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I resisted the urge to rub against his hand like a cat begging to be pet. “What things?”
“You must swear you’ll keep yourself safe. ”
“I swear I’ll be careful,” I told him, and it felt like I was mentally crossing my fingers behind my back. Because swearing to be careful and swearing to not investigate were two different things.
He studied me, looking for the truth, and I met his gaze unabashedly. After all, I hadn’t lied, not really.
Satisfied, he began to massage the base of my neck. His fingers were deft, and the pressure finally, blissfully, began to ease the pounding in my skull that’d plagued me for days.
I sighed with pleasure. “And what else do I need to do?”
“You must kiss me. ”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
I didn’t take more urging than that. My eyes fluttered shut. I wet my lips. I waited, desperate to feel his mouth touch mine.
I’d waited so long, agonizing over just this, wondering about the bond, what it meant. All those questions seemed so useless now, faced with the total rightness of this moment.
There was more to our connection than just some chemical reaction. I trusted Carden. I wanted him. I wanted to spend time with him. And I wanted the bond, too. I wanted this feeling I got when he was near…this feeling that I wasn’t in it alone.
This feeling that somebody cared and was brave enough to do something about it.
Carden was Vampire, which meant he was unfathomably powerful. He could be cold and callous. He seemed weary of vampire politics and gamesmanship, bored of the banal and brutish slog of humankind.
But he was also honorable. Wise. Strong in heart and body. I’d sensed it in his reassuring touches—in the brush of a finger, a grazing hand. Touches that were small enough to seem like afterthoughts, but potent enough, with intent enough, to shore me up and make me feel like I wasn’t forgotten. Those had been the moments when I’d felt like he’d not just looked at me, but had looked for me. Seen me.
“This is it,” he whispered, and I felt the brush of his lips against mine. “This will sustain the bond. Are you certain it’s what you want?”
I’d never before experienced a perfect moment, but this came close. The sound of the waves reverberated through our cave, and the crashing echoed my heartbeat. It was dim and cool, the air briny and fresh. It invigorated me, renewed me.
“I’m sure,” I told him. His fingers scraped lightly along my scalp, raking through my hair, and my body shivered with pleasure at the sensation. The muscles in my neck slackened as I let his hand take the weight of my head.
But still the kiss didn’t come. His lips were a whisper away from mine, and I longed to feel the pressure of his mouth on mine. Longed to give myself to him.
He’d been more forthcoming than anyone on this island. I could tell he had a history with Alcántara and probably with others of the Directorate, too. Was he fighting a secret battle with them? Did he court me as an ally or as a woman?
It might have been a little of both, but right here, right now in this cave, I felt all
woman in his arms. I waited for the kiss to come, but he teased me, nuzzling my cheek and brushing his nose against mine.
“You can kiss me,” I whispered. Then I said it again, my voice louder, more demanding. “Kiss me, Carden. ”
That was all he needed. His tongue swept along my lower lip, and oh God, it felt so good. He was so good. My lips parted on a moan, quickly taken by his kiss.
Fire crackled along my veins, burned through me until I was alive with only one sensation—his touch on my body. The crashing waves, the drip-drip of water in the depths of the cavern, the cold sand beneath me—all these things fell away. All I knew was his mouth on mine.
I couldn’t get close enough and pulled him closer. Then I pulled him closer still, and when I did, I felt his low laugh vibrate through my body.
He parted from me. “Such passion,” he whispered, kissing along my cheek. “I knew,” he said, his breath hot in my ear. “I knew you were a dove with wings of fire. ” He kissed his way down to my neck, and I felt the scrape of his fangs.
We flinched apart at the same time.
I’d mocked the girls who were so beholden to these immortals. I had detested the feeders and disdained the vampires, and yet here I was, with a vampire—there was no more vivid a reminder than the brush of those fangs on my neck.
“I’m sorry,” I said, “I—It’s just—”
“Hush. ” He placed a gentle finger on my lips. “In time, sweet. When you’re ready. ” He kissed me again, more gently this time.
