“You promise never to leave me again?”
I didn’t even hesitate. “I promise.”
“How could you trust me this way, Sofia? Trust me enough that you would give all that you are to me?”
Before insecurity could take a hold of me and make me question how he felt about what happened between us, his lips were on mine, his fingers tangling in my hair. I responded to his kiss wondering if I would ever fully understand him, not really caring at that moment if I ever would. He was a mystery I was willing to take time unraveling.
When our lips parted, I slapped him over the shoulder with my palm. Of course, there was more pain in my palm than on his shoulder. Still, he scowled at me and grabbed the assaulted area.
“What the hell was that for?!”
“You can’t ask questions like those and then just kiss me without waiting for me to give an answer, Derek.”
“Oh yeah?” Amusement flashed through his eyes. The boyish charm he rarely showed surfaced during our stolen moments of intimacy. “What else can’t I do? Enlighten me, will you?”
“I’m serious.” I frowned.
He tried to put on a straight face, but burst out laughing anyway, his hand running the length of my waist down to my hips. “Well, can you blame me if I can’t keep my hands off of you? After you seduced me last night?”
I blushed even as I feigned offense. “I did not seduce you.”
“It’s nothing to be embarrassed about, Sofia. You were seduction personified from the moment I laid eyes on you.”
“You can’t say things like that.”
“Why can’t I?” He quirked a brow at me.
“I never how to react to it.”
To that, he chuckled. “But it’s true though. I’ve wanted you for the longest time. I don’t even think you realize how attractive you are, Sofia. Do you have any idea the kind of hell you put me through every night you spent here in my bed? The kind of self-control I needed to have not to make you mine?”
“Is that what I am? Yours?”
“That’s what you’ve always been since you stepped onto this island. I keep telling you that you belong to me, but it never seems to sink in to that stubborn mind of yours.”
I should’ve been offended by the way he was once again referring to me as if I were an object he could own, but I’d already lost count of the number of times I tried to clarify to him that I wasn’t his. Besides, at that moment, it actually felt like I was. Still, my stubborn self just had to clarify. “I don’t belong to you, Derek.”
“Oh?” He challenged me.
“I belong with you.”
He grinned. “Fair enough, just as long as I know you’re with me.” His arms wrapped around me and pulled me against him. I gasped slightly when his hand rested on a rather sore spot on my back.
His eyes registered surprise, his brows meeting as he made me lie on my stomach so he could check my back. I heard a gasp escape his own lips as he lifted up my nightshift to get a better look.
“Sofia, I’m sorry. I tried to be gentle…”
“I’m fine…” I tried to reassure him. It’s not like this island hasn’t dealt me my share of pain. Whatever pain you caused me is nothing. I could feel the blood rise to my cheeks as I recalled the pleasures we shared together. I didn’t want to ruin the light mood we were both in.
“Do I have to drink your blood again?” I rolled my eyes. “At this rate, I’m more the vampire in this relationship than you are.”
All I got from him was a grunt in response to my jibes. He stood up and cut a gash on his palm. He gently helped me up on the bed, making me sit over the edge of it.
“Don’t beat yourself up over this, Derek. I barely feel any pain.”
He offered his hand to me and I drank from him once again.
“I’ve failed to protect you so many times. Now, I can’t even protect you from myself.”
I could feel the ache in my body subside the moment his blood ran through me. I rose from the bed, careful to cover myself with the blankets, wrapping the same sheets around him as I drew close to him.
“Self-pity is unbecoming of you, Derek. You’ve protected me plenty of times. I certainly wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for you. Besides, when was the last time you slept with a human without feeding on her?”
He tensed at the thought.
“I felt your fangs on my neck and you were about to break skin, but you didn’t. You can control yourself like I always knew you could… like I know you can now.”
I led him to the shower and had another tumble in bed with him before we both headed off to breakfast, our appetites for each other’s company temporarily sated, giving in to actual hunger. I came out of it relatively unscathed and he seemed more confident in his own self-control.