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He came up behind me, resting
his hands on my shoulders. “Such places are called bothies. Though I’ve staked my claim on this one, it would once have been open for any to use. Mostly hunters or fishermen. What do you think?”
I didn’t know what I’d expected, and though it wasn’t this, this didn’t surprise me. Everything about the place was solid—much like Carden. “I like it. It seems…right. ”
My eyes went to the corner of the room and the sturdy wood platform that was the largest item of furniture in the place. It was covered in quilts and pillows—a bed.
His bed.
Oh God. His bed.
I was a virgin, obviously. And obviously, I was nowhere near ready to have sex with a vampire. But that big bed seemed so masculine. So…demanding.
“I thought…I thought you vampires didn’t really sleep. ” So what did he use it for? I reminded myself that I was here because I’d asked him to bring me. I wasn’t ready for sex. But I trusted Carden. He probably already knew I wasn’t ready. This could be as innocent—or as not-innocent—as I wanted.
“Aye, it’s true. I no longer sleep as you know it. But vampire or no, a man likes to rest. ” He seemed to read my mood, and with a light squeeze to my shoulders, he walked to the fire and, like that, changed the subject. “Here I stand like an unschooled lad, and yet you’re hungry. ”
I sighed. Carden always knew how to put me at my ease. “I am,” I said, happy to have the topic of food normalize this otherwise completely bizarro situation.
I smelled the food now and meandered over to stand with him at the fireplace. Taking up the whole back wall, the thing struck me as overly large for such a small cottage, but I supposed when it was originally built, that hearth would’ve provided heat, stove, and a gathering place all in one.
The cottage was dark, but the fire cast dancing orange light along the walls. “What is that?” I asked, studying the oddly shaped burning coals.
He went to stoke the fire higher. “Peat,” he explained, “burns longer than wood. ”
“Handy. ” I gave him a teasing smile. “Seeing as there aren’t exactly many trees on this rock you call an island. ”
He laughed. “Precisely. ” He sounded pleased, and that pleased me…more than it should have.
I looked away, self-conscious again. What was my problem? I was tripping out. I needed to relax. To let go. I was there, which meant he trusted me. What better way to relax, I decided, than by getting to know him better? I scanned the room, looking for the real Carden. The cottage was a bit on the Spartan side, lacking things like pictures or paintings. I realized what else was missing. “You don’t have any appliances,” I said suddenly.
“I’m not exactly in need of a refrigerator. ” He cocked his head my way, flashing me his fangs in a playful smile.
“No, I guess not. ”
He took a large fork from the hearthstone to spear and flip a piece of fish the size of my hand. He’d settled an iron grate over the coals, and the fish hit it with a sizzle.
I inhaled, taking in the aroma of butter and wild onions. I’d thought I was sick of seafood, but my watering mouth was currently disagreeing. “Wow, that smells good. ”
“Aye. It’s fresh. ” He nodded to the window. Moonlight sparkled on the lake, shimmering and lapping mere feet from the door. “From the loch just outside. ”
He put down his fork, clapped the soot from his hands, and in one swift movement, I was in his arms. “I told you, love. I’ve not forgotten what it is to be a man. ”
If knowing how to kiss me till I was dizzy or cook the heck out of a piece of fish was a sign of being a man, then Carden was one with a capital M.
CHAPTER TWELVE
“I should go,” I told him later. We lounged on his bed, and though he’d nestled me close, he must’ve sensed I wasn’t ready for too much more. I loved kissing Carden, but feeding from him, too, added a whole extra layer of intensity. I wasn’t ready for much more than that…not yet. I felt close to him, intimate, yet not put-upon. I was safe, utterly. He wouldn’t demand anything from me that I didn’t willingly offer.
It was just right—he was just right.
“Not yet, love. ” He flexed his large arm, snugging me more tightly to him. “First you must drink. ”
“But I drank already. ” We’d kissed, and I’d tasted Carden’s lifeblood pumping power through me. I felt the effects of him more than ever now, the change in me, from his blood.
“Was it enough?”
“Yes…” I paused to turn inward, checking in with my body. I was stronger, and lately I needed less blood to feel this way. “I feel different from before. ”
