Surrendering(68)

“No. I’m sor—”

“Don’t say you’re sorry again, Kate. It was completely my fault. I’m the one who should be apologizing. In my haste to make you mine, I completely forgot about the blood high. My blood is very powerful and your body needed time to adjust. I should have been more prepared.”

He leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on her lips, and she tasted herself on him. It was undeniably sexy and in that moment, she wanted him inside her more than she ever had. She loved him and she wanted to tell him so, but she was scared. They were bonded for Christ’s sake…it was stupid not to tell him. Yes, she was a chicken shit, admittedly. She was bonded to him forever and he should know the depth of her feelings for him went beyond the fact that nature had fated them to be together and they couldn’t keep their hands off of each other.

“Please forgive me, love.”

She couldn’t speak, so she just nodded. He gently released her wrists and ankles and rubbed them both to restore the blood flow. She was stiff when he helped her sit up, and when she glanced at him, his eyes were roaming up and down her naked body. He wanted her. Again.

Good. She wasn’t alone in her unquenchable thirst that never seemed to be slaked around him.

“What is this place?” she asked, looking around.

He looked sheepish. “It’s where we keep rogue vampires that need restraining.”

“Oh my God. Am I rogue?”

“Hell no. But I didn’t have anyplace to keep you safe where you couldn’t escape and potentially harm others. I’m sorry.” He turned and walked to the other side of the room, affording her a view of his amazing tight ass.

“You are strong, Kate. Too strong for this to be the effect of just the bonding. I had Doc come take some more blood while you were out to run additional tests to see what may have changed in your DNA since our mating.”

She should be mad that he took her blood, yet again without permission, but at this point she needed some answers and they were beyond her. His face looked grim.

“It took immense effort for me to restrain you. And as a lord, I am the strongest of our race. Hell, you shouldn’t even have had fangs until I gave you my blood. You shouldn’t have been able to take it on your own like you did. It has to be the vampire DNA, but it still makes no sense. That’s probably what caught me off guard and why you ended up being a bit out of control.”

“What…what does that all mean?”

In two strides he was enveloping her in his warmth. “I don’t know, love, but we will find out. I promise you, everything will be okay. Everything will be okay.”

She could do nothing but hang onto him. He was her lifeline in this vortex that had now become her life. Her head was spinning. She had a sinking feeling that something was very wrong with her. Something that would threaten to tear her and Dev apart. Dramatic much, Kate?

She reluctantly pulled away from his heat.

“Dev, I had another dream about Sarah. This time I have some details that may help find her.”





Chapter 42





Dev





He couldn’t shake his intense guilt for overlooking something so significant as blood lust, which was akin to human drug addiction. Too late, he’d recalled that mating rituals involved small amounts of blood given over a longer period of time to avoid blood lust.

The thought of making her his had been his entire focus only hours ago. He was an ancient vampire and he should have known better. He did know better. That was the problem with Kate, however. He completely lost all common sense and rational thought around her. Most especially when he was inside of her.

He almost needed help restraining her, but the thought of someone else seeing her beautiful naked body stopped him cold. He’d managed to drag her away from his throat and restrain her in the dungeon. Not a place his beloved belonged, but he’d had no other choice at the time.

He was baffled at her strength and her developing abilities. He should have easily been able to control her, but he was serious when he told her it took all of his strength to pull her away. Bloodlust makes you temporarily stronger, but it shouldn’t give her that much power. Now that they were bonded, she would gradually gain his same abilities, but it happened over a period of years, not minutes.

Of course, with Kate, everything was completely up in the air. He should learn to expect the unexpected, because every time he turned around, something new slapped him in the face.

His index finger rubbed back and forth as he admired his mating mark spanning the circumference of his left thumb. A matching one graced the same finger on Kate, confirming the bonding was complete. He had to admit he felt shamelessly possessive and virile at the sight of his permanent mark on her and vice versa.