Page 61 of Desired for Her Blood

“Hey.” I fold my arms over my chest. “Not sure I believe in love either, but she’s making me a fucking convert.”

His eyes widen as he nods, but I can’t tell for sure which part of my statement he’s agreeing with.

“Look—” I clap his shoulder “—now you’ve explained what happened, I guess I don’t have to stake you after all. Not yet. But if youeverhurt her again…”

He nods. “I would walk into the sunlight before I ever caused her pain again.”

Chapter Sixteen

Ember

I’m still shakingwhen Axe carries me out of the water. Daylight is filtering through the waterfall, and specks of light dance around the small space.

We sit, him leaning against the wall and me into him. “What’s happening out there? Can you hear them?”

Ryker was so angry, and I get why, but I’m also sure that there’s an explanation for how Zuben behaved—something behind his actions—and I wish that he’d tell me.

But while I’ve been patient with Zuben, hoping that he’ll tell me more about his past and why he’s so detached at best, vicious at worst during sex, I don’t think Ryker is going to ask about Zuben’s reasons. They already don’t like each other, and…

I don’t want Ryker to hurt Zuben. He was talking about getting a stake.

“Should I go back?” I ask Axe. “Calm things down?”

Axe’s eyes close, and I can tell that he’s focusing on the sounds from the main part of the cave, but all I can hear is the rush of the waterfall and the pounding of Axe’s heart under my ear.

He’s quiet a long time and anxiety grows inside me. What isn’t Axe telling me? Is one of them already dead?

“They are talking,” Axe says. “The topic sounds very personal. I don’t want to intrude.”

“But they’ve stopped fighting?” I look up in to his eyes.

He nods.

Relief floods through me. Perhaps I underestimated Ryker. Sounds like he might be listening to Zuben’swhysafter all, and I almost wish I had the ability to hear from a distance like Axe can. But Axe is right. We shouldn’t eavesdrop.

Axe frowns. “Ryker is soft. No matter his reasons, Zuben deserves to have his head ripped off for what he did to you.” He pulls me in closer.

“I’m okay. Really.” I shake my head. “I admit that I wouldn’t have liked it, if I hadn’t had vampire blood as an…accelerant?” I can’t think of a better word to describe how I feel with vampire blood in my system. “But I did, and I’m fine.”

“Are you cold?” he asks.

I shake my head, and then he gets up from behind me, picking something off the hook on the wall. A frisson of desire tightens my sex remembering how I felt with my arms bound and trapped on that hook, both with Axe and with Zuben.

Is that what Axe has in mind now? Because I am very okay with that.

Fresh desire dampens my sex, my entire body still tingling under the effects of the vampire blood and the abruptly aborted sex that left me needing another release. I lick my lips, awaiting Axe’s next move.

“Good,” he says. “It’s dry.”

“What is?” I squint into the darkness, seeing only his shape. He certainly can’t mean my pussy.

“This.” He unfurls something and lays it on the stone floor. “I brought a wolf pelt back here. Just in case…” His voice trails off.

“In case we came back herealoneagain?” I step toward him, my hips swiveling more than is necessary to propel me, but the motion heightens the heat and dampness between my legs.

“In case you wanted some privacy withRyker, or with… yes, with me.”

“Axe…” My entire body contracts along with my sex, all the air rushing out of my lungs. “Are you saying that you’re ready to—”