“I don’t belong to anyone other than my family, and you’ll have to go a long way to exert the same control over me,” I respond with far more conviction than I would usually have.
I wrench myself free of Dominik who, to my surprise, doesn’t resist my escape. My foot crunches on the plate, already broken in two.
“Sorry,” I mutter, being typically British and apologizing for something which isn’t my fault.
I drop down to pick up the shattered pieces, shuffling the fine china in my hand before putting it back on the tray.
A single drop of scarlet blood hits the remains. For a second, I’m spellbound by it, knowing what blood is in a vampire nest.
I’m surrounded by sharks. And I have released the clarion call.
“Oh, Lucy,” Dominik says, his voice even but with an edge to it I’ve heard so many times before with other predators.
I grab a linen napkin from the tray, knowing it won’t help but pressing it to the cut on my hand regardless.
“It’s nothing,” I blurt out, as if that could stop the onslaught.
The one thing we were taught from day one, as the vampire hunter’s vampire hunter. Van Helsing 101.
Don’t bleed.
Never bleed.
Blood is death.
For all my hopes I might be able to talk my way out of Dominik Király’s nest, this one careless action means I will never leave.
I feel his presence next to me. His body is surprisingly warm next to mine. But then I’ve never got up close and personal with all the vampires I’ve dispatched. Other than when I’ve slammed a stake through their hearts and cut off their heads.
“Allow me,” he says, taking hold of my wrist and removing the napkin.
He turns me, oh-so-gently, around to face him as he lifts my injured hand to his lips.
I want to pull away. I want to run. I want to be anywhere but here, with this shark, in this tank. But I can’t seem to do it. I can’t seem to make any part of me obey.
Dominik can’t take me. Not because I don’t want to be turned, but for the first time since I found out I was pregnant, because of the child inside me.
I will protect my baby with everything I have.
My cut finger reaches his mouth. The bead of blood wells from it, almost ready to run down my hand. His fangs extend. His tongue touches my skin, laps at the bright red dot. His eyes close.
I kick him hard between his legs and run.
Probably the last mistake I’ll make, but I won’t let him take me. Or destroy my baby. Dominik Király can go to hell.
And stay there.
Dominik
Surprise doesn’t even coverthe feeling I have from what just happened. Not only is my little morsel hiding a big secret, but she has actually managed to inflict pain on a vampire who hasn’t been assaulted in this manner in over a century.
It’s enough she has escaped my grip and is at the door, finding it locked the moment she gets there. She is searching for a window or any other exit from the room.
I run my tongue over my lips. I can still taste her. The sweetest of all the sweets. And the surprise in the mix. She sends me spiraling to the skies with a single drop.
I want more, so much more from this creature. But first I need to tame her, like the beautiful predator she is.
Lucy continues around the room like a bird trapped in a cage. At least until she gets to my hidden bedroom door. And with a triumphant look over her shoulder, she pushes her way in, the door clicks shut behind her.
