Page 83 of Her Vampire, His Ruin

“I do now,” I whisper, stepping around him and pulling open the door, only to come face to face with Sybil.

“Hello again, Edie,” she says, stepping towards me and forcing me back into the room. “Dorian didn’t tell me he had a visitor tonight. It seems he’s intent on keeping secrets from me,” she adds, swooping past me as she sashays over to him, her long, floaty dress swirling around her legs as she moves.

“Sybil, now’s not the time,” Dorian grinds out, his gaze flicking to mine as she presses a kiss against his cheek, her hand trailing down his chest possessively.

There’s something about the way she circles Dorian, like a predator, as though any minute now she’s going to rip him to shreds and, despite my better judgement, I stay.

“What secrets?” I ask, looking between the two.

“Or perhaps it’s you he’s keeping secrets from,” she continues, a wicked smile slanting across her beautiful face as the hair on the back of my neck rises.

“Sybil, enough,” Dorian says, his voice low with warning.

“You know, I can’t deny I was surprised Dorian would play with such a…” her voice trails off as she looks at me slowly up and down, “dull creature, but I guess his tastes have evolved over the years. Less of the nubile young things he usually goes for, and more aged.”

Her insult hits me like a slap to the face, just like she’d intended.

“I said enough,” Dorian roars, the room swelling with his anger. The weight of his command is oppressive, as though his words alone can stop her in her tracks.

Surprisingly, she doesn’t respond with another cutting remark as I expect her to, but that doesn’t prevent the scathing look she gives him before she plasters on a smile so sweet it could rot a person from the inside out.

“What secrets are you referring to?” I ask, perhaps a little foolishly, given the way Dorian grips her arm and shakes his head.

“I’m afraid I can’t tell you, but what I will say is this; Dorian is incapable of love,” she warns, the look in her eyes softening just a little, just enough for me to see a shred of sympathy hidden within them. “I should know.”

Dorian opens his mouth to speak, but I don’t wait to hear what he has to say. I’ve seen and heard enough already. Forcing strength into my spine, I stride from the room, refusing to look back.

Chapter 19

Dorian

“This is a bad idea,” I mutter, standing in the shadows on the balcony outside Edie’s bedroom, the night sky both a comfort and a curse.

I’ve spent another week trying to claw back the cold, emotionless control I’m so renowned for. I’ve fed the monster within me. I’ve given it the blood it craves in an attempt to cut off any human emotion that rises at the thought of Edie, but it hasn’t been enough to smother the warmth I feel for her.

A warmth that weakens me, that hurts.

My tattoos shift restlessly beneath my skin, serving as a reminder, a warning.

“Fuck,” I groan, my gaze slipping to her sleeping form as silvery moonlight falls across her face, making her appear otherworldly. Her hair is spread out in messy waves against her pillow, her plump lips slightly parted as her chest rises and falls in gentle, even breaths.

I’ve never been more drawn to someone than I have Edie. She’s stunningly beautiful, infuriatingly sexy, but more than that, she’s completely unaware of her own allure that has nothing to do with how she looks and everything to do with who she is; a woman capable of bringing a man like me to heel.

A task no one has ever achieved before.

And that, that is a huge fucking problem.

Being here is a mistake.

“Dorian.”

Her whimper is barely perceptible, but it’s enough to trap me where I stand. Every instinct screams at me to walk away.

I don’t.

I can’t.

Releasing the railing, I take an unsteady step towards her window, my palm pressing against the cool glass. She stirs in her sleep; her cover slipping lower, revealing the curve of her bare breast, her pink nipple begging to be sucked. I’m itching to touch her. To run my fingers over her flesh, to taste her skin, to breathe in her scent that filters through the gap in her window, stirring my senses and fucking with my desire to remain in control.