Page 217 of Blood Day

A free fall into a hot oblivion. Maybe it’ll burn me alive. Or maybe I’ll be lucky enough to break my neck before I can feel any more heat.

Yes.

That was the only way.

I grabbed hold of the ledge before me, knowing one good yank would pull me over the edge and into dark obscurity.

Cedric’s voice shouted something in my head, but the whoosh of blood rushing in my ears drowned him out.Three,I whispered to myself.Two. One.

I pulled myself forward, my eyes closing as I felt myself shift over the edge.

Only to be yanked backward by a hand around my ankle.

A scream soundlessly left my dry throat, the world around me shifting violently as one of the lycans tugged hard on my leg. My nails bit into the metal in a futile effort to hold my position, to pull myself forward again, to take me down that tunnel to my desired fate.

But I was no match for the lycan’s strength, his growl vibrating through me like a thunderous cloud as he dragged me through the hole his claws had created and into a dark room—one that reminded me of the black room.

No!I refused to allow this, to become a toy, a rutting doll. I kicked out, trying to fight him, to shove him off me, to do something to save myself.

There was no finesse, no training, noskill, just a strong desire to escape, to find freedom, to die in my own chosen way.

My nails scraped across his cheek, my knee met his thigh, and my hands slapped at his head. I felt feral. An intense mess of sweat, tears,and blood.

I inhaled, needing more air to dispel the heat from my lungs.

Only to fill my nostrils with a familiar hint of mint.Cedric, I thought, his essence warming me from the inside out in a delectable wave ofwant.

But it wasn’t real.

A lie.

This lycan wanted to rut me. Hurt me.Torment me.

Only, he wasn’t slashing at me with claws or trying to force me into a submissive position. He was letting me hurt him. There hadn’t been a single returned hit, his face taking the beating from my palms and nails and his thighs accepting my knees.

I slowly began to still, confused by this male’s lack of a fight.

He wasn’t letting me hurt him, necessarily, his body having angled this way and that to accept my brutality without sustaining injury, but he hadn’t tried to pin me or put me in my place.

He’d merely allowed me to take out all my rage on him, his hard and hot body a shield absorbing my fury in palpable waves of patience.

I took another deep breath, his minty fragrance infiltrating every pore, bathing me in his claim.

Cedric, I breathed, my eyes searching for him in the dark.Is this a nightmare or a dream?

Neither,he replied, his lips brushing mine in the softest of caresses.

I blinked.

Then I attacked him with my mouth, needing him to prove it, to let me taste him, to show me who he was to me.My mate. My vampire. My Cedric.

I grabbed his shoulders, my bloody nails digging into his shirt, my furious energy morphing into something even hotter. I wasn’t sure what this was, if this was truly happening or not, but I no longer cared.

I needed this. I neededhim.

And he gave me exactly what I craved with a swipe of his bloodied tongue.

I moaned, his essence immediately soothing my throat as he deepened our kiss with a skill only Cedric could possess. His mind brushed mine, confirming that this was real, that he was truly here. With me. Holding me. Kissing me.