Page 15

Chapter 14

Rolf

R olf loved having this dangerous creature wrapped around his finger. He smiled into her sex, flicked his tongue over her clit again, and drove his finger back inside her. Adeline cried out, clenching around his finger, and she rolled her hips with the movements.

She was gorgeous when she squirmed like that, and he was overjoyed at being able to drive her to the edge of release. He could do this all night.

He withdrew his finger slightly and added in a second, sucking on her clit even harder. Her nails sharpened, digging into his scalp, and he groaned into her wetness. With his free hand, he stroked his cock through his trousers and realized, quite quickly, that he wasn’t going to last long if he kept this up. Her legs started to shake, and he knew Adeline was on the verge of coming, too.

That won’t do, he thought. So he slowed his movements and withdrew his fingers.

Adeline glowered at him. Even worked up and angry, she was so beautiful he wanted to stare at her forever.

“That’s not fair,” she panted, her eyes glassy. The frown that pulled at her eyebrows was cute, but then Rolf remembered that she was a vampire, and he just flashed her a smile.

“Patience, my darkness.” He practically purred at his nickname for her.

What had gotten into him? Had he gone full animal for her?

Maybe.

He sat there on his knees, bowed before her, tasting her languidly to tease her release. What he couldn’t understand was how he was so lucky, and also so cursed. Trapped under the snow with her, it was as if, for these last few hours together, the outside didn’t matter. He wanted to stay within this tiny bubble of pleasure for as long as he could. Because everything about her was familiar. From the way she reacted to his ministrations, her scent, taste, the sounds she made. She was something he had been searching for so long.

She felt like home.

Home. The word shuddered through him as her legs started to shake again.

He slowed to a stop, and she cursed something he couldn’t hear. All the noise around him sounded like he was underwater as his heartbeat filled his ears.

Home .

He closed his eyes, sitting back on his heels. The image was just out of reach, just within his grasp. But then it faded again.

“Gods damnit!” His fist slammed into the floor.

Adeline jumped and scrambled to sit up. A few splinters formed in the wood where his knuckles had landed. He always forgot how strong he was when he got upset.

“Rolf?” Adeline asked, eyeing the dent in the floor. She frowned, but not out of horror—it looked like genuine concern.

“I’m fine,” he huffed.

But he wasn’t, not really. He wanted this vampire assassin, and that worried him because he needed her gone . He needed the coven to follow her. He needed many things to return to the way they once were, before all of these confusing images and feelings had cluttered up his simple way of life.

His chest felt tight, but he longed to feel the same comfort from moments before.

Home, his heart sang. He closed his eyes tightly; more blurred images flittered behind them and then left. But what did home mean if he couldn’t even remember where he came from?

“Clearly.” Adeline snorted. “You think I haven’t seen this before?”

“Seen what?” he mumbled, curious but not wanting to give in so easily.

“When men throw tantrums because emotions are too hard,” Adeline replied. But there was no mockery in her tone. Instead, she slid to the edge of the bed and took his head between her hands. Her fingers wove into his hair, and she tilted his head up to meet her eyes.

His jaw dropped. Her eyes were dark blue, and her pupils were so big and black, looking into them was like staring into the night sky. He wanted to dive into their depths, let her swallow him up.

But then he saw his reflection peering back at him. Bedraggled hair, scruffy beard. He was wild and untamed, a right mess in the head. Why did he think he would be able to do this and go back to normal? Why he even thought he had a chance with her in the first place was folly.

Promise, I’ll be a good boy. Just keep rubbing my head.

Her fingers moved in a soothing pattern, ruffling his hair and pressing into his scalp. Right now, she was a balm to the irritation under his skin. He could melt right there, into her lap. But emotions weren’t the issue here, no. The issue was the fact that he was strongly attracted to the exact wrong woman.

This deadly creature is comforting me, he almost laughed.

Comfort. Home. No wonder his judgment was so clouded. He cleared his throat to speak, shoving the emotions as far down as he could. He would not fall for the vampire. He would not cave to her wiles and sex appeal. Nor would he cave to the fingers that were threaded in his hair. She was still a threat to the life he had made for himself.

A vampire like her would never be with someone like me. He knew it deep down in his bones. Best to get this over with and send her on her way.

He ran his hands up her legs, planting kisses on her soft skin. She hummed in response, and her hands stilled while she held her breath. He pushed her legs open and saw several scars peppering her thighs. The markings were so subtle he almost missed them, but the tip of one in particular peeked out at her hip. He recalled the smattering of scars on her back, and anger boiled underneath his surface—he grabbed her waist and turned her on her side.

There, on her upper thigh, was a brand. A crescent moon with a star burned into her skin so many times that the edges were mottled and twisted pink. His hands tightened on her legs. He had seen that brand before; some deeply buried memory tried its hardest to surface. His fingers traced the lines of the brand as Adeline went stiff under his touch.

Time for answers.

He exhaled. “What are you doing all the way out here, Adeline?”

It was exhausting having her here, feeling all these stupid feelings, knowing that an entire coven was going to come for her, that his home was at risk. He hated the idea of starting over. He hated the idea of more vampires invading his space and having to fight them off. He just wanted to be left in peace.

She was supposed to have gone once she had rested and the storm had stopped, but the snow kept falling. And falling. Unfortunately, he could not control the weather because his time was running out, and he figured she might as well know what he had been hiding all this time.

Because there was no place for her to run.

After a hundred years of fighting against his baser nature, he almost wanted the relief that would come when she took a blade to his heart.

Adeline tongued her fangs for a few seconds, as if hesitating to tell him the truth. He squeezed her hip once more, and her eyes flashed to his. She hung her head and sighed.