Page 44 of The Vampire's Mate

“I love you,” he says, then sinks his teeth into my flesh and sucks, hard.

The universe explodes, and I scream again. Jesse’s roar joins the sound as he pushes deeper and freezes, his cock throbbing inside me as he comes. I melt into the mattress as his mouth finds my neck again, taking another long pull from the vein. Yet another orgasm rockets through me, and tears spring to my eyes at the pure fucking joy of it.

My head starts to swim as if I’m losing consciousness, and I barely feel Jesse’s tongue swipe over the wound on my neck, healing it. I feel his breath on my face, then a fingertip catches a teardrop rolling down my cheek.

I blink my eyes open to meet his dark eyes and smile at him. He returns it, then rolls over, taking me with him. He lands on his back with me splayed across his chest, and his arm curves around me to hold me close. My fingertips dance across his chest, drawing little circles and hearts like the lovestruck fool I am.

“That was…” I say, my words trailing off when my brain can’t find the perfect description.

“Yes, it was,” he says, his fingers twirling my hair.

A thought occurs to me, and I stiffen. Jesse’s hand stills, but he doesn’t speak. He just waits patiently for me to form the words.

“Did you…taste anything in my blood?”

“No,” he says, his body relaxing beneath mine. “I didn’t sense any magic, just as Tamelen said.”

“Do you really trust her?” I ask, remembering the strange vibe I got from her.

“As much as a vampire can trust a witch,” he says carefully. “She’s always been honest in her dealings with my family.”

“Okay,” I say slowly.

Jesse slides from beneath me, twisting onto his side so we’re facing each other. His eyes search my face.

“I can feel your uncertainty. What does your gut tell you about her?”

“I don’t know,” I say honestly. “There was just something…not quite right. When she told us there was no magical spell affecting me, I felt a strong sense of relief and gratitude. I believed her whole-heartedly and wanted to praise her for being so amazing.”

“That’s not so strange, considering how worried we were when we arrived,” he says.

“Maybe, but as we drove away, the feeling faded almost immediately. Like she’d somehow manufactured it, and as soon as I was out of range, it disappeared.”

“I would’ve sensed it if she’d used magic, Eden. I can assure you, she didn’t.”

I nod, but doubt still trickles through me. “Even so, something was off. I don’t think you can trust her, Jesse. Just…be careful in your dealings with her.”

“I will,” he promises, and I can tell he means it.

Then he goes rigid, and lifts his head to look toward the door. I don’t hear anything, but Jesse nods and says, “We’ll be there shortly.”

“What was that?” I ask when he meets my gaze again.

“It was Erik. My father is awake and is asking to see me.”

“But I didn’t hear anything,” I say, my eyes wide.

“Because he’s upstairs by my father’s room. Vampire hearing, remember?”

I nod, then go completely still. My unblinking eyes start to burn, but I can’t move as mortification washes over me.

“What’s wrong?” Jesse asks.

“Vampire hearing,” I mouth, not even a whisper of sound coming out.

Dawning washes over his expression, which quickly morphs into a self-satisfied smirk.

“If there was any doubt as to what you are to me, there isn’t any longer.”