Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 99529 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 498(@200wpm)___ 398(@250wpm)___ 332(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 99529 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 498(@200wpm)___ 398(@250wpm)___ 332(@300wpm)
“Sung to you.” I kissed her skin, nipping at the succulent flesh. “I know the song of blood. I hear yours when I’m near and hungry for you.”
“Something said I should drink it, or maybe it was a gut feeling, but I knew your blood would make me feel better.”
“And are you still feeling weak?”
“No. I’m starting to feel more like me.” She sat up and leaned away from me.
No more space between us. No more.
I pulled her back to me.
She giggled. “I’m not going anywhere.”
“No. You’re not.” I moved my hands down the sides of her body. The water swirled around me. “How do you truly feel?”
“I already told you I feel fine.”
“I can’t hear your thoughts.”
“Good.”
I guided the tips of my fangs against her skin. “I think our bond may have been broken when you were. . .hurt.”
“Killed.”
“Do you think you truly died?”
“Yes. I saw Ressi and Ambi before me. I floated in the sky above the planet covered in a gown of glittering stars. Ambi said, ‘Go back. Join with your kings and unite them all.’ I turned to Ressi. Her hair flowed out in hot flames of fire, just like the sun. She pointed her finger back to our world and said, ‘Tell them.’”
“Tell who? And tell them what?” I tensed and pulled back to look into her eyes.
“I’m not sure. I opened my mouth to ask them questions, but my body floated away from them at their command. I traveled back to you. They wanted me to do something for them. That’s why they let me return to you.”
“No, Camille, you came back because of the potion.”
“No.”
Symbols lit up all over her body. Every inch of black skin boasted a glimmering mark as if her flesh were a canvas for a mad artist obsessed with stars or maybe even a map to find some treasure within the universe.
Her bottom lip quivered. “I saw them. It happened.”
“But—”
“I’m not crazy, Xander. The gods stood before me, together, and pushed me back to you.”
If she believes this, then I’ll have faith in it, too.
I widened my eyes.
Does it really matter as long as she’s back with me? And what about these symbols? Did the gods do this?
“Okay.” I touched one of the symbols. Warmth radiated from her.
She gazed down at her body for the first time and gasped. “My skin looks like hers.”
“Ressi?”
The very thought triggered fear to rise in my chest.
“Yes.” She clasped her fingers into her hair and pulled it in front of her, staring at the fiery red strands. “My hair is brighter now, too.”
“I noticed.”
Yet this could be the potion or a bad reaction to mage magic.
Doubt swam in my head.
I’d never witnessed a bad reaction to magic that seared bright symbols into skin.
She studied her body some more and then shifted her gaze back to me. “I love you.”
“I love you, too.” But, still, I could not hear her thoughts. The annoyance tugged at the back of my head. I shouldn’t need to hear them, but I craved it. I relished being inside her body as well as her mind. I couldn’t get enough. “I think your death severed our bond.”
“Good. And we won’t be re-linking the bond, either.”
A dark growl erupted from my chest.
Chapter 12
Many Changes
Camille
Xander’s fangs pushed out as he narrowed his eyes. “We won’t be relinking the bond?”
“Yes. We won’t.” I tried to climb off his thighs, but he yanked me back.
His voice was a dark growl. “Why not?”
“I didn’t like not having my thoughts to myself.”
“I did.”
“Too bad.”
“We will do the bond again.”
“We will not.”
His thighs stiffened under my behind. “Camille.”
“No. In fact, you can keep your fangs away from me if you continue to insist on it.”
Our eyes met. His eyes held rage tinged with madness, but if he expected me to cower away in fear then he’d be disappointed.
I stared back with confidence and determination. I loved him more than any man, but my brain was mine alone, along with my privacy. He’d have to understand. My thoughts belonged to only me.
He didn’t say anything, but his eyes flared with anger.
I gave him a sad smile. “I won’t share my thoughts with anybody.”
“They are mine along with your heart, body, and blood.”
A shiver ran through me. “I love you, Xander.”
“I love you too.”
“Let’s not fight.” I leaned forward and kissed the tip of his nose. “We have so many things to plan and decide. And even more, I need you inside me, not my head, but my body. I need to feel you moving within me tonight.”
“And my fangs?”
I slipped my hands along the top of his horns where they curved backward. He shuddered. Drops of water trickled from my fingers, ran down the horns’ black paths, and dribbled off at their sharp tips.
I grinned. “You want your fangs inside me?”