Page 15

CELESTE

I sat up with a bolt. Had I made a mistake?

While I had breakfast with a blood cocktail, I stepped out onto the balcony.

We were docked at a private island in the Caribbean.

To my right, moonlight waltzed across the ocean’s surface, its silvery threads cascading over the waves.

The dark sands of the beach welcomed visitors from the shore.

If anyone had been out bathing beneath the sunlight earlier, they’d long since packed it up.

Now stragglers walked across the beach or back to the ship, many couples strolling hand-in-hand.

I could have been one of those couples strolling along in this romantic moonlit paradise if I hadn’t let my fears get the best of me. If I hadn’t let Lucien get under my skin, his toxic words worming their way through my veins as they poisoned my happiness.

And now I was left simmering with regret.

Enough…

I wouldn’t sit here on my balcony all night, ruminating on mistakes.

After dressing in white linen pants and a shirt, I shoved my key card into my pocket and headed out to the island.

The moon bathed everything in silver. The scents of supernaturals commingled as they always did, although they dissipated in the sea breeze.

As I stepped through the sand, my sandals sank in.

The ground grew steadier as I trekked higher, toward the dense forest pulsing with quiet, hidden life—the flutter of bat wings, the distant splash of something slipping into water, the heartbeat of a small rodent scurrying through the underbrush.

The night air was fragrant, tinged with salt and orchids and damp earth—and prey.

One of the key features of this island was that it provided an abundance of wildlife should any supernatural want to hunt. After two centuries as a vampire, I’d learned to control my appetite so as not to lose control at the slightest scent of blood.

Until Van…

When I’d tasted him, it had stirred long-dormant urges, reminding me I was a woman. Awakening a sexuality like I’d never felt.

I frowned and balled my hands at my sides, then forced myself to unclench them.

Why had I let Lucien get to me? Van was nothing like Lucien.

He’d never once shown any interest in my money.

Never expected me to pay for everything, the way that Lucien had.

He’d turned down my offer to pay him to pretend to be my lover.

At the auction, he was going to purchase the painting I wanted for me, although it was much more than I suspected he could afford.

And for what? He didn’t ask for anything in return. He’d never asked for anything .

Except to give him a chance.

And I’d turned him down.

I winced, remembering what I’d said when I’d turned him down.

His expression, often so devilishly amused, had turned devastated.

Crushed. I’d let my fear get the best of me.

Let the pain of my past cloud my judgment.

Let my bad experience with Lucien ruin any chance of a happy one with Van.

In choosing to shield myself from more pain, I sensed it had done the reverse.

Because what I felt for Van was real.

It had grown the more I spent time with him, basking in his bright aura.

He was golden sunshine to my pale moonlight.

Full of life while I’d lived the same undead existence for decades.

Eager to try new experiences and visit new places, easygoing as he went with the flow, even if it meant wearing an ill-fitting suit at his first art auction.

And once I’d tasted his blood, experienced that fiery connection that had seared us and jolted my undead heart, I’d known it was the truth.

Despite all our differences, we were meant to be together. Bonded. Like he’d claimed—we were mates.

I continued deeper into the woods, caught up in my tangled thoughts. And then I caught the scent of a feline. It was stronger than the one I recognized, yet still recognizable as one that I’d never forget.

A sleek, black, huge jaguar stepped onto the path before me and stared up from bright, golden, inquisitive eyes—ones that reminded me of the shifter I’d fallen for. He was enormous and gorgeous.

“Van?” I whispered.

He nodded. With a tentative hand, I reached out, and he took a step closer. I ran my fingers over the top of his head, and he purred, turning so I could stroke his cheek. I trailed my fingers over his back, through his silky-soft fur.

He motioned with his head for me to follow him. I did so, and he bounded forward. Once he disappeared behind trees, I followed his scent. My skin tingled with excitement. Where was he leading me?

“Celeste.” His voice was a low rumble that stirred my senses.

I turned to see him, no longer in jaguar form, but standing upright looking more devastatingly handsome than ever in just a pair of shorts. The golden skin of his toned upper body was bathed by moonlight. He fixed an intense gaze on me that sparked a fire inside me.

Struggling to keep my composure, I smoothed my hands over the sides of my linen pants. “Why did you lead me out here, Van?”

He chuckled, and that low reverberation added more kindling to the smolder burning within. “I figured I should put some shorts on rather than shifting back in front of you.”

With the sinfully beautiful way he appeared right now and how delicious I remembered touching every inch of his beautiful body in my suite, I wouldn’t have minded that one bit. In fact, as I pictured it…

I stepped forward. “Van, about what I said last night,” I began.

His smile vanished. “I understand.” He shook his head. “You’d made it clear from the beginning that it was just supposed to be pretend.”

A man’s cruel laughter interrupted before I could respond.

“I knew it,” Lucien declared smugly as he emerged onto the path. His cold smile lingered. “A woman like Celeste could never be interested in a”—he glanced down his nose at Van and sneered—”kitten.” He tutted. “Face it, boy, you were nothing but a happy little meal.”