I twisted back, closed my eyes, and felt his pressure grow until it became wind, thick, heavy. I twisted and swung with all I had. The branch thumped against a brick wall. The force slammed through me, pain causing my fingers to shoot open, and I dropped the stick.
“Good,” Kenneth said, no hint of pain on his features or marks to show I’d just smacked the shit out of him. “You’re a fast learner. A blade would have gone straight through my stomach. A higher aim is more effective, but that’s a good start.”
I rubbed my arm. “I dropped the stick, Kenneth.”
“If it had been a real blade, it would have sliced through me and you wouldn’t have dropped it.” He took a step back. “Now, turn around. Practice makes perfect.”
“That’s what Karson says,” I said as I collected the stick off the ground, glancing at Karson as I did. He was sitting on the log watching, his eyes sparkling like they did when he was amused.
Kenneth said with a wry grin, “You, young lady, have lived with them for way too long.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” Monique called out.
I wasn’t sure if she was joking or not until I glanced up. She wasn’t.
Chapter 39
The Death Bringer
After Monique and Kenneth had left, Karson set out a rug on the grass by the water. Sweat cooled on my skin as I snacked on a platter of fruits and biscuits and gourmet cheeses Mary had bought from the market. Karson lay on his back beside me, his hands tucked behind his head, his eyes closed, his breathing slow and rhythmical.
I took a sip of champagne, my gaze sweeping over the soft cupid’s bow of his lips, down to the sharp cut of his jaw, his Adam’s apple, and further to the tip of his raven tattoo. He was beautiful when he slept, when he was awake. He was never not beautiful, not even when he was furious, not even when he was covered in blood. If I thought he was attractive covered in blood, maybe Kenneth was right and I had been around vampires for too long.
I finished the champagne, placed the glass down, and climbed to my feet, stifling the urge to groan as the muscles in my legs felt like stretched-out piano wires.
“Where are you going?” he rumbled. Not asleep, then.
“To the water, I need to bathe.”
He sat up and squinted at the golden rays of the fast-falling sun. “We have to get back soon.”
For the dinner he had to go to. “I know, I’ll be quick.”
I felt his eyes burning my back as I peeled off my clothes and waded into the icy-cold water.
“Are you coming in?” I asked over my shoulder.
“I’m just admiring the view.”
I smiled as I turned to look at him. He was sitting up, his knees bent, his forearms resting on them. The sparkle in his eyes morphed as he took my body in, replaced with something deeper, something primal.
Feeling awkward at the intensity of his gaze, I turned and dived—well ploughed—in. Frigid water swarmed over my body, taking the breath from my lungs. I swam a few feet, and when I popped back up, he was standing at the water’s edge.
“Are you afraid of the water, vampire?” I teased, treading water.
“I am not afraid of anything,” he scoffed.
“Get in, then.”
He peeled off his top and my eyes drank in the cut of his muscles, the sixpack of his stomach, the V at the side running down his abdomen toward his groin, like an arrow guiding eyes to the gold. He peeled off his jeans. The gold was covered by fitted black boxer shorts. Until they came off too. He was well endowed—notI’m going to stretch your portal to heaven so your flaps burst into applause as you walksize, but big. Bigger than any penis I’d seen, which was only Tom’s. He also used it with far better skill than Tom had ever done. I lifted my gaze to see Karson was watching me stare at his cock. My cheeks flushed. He smiled, and in one lithe motion, he dived, barely making a splash as he entered the water, popping up right beside me.
His hands gripped around my waist. My hands went around his neck as he moved us closer to the water’s edge so my feetcould touch the ground, until the water line rested under my breasts.
“Is it true vampires don’t like swimming?” I asked.
He looked amused. “I take it you saw that bit of information in a movie?”
I shrugged. “Probably read it in a book.”
