Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 97229 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 486(@200wpm)___ 389(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97229 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 486(@200wpm)___ 389(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
“A trial run for what?”
His hand between my legs.
He moved a step closer, his eyes so fierce yet so beautiful.
“You have a choice to make, Katherine.”
“What kind of choice?”
Fingers sliding over my nipple.
“A simple one, really. Tell me you want me to leave you alone and I’ll walk away. You’ll have no memory of this, just as you’ve had no memory of our encounters before. All of it will be forgotten, and you’ll be free to continue your new life in the city, trying to run away from the shadows of the past.”
“And if I don’t?”
“You’re asking me questions you already know the answers to, you just don’t have enough faith in yourself to accept them.” He paused. “I blame your mother and grandmother for that. They’ve been feeding your self-doubt since you were old enough to start believing in fairytales.”
“You know my mum and grandma?”
“Well enough to stay on the sidelines of their sad little world. I’m glad you opted to up and leave before they could crush your spirit even further.”
My thoughts were spinning so fast my mind couldn’t keep up. I closed my eyes and tried to focus, begging my head to take control.
“Stop fighting it,” Hans said. “Instincts over brain, remember?”
“I don’t… I don’t know what to say…”
My voice sounded like a whisper, my whole world spinning and crashing in tidal waves, until there was silence.
Just like that, there was silence.
There was only me and Hans, the beautiful man standing in front of me, all London noise faded and gone.
“Tell me to leave you alone, Katherine,” Hans whispered. “Or tell me you want me to stay. Your choice, but make it now.”
My voice sounded more assured this time, without the chaos of thoughts there to lead me astray.
“And if I tell you to stay? What happens next? You suck the life out of me here on the cobblestones and I get the grand exit of my dreams?”
The thought seemed surprisingly enticing.
He smiled his stunning white smile, long pointed canines shining bright.
“I think you might be quite surprised by the outcome, Miss Blakely. Why don’t you make your choice and find out?”
Chapter Five
Two choices. Two very different outcomes.
“Come on, Katherine,” Hans said. “You must know what the legend says. For a vampire to enter your home, they must be invited.”
“Yes, I do. And once a vampire has been invited in, there’s no way you can get them to leave.”
“Absolutely.”
“This isn’t my home you’re talking about though, is it? This is my life.”
His stare was so steady. “Your life is your home, and your body is your temple.”
My breath caught at his words.
My body is my temple.
He smirked at me, clearly reading my thoughts.
“Yes, little one, I have every intention of entering the temple as well as the home. I showed you that last night.” He paused, his eyes bright in the darkness. “You enjoyed it though, didn’t you?”
I felt so inexperienced there before him. If the streetlights had been brighter, it would have been obvious I was blushing like crazy.
“You were very good at it,” I said.
He laughed. “You’d certainly hope so. If you weren’t a master after seven hundred years of practice, you’d be quite ashamed of yourself, I think.”
“Is that how old you are?” I asked him. “Seven hundred years?”
“Stop avoiding the question.”
My whole body was tingling when he took another step forward. He was so close, I could feel his breaths, and I was hot. So hot I wanted to tear my clothes off.
“Yes, or no?” he asked. “Go? Or stay?”
My body already knew the answer. Every part of me was aching for him. In that moment it didn’t matter what the outcome would be. He could have sucked me dry and left me for dead on the cobblestones, and I’d still have made the same decision. I couldn’t fight the battle anymore.
“Stay,” I whispered.
“Good choice,” he said, and tipped my face up to his.
I could hardly breathe as he dropped his mouth to my throat. I whimpered as his teeth grazed my skin, craving it, even though I was truly petrified.
I wondered whether the sensation would live up to my fantasies. I’d spent so many nights playing with myself, imagining blood-red kisses and the pleasure of pain.
“Do it,” I whispered. “Bite me.”
I felt the smile of his lips against my neck, the heat of his breath.
“Oh, Katherine. Do you really think I’m going to sink my teeth into your throat and take your blood, just like that? This is only the beginning. I’ve been dreaming of this moment for centuries.”
He kissed the most sensitive part of my neck, just a touch below my ear. A kiss that sent a flush of sparks through me, right down to my clit. His thigh pushed between mine, and I cried out, desperate.
“That’s it,” he whispered as I began to move against him. “Trust your body.”