My thoughts must have betrayed my face. She blushed further and hurriedly started washing her body with the soap.
I quickly turned and marched out of the room and leaned my body against the closed door, finally able to breathe without tasting her scent in the air. Finally able to focus without wondering what it would be like to touch her lips, to bring her into the throes of ecstasy, to show her things only a man who contained a beast within could show her.
I gave my head a shake. Ridiculous lust-riddled thoughts driven forward by Cassius’ stupid rule that each of the immortal council members had to mate for strength.
Everyone but Timber, the crazed elf-demon, and myself remained.
It needed to stay that way.
I was strong enough on my own.
Women. Love. They did not create strength; they took it like thieves and left you weak.
And I swore I would never be weak again.
SERENITY
I could feel him behind the door. I measured his breathing, counted how many times he had to inhale and exhale to get his heart rate under control.
It was my gift.
It was a curse.
Knowing how much blood pumped through his veins, knowing the exact number of times his heart slammed against his chest, crying for freedom, singing the song of his creation with each beat.
Every immortal had a song. A cadence that told vampires who they were before they even opened their mouths.
The wolf’s screamed King. And yet he was in dirty flip-flops and jeans that were falling off his muscular body. His hair had a few beads in it, dirt, and I could have sworn I saw a leaf peeking through.
There was nothing about him that screamed King.
But I’d never been wrong about a song.
And his… his was different. His spoke of a legend, of love and loss. His spoke of agony that nobody should have to see in this world.
And my blood roared to life at the thought of helping heal what had been broken.
It confused me.
Wolves and vampires were not known to mate.
They weren’t even really known to be anything but partners in a lifelong war against evil.
I finished washing and waited, eyeing the door to see if he would barge right back in or wait for my invitation.
The hunger in his eyes was hard to miss, just like the song of his blood. And the more time I spent with him, the more the scent of his skin — the smell of earth and life — drove me insane with need.
I cleared my throat and said only loud enough for an immortal to hear. “I’m finished.”
The door cracked open.
The wolf poked his head through and sniffed.
I wondered if he realized how often he did that, sniffed the air before speaking, testing the atmosphere, analyzing.
My stomach growled.
His eyes darted to my chest and lowered. “You are hungry.”