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For a moment Scarlet seems nearly as pained by the notion of losing her memories of me as I am. I can only hope that is a good sign.
She draws a deep breath, steadying her emotions, and twines her hands over her lap as if bracing herself. For what, I’m not yet sure. “If you really want me to accept you, vampire or not, there are some things we need to get straight.”
I raise my brows at her firm declaration and incline my head. She may not recognize it yet, but it sounds as if some part of her mind is already making strides toward the very acceptance in question. I keep that to myself and say, “You need only ask.”
Her brow furrows but she doesn’t voice the sharp retort I see flash in her eyes. Her voice remains calm, if not cautious, when she speaks. “You say I’m the only woman you can love.” She pauses and a beautiful flush blooms across her cheeks. She is aware of her words.
I fight to keep my expression neutral, well aware that is merely her opening statement.
“But before you said you’d bought me. Like I’m some kind of … commodity.” She purses her lips, almost as if actively restraining the rest of the thought. A rant, if I were to guess.
Still, her point doesn’t escape me. I have known from the start that she would require an explanation on the subject. Just as I am certain I won’t have to explain her own unfortunate parentage to her—a thought which fills me with renewed anger once more, as it always does.
I calm myself before answering and make sure to hold her gaze. “Yes. It was the safest, most expedient, way to extricate you from the environment in which you were living when I finally found you. The version of you I knew from my dreams would not have approved of my simply taking you from your family by force, despite the way they treated you.”
Scarlet, of course, leans back in her plush chair and tucks her arms across herself, emphasizing her breasts. Whether it’s her intention to test my willpower or a subconscious movement is impossible to know. “I suppose you’re right about that,” she says almost reluctantly. “But did it ever occur to you to try befriending me where I lived? Coming up to me on the streets, bumping into me at a cafe, something like that? Whatever happened to wooing a woman? What if I’d just come along willingly at that point?”
I cannot help but smile, a little, at her suggestion. “Of course it occurred to me,” I assure her. “Tell me, Scarlet, how often did you go out and socialize after sundown?”
She blinks at me as if my question is confusing. Her mouth opens, but no response follows. She licks her lips and tries again, “Can vampires really not go out in the sun?”
My smile softens. “Sunlight is lethal, I’m afraid. In fact, we usually sleep through the daylight hours.”
Her chest rises with a deep breath and her arms go slack, hands falling back to her lap. “So you … had to go through my parents, one way or another.”
Her vocalized understanding wipes the smile from my face. “Unfortunately, yes.” She finally looks away and I don’t doubt she will struggle to come to terms with this subject for a while yet, regardless of me. So I do what I can not to let the sadness linger. “But you are not a commodity to me, Scarlet. You are—”
She holds up a hand. “Please, don’t say more sweet things to me right now. It’s like whiplash, I need more than a heartbeat in between.” She lowers her arm again and fidgets in her seat. “Will I have to … become like you?”
I can smell the swirl of conflicting emotions coursing through her and I want little more than to go to her, to soothe the upset in her soul, and chase away the threat of tears. Pull her lips to mine until I am all she can focus on. But this is not the time, so I force myself to remain in my seat. “No, Red,” I say. “You will not become a vampire, even if you accept the bond between us.”
Scarlet studies me a moment before finally nodding. She is quiet as she gathers herself and determination rises in her scent before she stands once more. “If this is supposed to be my home,” she says, briefly glancing around my room, “will I be allowed to make friends with the other people here? Will you ever let me just, like, take myself to the kitchen or walk around?”
Is she preparing herself to make another escape attempt? I can’t smell the usual panic or desperation in her scent, but she is standing between me and the door.
Despite the concern, I hold myself still. The door is heavy. Even unlocked, it will take her long enough to pull it open that she wouldn’t get out before I caught up. So I keep her gaze when she looks my way again and calmly answer her. “I hope you will make friends here, but whenever possible I will still prefer to provide anything and everything you desire.”
She goes completely motionless, as if my answer is somehow a surprise. I can hear her heart beating wildly as easily as I see another flush spread across her face. Then a ragged gasp escapes her and Scarlet dives forward unexpectedly, landing against my chest with her hands gripping my shirt near the collar. Her entire body is pressed along mine, almost hanging between my spread thighs, and it’s instinct more than thought that has me scooping her up to sit her on my lap once more.
Scarlet moves a hand to my jaw, her touch searing through the trimmed hair of my beard, and her whispered words go straight to my dick. “I don’t really know what to think right now. Except that I don’t want to think right now.” She leans closer and her breasts flatten against my chest. “Show me what you’ve learned in those dreams, Kyson.”
As if her words have flipped a switch in my mind, I bury a hand in her hair and tug her up to my lips. It isn’t our first waking kiss, but it is the first one she’s asked for—the first time she’s asked me to touch her in our waking hours at all. I am not fool enough to refuse.
Her mouth opens for me without encouragement and her fingers spear my hair as my tongue sweeps inside. Her sweetness surrounds me as we kiss and I fail to fully suppress a low growl of approval. I doubt she’s ready for everything I’ve learned in my many dreams of her, but she will not leave my arms this time without receiving a taste. A taste she will remember to her bones.
She begins squirming after several seconds, her knee coming uncomfortably close to my eager erection, so I do the only thing that makes sense to me. I lift her fully into my arms and stride to the large bed. Our kiss breaks as I set her on the edge.
She licks her swollen lips and trails her fingers over my arm where it remains anchored to her hip. Her chest heaves with each breath. I hold her gaze as my other hand strokes over her leg, brushing the hem of her skirt. My fingers slide underneath and as if it were choreographed she brings her hands up, setting to work undoing my shirt buttons.
I would rather rip off every stitch of fabric between us. I refrain, enjoying the way she fumbles with every other button and her breath hitches as my hands explore the smooth skin of her legs. I slowly lower myself to kneel before her, keeping myself within her reach while simultaneously sliding my fingers down her calves.
I pop off her Converse before it’s time to help her peel off my own shirt. The aroma of her arousal spikes before my shirt flutters to the floor and it’s all I can do not to tackle her to the bed like an animal. I may be a predator, but I have more awareness than that.
“You kind of look like you want to eat me,” Scarlet says. Her voice is breathy and my dick twitches in response, as if it weren’t already stretching the limits of my slacks.
I smirk at her, working her socks off without looking, and massaging my fingers around her feet. “That’s because I very much do, Scarlet.” When her eyes go wide and she swallows with just the right amount of recognition, I push her back on the bed and lean over her, one hand now holding both of hers by the wrist and one sweeping up her thigh. “I’m going to devour you until you come, screaming, on my tongue. Do you understand?”
