Total pages in book: 34
Estimated words: 32307 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 162(@200wpm)___ 129(@250wpm)___ 108(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 32307 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 162(@200wpm)___ 129(@250wpm)___ 108(@300wpm)
He retracted his fangs and licked closed her wound. Triumph and total satiation flowed through him. Such a rare feeling. In combination with the orgasm, it was a kind of ecstatic pleasure he’d never felt before. “Damn, Kaira, it’s so fucking good,” he said as his thrusts slowed, the end of his release still playing out.
A scorching heat erupted from where they were joined, clawed up his spine, and raced to their joined grip. Rabid tingles spread over the entirety of his right hand.
He gritted his teeth, nearly euphoric at its meaning. Kaira screamed. “Ssh, kjære, it’s all right. It’s almost over.” He held her through it as best he could.
But instead of stopping at his wrist, the sensation prickled up his forearm and across the inside of his elbow, following the path of his radial artery almost to his shoulder.
As suddenly as it began, it ended. Together, they sagged into an exhausted pile of limbs on the wide bed.
“What was that?” Kaira asked, breathing hard beneath him.
Henrik rolled them over to relieve her of his weight, pulling their joined hands where they could see them.
She sucked in a breath and slipped her fingers from his to examine the interlocking pattern of shield knots closer.
The design was so tightly drawn that the strength of the blood match could not be denied. And not even in the ancient texts had he seen a mating mark cover not just the hands but so much of the arms.
Henrik felt honored into the depths of his being.
Kaira’s pulse tripped into a sprint, fluttering against his skin everywhere they touched. “What is this? What does it mean?” Her voice and her expression were both filled with an awe that hit him right in the chest.
“It’s a mating mark, precious Kaira.” He tilted her face toward his and steeled himself for what he’d decided to say if this match came true. “And it means you have some decisions to make.”
Chapter 11
Mating mark?
“What do you mean?” Kaira asked as she studied the black knotwork on her hand and tracing the tendrils of it up her arm. It was shocking, but it was also breathtakingly beautiful, all the more so because it matched the pattern on Henrik’s hand.
It was also a little terrifying. Because her very blood seemed to sing of its significance.
How could that be? And what did it mean?
Henrik grasped her hand, showing her how their marks weren’t just mirrors, but that his actually continued onto her skin, and vice versa. “For a vampire, blood is the source of all life. It is magical and powerful. When two people with an especially righteous pairing of blood are joined together, the magic identifies them as a good match for mating, as a couple who would well sustain one another and bear strong offspring. I have never seen a knot this tight or this extensive. It is a good match, Kaira.” He trailed a finger up her arm, the touch so light it tickled her skin.
Bracing himself on an elbow, he gazed down at her face. Kaira gasped. As if the night hadn’t been filled with wonder enough, Henrik’s eyes were a brilliant royal blue and the wrinkles that had aged his face were entirely gone. The dark circles under his eyes had lightened, and the hollows of his cheeks weren’t as deep. She’d noticed his eyes before they’d made love, but he appeared to have lost twenty-five or thirty years since then.
Happiness filled her heart and tightened her throat, not because he was more handsome. Bonds of affection had already drawn them together, and never would she have imagined that curing his illness meant reversing the age of his appearance. Rather, her happiness flowed from the avid hope that this was proof he was in fact cured. Or could be.
“Henrik,” she finally managed to say. “You have to see yourself.”
He touched his fingers to his face and frowned in concentration. After a moment, he rolled off the bed and retrieved his robe from the floor. He held it open to her. “Come with me?”
She nodded and eased off the bed. He wrapped the heavy fabric around her. Miles too big, she wouldn’t have traded it for the world. Infused with his scent, it was almost as good as being in his arms. Almost.
Fingers interlaced, they crossed the room to the bathroom in the corner, where earlier she’d showered and dressed. Henrik flipped on the light and froze, his gaze glued to the mirror.
At first, his expression gave away nothing of his reaction. “You should know it may not last.”
Her heart squeezed. She threaded her arm through his and met his reflection’s gaze. “I hope it does, only because maybe it means your illness is cured. Or better, at least.” She tugged him to face her and placed her hand over his heart. “But, Henrik, the man who saved my life, who attracted and intrigued me, who admired my work and who made me feel things I’ve never felt before—that man is in here.” She pressed her skin more firmly against his and struggled with how to phrase what she next wanted to say. “No matter if your eyes are dark or pale, that man will still be here, for me.”