Page 48

Story: Feral Beauty

“What is?” he asked, distracted by the sensation of her damp curves pressed against him.

“It’s like Tiberius said with the drug. You’re the origin.”

Liam scowled. She used to be a lot more fun than this when they drank together at her club. He dragged his eyeballs from her cleavage and met her upturned eyes. Even knowing he’d regret it, still, he asked, “Origin?”

“Origin. Just as Alistair is the origin of black ice and all the damage it’s caused. You are mine. The beginning of it all.”

After he’d spent the day tracking down males he hadn’t seen in years, listening to a bunch of asshats taunting, “thought you wereretired,”his patience was nil. “You’re drunk, Viv. Go to bed. Sleep it off.” He pushed her away and strode for the door.

Glass exploded.

He spun to find she’d thrown the bottle of gin into the fireplace. The flames roared, drinking in the alcohol. Heat seared his skin.

“Blast it, woman!” he shouted. “Have you lost your ever-loving mind?”

She staggered and thrust an accusing finger his way. “You felt it.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Duo corda, amor unus.” Two hearts, one love. For vampires, when their two hearts beat together, it was a sign they’d found their soulmate. The one person destined to be theirs for all of eternity. For a fucked-up bastard like Liam, it was the ultimate prison.

His pulse pounded in his ears, nausea twisting his gullet. For the first time in his life, he considered running from a fight.

Her curvy body trembled from the force of her emotions. “You felt it, and still you turned your back on me.”

Rather than do exactly what she’d accused him of, he held his ground, folding his arms. “Felt what?”

“That night, while you sat in the audience watching me, I gave one of the best performances of my career. You lingered after the show, as you were wont to do. Later, I sat in your lap at the poker table. You had your arm around me.” She trailed her fingers around her waist, a wistful cast to her eyes. “I pressed my hand against your chest. In that moment, the world didn’t exist. Nothing but the two of us. It was then I felt it. One flutter inside my chest. I felt its answer beneath my palm. Inside of you.”

That wistful look faded, and anger set in. “Look me in the eyes and tell me you didn’t feel it.”

Liam squared his shoulders, forcing himself to look her straight in the eyes when he said, “Got no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Liar!” she shouted.

Enough of this bullshit. “Sleep it off, Vivian,” he snarled, headed to the door.

“That was the night.”

He paused with his hand on the knob. Gods save him, but he had to ask. He dropped his shoulders and tipped his head back. “What night?”

“The night I met Alistair.”

His breath hitched, and he turned to face her.

Tears glistened in her eyes. “I was in love with you, Liam. I was in love with you, and you knew it.”

He curled his lip, sneering in a way he hoped would put an end to her theatrics. “We only spent a handful of weeks together. What you felt was a crush. You were too young to know what love was.”

“Unlike you, with all your centuries of experience?” she scoffed, flinging her arms wide. “Admit it, you were just as clueless as I was. More so even.”

He turned back to the door, muttering, “Guess some things never change.” Because he sure as hell didn’t have a clue how to deal with the way she was tearing into him, ripping his chest wide open. Because if what she said was true, then Liam was responsible for her abuse. That he couldn’t stomach.Refusedto stomach.

“I invited you back to my apartment, and you refused me.”

He stalked back to her. “I refused you because you were a twenty-two-year-old stripper with stars in her eyes and unrealistic ideals of romance.”

She closed the distance between them. “Maybe so. Still, you turned your back on me, tucked Delila under your arm, and left with her that night, not giving me a second thought.”