Page 42

CHAPTER 42

Carolina

She tried to pull away, but his hand was like a padlock on her wrist.

His other hand went to her side, clamping around her waist, holding her there. “Lalo,” she whispered. His nails dug into her flesh. “Lalo, you’re hurting me.”

Irritation flared within her, and she jerked her hand free.

“Dammit, Lalo,” she said, panting.

She held her arm to her chest and glared at him, scowling at the young man she’d fallen for, but he was no longer there. Gone was the kind Lalo she’d come to hold dear to her heart. Gone was the Lalo who looked after his sister, even when his own world was falling asunder.

His eyes were overlarge and glowing red like the day of the duel. His lips were stained with her blood. An almost purring sort of sound came from his throat.

“Lalo Villalobos,” she whispered, and reached up with her uninjured hand. She cupped his cheek, planted a light kiss on his stained lips. “Can you hear me?”

Slowly, his face softened, and the boy returned. His focus flicked to her hand. “I am so sorry.”

Blood flowed from her palm and into her bodice. “For what? I am okay. Everything is all right.”

He shook his head. “It isn’t. Not in the slightest. I hurt you. I could have completely lost control.”

She pulled the dagger from behind her back. “I would have been ready if you did. I trust you, Lalo, but not the beast inside.”

This seemed to break him a little, but what else could she say? She’d seen the monster firsthand.

His head dropped.

“You did good, Lalo. I mean, you didn’t even try to go for my throat.”

“But I thought about it. Believe me, I wanted all of you in that moment.”

Warmth pooled in her belly. “ All of me?”

He met her gaze. “Yes.” She felt his eyes travel down her neck and to her chest, then stop at her hand. “You’re bleeding.”

Who cared about that? She wanted to hear more about how much he wanted her.

“You need to be healed. Any sediento within this forest will smell you from a mile away.”

She eyed the gashes marring her skin. “I suppose you have a point.”

Now almost completely healed, he scrambled onto his knees. He looked abashed. “This is going to get rather strange.”

“Why?”

“Sediento blood mends wounds but…only when ingested.”

She balked. “You wish for me to drink your blood?”

“I fear I must insist on it.”

Carolina merely blinked.

“There’s more,” he said.

A tiny, panicked laugh escaped her.

“I understand the sensation of healing to be rather painful.” He cleared his throat. “But, as you know, our saliva has numbing properties. I will need to…”

“You must lick me?” Her words were laced with incredulity.

“It’s the only way. Trust me, I’d know. I’ve researched everything there is about vampirism,” he said. “But I really must insist before that festers.”

And they still had a hard night’s trek up the mountain.

Lalo bit into his wrist like an apple. He offered his arm to her. Gingerly, she wrapped her fingers around his skin and brought her lips to his gash. Her lashes fluttered. She saw into Lalo’s world. Saw his townhouse near the center of the bustling ciudad of Los Campos. Saw him sitting at a charming desk, reading books. Saw him kill and weep and run. She saw him gazing at her with a desperate hope in his heart.

“That’s enough,” he whispered.

Carolina pulled back, breathless and woozy from all she had witnessed.

He loved her. She had seen it. He loved her, and it scared the life out of him. She loved him too, but that love didn’t scare her. If anything, his love made her feel braver than ever before. Because if he could see her, see the truest and most private parts of her, and love her still, then that love was something worth facing a thousand monsters for.

An icy heat began to prick her lips, then the inside of her throat, her stomach. The pain Lalo spoke of was starting. She straightened her spine, not meeting his eyes. “Do your worst.”

He took her hand first and ran his tongue over her palm. Her mind went completely numb and the pain dulled at once. His soft fingers brushed her hair from her shoulder next. The sensation of his skin against hers was like a lightning bolt. Invisible sparks sizzled where his fingers touched her ever so gently. She couldn’t help but sigh.

“Don’t do that.” His voice came out hard and tense.

“Don’t breathe?” she asked.

“Yes. No.” He shook his head. “I don’t know. Just…stay as still as possible. Please.”

She grinned. “Why is that, sediento?”

“Don’t make me say it,” he whispered.

“Tell me.”

“You must know what you do to me,” he said softly.

Before she could reply, he bent forward and ran his tongue over her cuts. She had to bite down on her lip to keep from gasping. Everything inside her came alive because of his touch. His tender magic. Her fingers reached out and clenched his shirt.

She wanted him. His kisses. His hands. She just wanted him. And before they set off on their final adventure, she would have him.

She dug her hands into his hair and pushed his face up, so they were nose to nose.

“Kiss me,” she whispered.

“I already told you what would happen if I did. I said I might never want to stop.”

“Then don’t.”

He closed his eyes as if her words pained him.

“We have this moment, Lalo. Let’s pretend this is our forever.”

He cupped her cheek. “You are so beautiful.”

He kissed her, but there was no softness in this brushing of lips. No hesitation.

An explosion of need burned through her. She could not take the wanting anymore, she needed to explore him.

She tore open his shirt. Lalo’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Was that too much?” she asked.

He chuckled. “Nothing you do to me will ever be too much.”

The husky tenor in his voice drove her mad. Before she realized what she was doing, her fingers splayed over his warm chest and down to his abdomen.

He sucked in a breath.

“Is this okay?” she whispered.

He nodded.

She brought her hands farther downward. Her calluses scraped over every hard muscle.

“And this?”

He grasped her wrist, stopping her before she went too far. “What are you doing?” he panted.

“We are about to embark on a journey neither of us may come back from. I don’t want to leave this realm not knowing what it feels like to be touched by the person I desire.”

“And that person is me?”

She giggled. “I don’t see anyone else here.”

“What about precautions?” he asked.

“I have been taking herbs since I first started my monthlies.”

He brushed a lock of hair from her face and gazed upon her. The way he studied her in that moment made her feel as if she were the most beautiful person alive.

“If I didn’t know better, I would think this all a dream,” he whispered.

Carolina nearly melted at his sweetness.

Slowly, Lalo bent down and kissed her. Their tongues met. Groaning, he wrapped his arms around her bottom and lifted her up. She squeaked into his mouth. Then she giggled as he gently laid her on the grass.

Carolina wrapped her legs around his torso and drew his body onto hers. The sensation of him so near rocked her entire body. Their kiss deepened and her need for Lalo unfurled into something that could no longer be contained. Slowly, softly, quietly, they became one. Carolina couldn’t tell if her world was ending or just beginning, but she knew at that moment, she would never be the same.