It was jealousy.
Unlike Elijah had ever experienced before.
Almost brutal in the possessiveness.
He wasn’t entirely comfortable with the strength of the feeling for two reasons. He shouldn’t feel anything like that for Echo. And even if she were to return the feelings, she was her own being. She belonged only to herself. Not an object for him to feel possessive over.
It was some kind of latent caveman quality that was an uncomfortable fit with who he thought he was.
“So, Roark?” Fuck. The question was out before he could stop himself.
Echo glanced down at Odette as if to make sure she was asleep. When she held his gaze again, he saw self-loathing there. “A moment of weakness after I found out the truth about William. Believe me, it’s one of my biggest regrets.”
“I have to say I’m glad he wasn’t a serious love interest. He was kind of a giant elephant turd.”
Her lush lips twitched, making his dick respond in kind. “He was more than kind of—he wasdefinitelya giant elephant turd.”
He laughed as she grinned.
But her smile faltered. “I hate that I gave him that.”
“I hate it too,” he found himself admitting.
Echo’s breath hitched, her gaze questioning.
“But we’ve all made those kinds of mistakes.” Elijah shrugged. “I once woke up next to my roommate’s mother.”
Echo gaped. “You’re lying.”
“Nope.” He scrubbed a hand over his nape, laughing softly in long-forgotten embarrassment. “It was the end of first year at uni. My roommate came from money. Invited me along to their holiday home in Spain. A villa. Very nice. Had a room all to myself. One night I wake up because his very attractive and unhappily married mother is getting into bed with me.”
Echo glanced down at Odette again.
“Is she sleeping?”
“Yeah. I can tell by her heartbeat. You were saying?” She didn’t look at him.
Was she jealous too?
“I was an idiot and for a second let my di—body do the thinking. She knew what she was doing, if you get my drift.”
“I get it.”
“Yeah, well, I would feel bad about it, but his father was sleeping with his assistant, and my roommate had shagged a girl I really liked the previous semester.”
“So, it was revenge?”
“Nah. Nothing so calculated as that. It just made me more amenable to being seduced by her. But I regretted it afterward.”
“I think mine is worse. Roommate’s mom doesn’t really come close to psychopathic vampire.”
At the very thought of the bastard touching her, Elijah’s hands clenched into fists. “Right. Very true, love.”
“I thought I felt …”
At her sudden silence, Elijah pushed. “You thought you felt …?”
“When Roark brought it up … I thought I felt something from you.”
