However, I don’t obey the request.
Because some part of me wants to challenge this male. An inane, ridiculous, rebellious part of me. A part of me that says, “Make me.”
A bold choice, one I didn’t expect to make. But deep down, it feels right.
That dark eyebrow of his inches even higher. “I will happily make you kneel, Ms. Dalca.” The reply is smooth. Seductive, even.
And accompanied by movement as he strides toward me.
But it’s not his legs that catch my attention so much as his tail.
The triangle tip touches my ankle, eliciting a gasp from me as it slides up my calf and along the back of my knee to my thigh. His palm grasps my nape in the next moment just as his tail wraps around my legs.
I yelp as my balance tilts.
Yet he doesn’t send me to my knees.
He… he pulls me into him instead, his gaze capturing and holding mine in an intense embrace that forces me to stop breathing.
He’s real.
I knew that already.
However, seeing him, beinghere, it’s a dream come true. A fantasy come to life.
So many years of research. So much certainty.So many nights wishing…
Tears fill my eyes, the emotion overwhelming and suffocating.
His gaze narrows. “What is this?” he demands. “Tears, already? I’ve barely touched you, Ms. Dalca. If you’re going to break before we even begin, then this is a most disappointing?—”
“I’m notbreaking,” I interject. “I’mrelieved.”
He blinks. “Relieved?”
“Yes.” I stare up at him, mesmerized by the perfection in his features.
He’s a monster.
Avampire.
I know this.
I… I should be terrified.
Yet all I want to do is touch him. Assure myself that this is happening. That he’s standing before me.Fisting my hair…
He studies me, his brow furrowing. “Marius was right about you being a fascinating creature.”
I shiver.
I remember Marius calling me that last night in the restaurant.
Then suddenly I’m looking up at the Strigoi King from the floor.
My knees should hurt from hitting the ground. Yet they don’t.
Maybe I’ve lost my ability to feel.
