. “I have high hopes of needing that later.”
Her lips thinned, but he didn’t miss the tiny shiver that raced through her body.
Yeah, she wanted him.
She didn’t want to want him. But she wanted him. “What the hell are you doing?” she muttered.
“You