Page 91 of Desired for Her Blood

“Without you I couldn’t have survived down here, trapped in this cave. You make me feel free. You make my heart… Fuck. I’m no poet. I don’t know how to explain. I just know how fucking great you make me feel.”

Her eyes well up with obvious joy. “Oh, Ryker.” She pulses around me again. “I don’t care about poetry. Why don’t you justshowme how you feel.”

“I plan to, little dove. I plan to.” I lower us onto the furs.

What I plan to do is fuck this miracle of a woman, for as long and in as many ways as she’ll let me.

I plan to make love to this woman who makes me feel free.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Axe

I pushout of the water ahead of Zuben, and the moment he lands I confront him.

“Out of respect for her, I haven’t killed you—yet.” We haven’t really talked since he… “If youeverhurt her again.”

Holding up both palms toward me, Zuben bows his head, and then looks into my eyes. “I vow never to hurt her again. And as I told Ryker, to be certain of that, I will never, ever, penetrate her again. I would cut off my cock before I let it inside her again.”

There’s no need to gothatfar, but if that’s what it takes to keep this sick fuck from hurting her, so be it.

The tall vampire moves to the side of the small, semi-circular space. “I will start here,” he says. “You begin at the other side.”

Taking orders from this vampire rankles, but his plan is solid and so I don’t fight him on it.

“I apologize for my accusatory tone when I asked why you had not looked for an exit back here sooner,” he says quietly. “I cannot begin to imagine your loss, losing everyone you loved as you did.”

I grunt. My hands skim over the stone surface, feeling for cracks, for whiffs of air, for a change in dampness, any clue that might help.

“I’ve never had anyone to lose,” Zuben says flatly.

I turn toward him, but he’s concentrating on checking the stone. Leaning his ear against it, he holds up his finger toward me.

“What?” I step forward.

He lifts his ear off the wall. “Another explosion.”

A split second later, the rock under my feet rumbles, and thunder-like sound reverberates through the small space. Fearing for Ember, I refocus my hearing to the other side of the waterfall, but all I hear are low moans—from both her and Ryker—and other obvious sounds of their lovemaking.

My cock twitches, but I turn my attention back to my examination of the small cave.

“I found something.” Zuben crouches in front of a large boulder near the corner of the space. “Help me move this.”

Shaking my head, I cross toward him. “Doubt we can budge it.” It’s five times the size of the biggest boulder I’ve moved.

Zuben moves to the edge of it and pushes. The boulder rolls, exposing a tunnel.

“What the fuck?” That thing is huge.

He turns toward me. “It appears to be a faux stone.” He knocks on it with his knuckles, and the hollow sound demonstrates what he said. “A fake stone to disguise an exit.”

I shake my head. Why didn’t I ever touch that boulder? Then again, why would I have?

Zuben ducks as he steps into the narrow passageway, and bending forward I follow.

The passage is long and straight, and so narrow in places that my shoulders rub, but even at it’s most narrow, the base of the passage appears wide enough to allow a barrel to roll through. Thisishow they moved the illegal liquor.

Excitement bubbles inside me. And hope like I haven’t felt in…forever.This is our way to escape!