Page 82 of Trapped for Her Blood

Axel is the one with the experience in this dungeon, so I will follow his lead.

He gestures with his head and then heads out of the supply room, fully laden.

“Will you look at that,” says one of the guards, when Axel gets into their view. “The bear’s awake.”

“Fucking hungry too, from the looks of it.”

“Aren’t you gonna leave some venison for the wolves?” a guard asks. “Greedy bugger.”

“Look!” The guards spot me. “Buggeris right. Bear’s found a fancy friend to fuck.”

They chortle at their crude humor.

Dropping the bundles of wood, Axel roars and lunges toward the gate.

The guards jump back in clear terror.

It appears that even the guards of this prison are terrified of Axel. That certainly plays to our advantage, but exactly how we can use it, I am not yet certain.

I pick up one of the bundles of wood, Axe takes the other, and I follow as he strides away.

“That’s right,” calls one of the guards. “Roar all you want, bear man. Nothing you can do to us.”

Axel ignores their taunts as we walk away from them, our speed picking up once we are out of their line of vision.

I store away every new bit of information. Soon, all the pieces will fit together to form a plan for our escape. They have to. Especially now that Octavia is coming for Ryker.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Ember

Lying in Ryker’s arms,I almost forget I’m in a cave underground, trapped in an evil vampire’s dungeon. The fire is getting low, at risk of going out, but my body is so warm in my lover’s arms, that the thought of getting up for more wood is absurd.

Given all the warmth in my body and my heart—if this isn’t love, then I can’t begin to imagine what love feels like.

Ryker’s positioned behind me, one heavy leg between mine and the other draped over my hip, and his arms hold me close against him.

I’m in heaven, being spooned like this, but wanting to see his face again, I twist in his arms. A deep moaning sound reverberates from inside him that can only be labeled as contentment.

His eyes open to meet my gaze. “You okay?” He cups my face, stroking my cheek.

“Very okay.”

“Cold?”

“Not in your arms.” I smile softly, gathering courage to use the “L” word, even though I know it’s too soon and might scare him off. “I love lying with you like this.” I test the word on my tongue.

“I’ve had worse days.” He winks.

I’m glad I didn’t actually declare my love, since he pretty much made a joke of what I said. But his actions count more than his words.

“Thank you.” I lean forward and press a soft kiss on his lips.

“For the fuck?” His hand slides over my hip and squeezes my ass. “No thanks required.”

“Not for that. Well, yes.” I arch into him. “I was thanking you for coming back. For…caringabout me.”

“Caring about you is easy.”