Rin lost count of how many times Rhyden stole her breath.
She was dripping around him, and sweat coated her skin, making her hair stick to her nape and temples from the heat in the room, the heat of their bodies.
She was almost…
Rhyden let his hand fall away from her neck before he replaced it with his forearm, pressing her against the wall.
"Now, fucking come," Rhyden ordered, voice a tight hiss.
At his insistence, she did, with a cry falling off her lips.
Her lids fluttered shut, unable to keep them open against the fiery pleasure licking against her. She felt him come inside her, hitting something deep as he released with a near roar.
The flames spluttered, then grew, fed by him.
Dazed, Rin’s head tipped back against the wall, while his forearm fell from her neck. Salty sweat dripped into her eyes as she cracked her lids and looked at him.
Rhyden blotted out the blue glow entirely until all she saw was red and flames.
It was then that she felt it. A memory, rushing over her.
Vesperin placed her hands on a firm back. She felt the stiff fabric of a suit bunch beneath her fingers.
Two men stood near. Vesperin did not let herself look at them. She hated them—the one with the brown eyes like hers. Her father. He was no father to her. He was a tormentor.
Self-loathing filled her, replaced by waves of regret as doors banged open.
Red-eyed vampires rushed into the room.
Her hands fell to her sides, fingertips brushing the tufted edges of her beautiful white wedding gown, crafted just for her.
"Apprehend them!" she heard her husband yell. He met her eyes; the red was like home to her.
He didn’t seem scared for himself, even though the vampiric authorities on Sangreal held silver cuffs in their gloved hands.
They were not here to hurt her.
Her father crooked a finger at her. She stepped away from Rhyden, forced to watch as the authorities pounced.
Rhyden did not have a chance; he was wrestled to the ground and cuffed. Still, all he could do was plead for her."Vesperin! Vesperin!" Rhyden called for her, not yet realizing she was unharmed, untouched. "Leave her alone! Don’t touch her!"
Her father came to her. Smugness radiated from him as his hand fell to her shoulder. It was her own set of cuffs, shackling her to him just as her husband was being cuffed and forced to his feet.
"Good. Keep quiet, and he’ll live," her father said harshly into her ear.
When Rhyden was standing, anchored by the authorities, it finally seemed to register with him that she was not cuffed like he was.
They had not known each other for long in this life. Vesperin had been sent to that bar the day they met. That was all she was good at—conning, lying. She cloaked herself in lies and made herself appealing because it was all she knew. Dressing up, going out, talking pretty, and giving compliments. From planet to planet, she would con.
On Sangreal, she had gone back to rooms with vampires who had deep pockets, letting them do whatever they wished to her. Drinking, fucking, taking. She was nothing but a shell. And when they grew besotted with her, lavishing her with jewels, she would take them all and disappear, dumping her gifts and stolen coin into the hands of her father: the one who forced her into this life.
It was all she’d known since she was a little girl. It was hard to run from what was home. Even if that home was broken and filled with clenched fists, split lips, and bruises.
But then, she and Rhyden’s hands had touched, and she had discovered they were Soulbonds.
That had changed everything for Vesperin and nothing for her father.
For now, Vesperin would be forced to lie to her Soulbond, with the intention of stealing from him, even as she began to fall so deeply in love.
