Page 183 of Cruelly Bitten

I narrowed my gaze. “You are so much more than blood, Ismerelda.” I wrapped my palm around the back of her neck to pull her closer to me. “You’re fierce. Cunning. Stubborn. Brave.”

I leaned down a little more with each word until my lips hovered over hers.

“Alluring,” I breathed against her mouth. “A lioness cloaked beneath a fragile facade.” I nipped her lower lip, not hard enough to break the skin, just playful enough to tease her. “I should have offered you immortality long ago. Blood can be easily replaced. A queen cannot.”

She shuddered, her mind telling me I’d overwhelmed her with my comments. She was also battling memories of our showers last week, how I’d fucked her senseless and without remorse. Ismerelda was struggling to reconcile the differences, her mental voice vacillating between hope and fear.

And underneath it all was a layer of sadness.

Sadness for what she’d lost.

Sadness for what may never be.

Sadness for her inability to trust the mate she’d known for over a thousand years.

Hearing her conflict sent a pang through my heart and calmed any instinct I possessed to claim her.

She needed time. Comfort.Worship.

A chance to embrace me as her mate. To see what we could be.

“I’m not him,” I said, something I’d already confirmed before. “But he was a fool.”

I used my grip on her nape to guide us beneath the water.

Others might say that what I did was heroic or an act of selflessness, but it wasn’t,I thought at her. What could I have possibly hoped to achieve by going to Lilith alone? It was an arrogant decision. The wrong choice. I won’t make it again.

“Is that why you told Jace you’re not their king?” she asked, her voice soft beneath the flow of water.

“Yes.” I released her neck to run my fingers through her dampening hair. “I have no intention of leading this revolution.”

Rather than elaborate out loud, I merely mentally voiced my thoughts to her.

I don’t understand the purpose. Humanity’s already mostly dead. Vampires killed their food source. Lycans…I blew out a breath and shook my head.I know they want me to lead, but it’s not about them.

It was aboutus—me and Ismerelda.

I’d left her out of my decisions twelve decades ago. I wouldn’t do that again.

“I should have turned you,” I said yet again, irritated with my former self for decisions I couldn’t understand today. “Maybe I wanted to keep you in this fragile state, leave you on your pedestal. But that was a selfish choice. I should have given you the power to strengthen you, not coddle you.”

She shivered as I drew my hand down her spine, her eyes falling closed while she absorbed my words and my touch.

Her mind told me she wasn’t sure how to reply. She’d never really considered becoming a vampire before, her purpose always having been to feed my hunger. To be my mate.

Turning her would destroy our mating bond.

Or so she’d always thought.

But it seems Rae and Kylan have made it work,she was thinking now.Maybe Cam and I could do the same. Assuming I can be with him… after everything.

I didn’t reply, instead leaving her to the puzzles of her mind. She could hear my intentions now, knew I intended to make this right.

But oftentimes, actions were worth more than words.

So I opted to demonstrate that now by dropping my hands to her hips and gently turning her toward the wall.

She instantly stiffened, no doubt expecting me to bend her over and fuck her. While I couldn’t deny that part of me—a veryhardpart of me—longed to do just that, I chose to ignore it and instead focused on Ismerelda and her needs.