Page 87 of Bitten Vampire

Harrison, now wielding the brute’s sword, plunges into the fight, felling two more warriors with a single sweeping strike that sends them crashing through a row of chairs.

Away from the chaos, I spot the Grand Master slipping through a concealed door behind the dais.

Valdarr sees him too.

“He’s leaving,” he growls, stepping forward. “Ralph, James—keep Fred safe. I need a quiet word with my father.”

Harrison appears beside him, a blood-slick sword in hand.

The others nod their agreement.

I am still holding Valdarr’s wrist, but my grip slips, and fear spikes. If he disappears through that door, the Council will kill him, and I will never see him alive again.

“Valdarr,” I whisper, my voice cracking. I pull him closer. “No. You?—”

Those violet-grey eyes—moments ago ablaze with fury—soften. He brushes a kiss across my forehead. “The clan will keep you safe. I won’t let you down.”

“No—listen, you can’t?—”

“I can.” His thumb strokes my cheek while the ache of all those visions echoes inside me. “I’ll see you soon, sunshine.” Before I can utter another word, he turns and strides away, cutting a path through the melee.

“Valdarr, no!” I cry. I do the only thing guaranteed to stop a vampire mid-hunt. Using vampire speed, I launch myself at him. He has a choice: catch me or let me fall. Ofcourse, my mate scoops me up, holding me tight against his chest.

“Fred, what is it? What’s wrong?” He sounds confused. “He is getting away.”

“You can’t go.”

Summoning all my courage and fear, all the emotions I have kept inside, I slam my lips to his.

His body tenses around me; his warm lips remain unyielding.

I kiss him again, more deliberately, drawing his lower lip, lip-ring and all, into my mouth and nibbling lightly. My tongue flicks forward to taste him.

He growls, threads his hands through my hair, and kisses me back.

Amid the battle, with vampires clashing around us and blood spattering the floor, this is the only way I know to save him. To give him something else to stay for.

Me.

My senses ignite. Valdarr cups my jaw, tilts my head, and deepens the kiss. Fire races through me; my fingers knot in his coat. He spins us aside, and a green spell slashes the space we had occupied.

Tony steps in, fells the caster, and vanishes again. The world could burn to ash while Valdarr and I remain locked together.

Nothing beyond this man matters. It doesn’t feel like a first kiss; it feels as though our souls have practised this for years. It’s as if time stands still. We exist in a bubble of intimacy that excludes the outside world. His mouth moulds to mine with aching perfection, soft yet unyielding, warm and demanding. All-consuming. My whole body tingles.

This…

This I could never have prepared for.

We break apart, gasping. His lips are swollen; his eyes, stunned.

Well, Fred, that was one way to claim his attention.

“I know you want to speak to him.” ‘Speak’ is the polite way of saying Valdarr wants to rip his father’s heart out with his bare hands. I’ve seen how that would end: there is no mercy for anyone who deliberately attacks the Grand Master.

I lower my voice. “But you can’t go after him, not yet. Yes, he threatened me in public, and you can’t let that stand, but now isn’t the time. Soon. Trust me.”

“Very well,” he answers gruffly.