Forsaken by the Others Read Online Free Page A

will never change that,
     and I’ll spend eternity proving it to you if you need me to.”
    I would’ve answered, but I was a bit too busy trying to pull him back to nibble on
     my ear some more. I pouted when he drew back despite my urging him to continue.
    That earned another wicked twinkle in his eye and a razor smile that made my heart
     do a funny little leap in my chest. My cheeks burned at his next comment.
    “Be glad of my constraint, Ms. Waynest. If I had waited much longer to drag you to
     my bed, you might not have survived my efforts to scrub every other partner you’ve
     ever had out of your mind. When I return, I intend to finish what I started. Be ready.”
    He turned away. I huffed and, with my newfound resolve not to be afraid of him, found
     it in me to slap his ass as a parting shot. My God, I had to be insane; he was going
     to kill me for that—
    The look he shot me over his shoulder was dark and full of promise, a hint of fang
     visible in his grin. It was all the things he didn’t say in that heated look that made me burn with a flash of desire. Much to my surprise,
     this left me breathless and quivering in anticipation instead of from holy-hell-I’m-going-to-pee-my-pants-before-I-die
     terror. He grabbed a towel to wrap around his waist and disappeared into the bedroom.
    Maybe a bit disappointed, but no less enthusiastic for what would no doubt happen
     once he returned, I took my time picking out which product to use to get soaped up
     like he’d mentioned.
    The shower was gigantic, and the selection of skin and hair care products looked like
     it belonged in a spa. Some of them didn’t have labels, and I took my time enjoying
     taking in the unusual scents and rubbing the different oils between my fingers to
     see what would work best for what I had in mind.
    I sat down on the marble bench that ran along the wall, closing my eyes and enjoying
     the warm spray as I rubbed some vanilla-and-something-scented shampoo into my hair.
     While I was massaging my scalp, something stung my eyes. Figuring it was just some
     soapsuds, I rinsed a hand off and splashed some water on my face. The sting didn’t
     alleviate.
    The tickle in my throat grew worse as I scrubbed furiously at my eyes. When I managed
     to squint them open, I spotted a mix of blood and black crud on my fingers being rinsed
     away.
    Coughing, I pressed a hand under my nose. The warm wetness there was from another
     nosebleed, not the shower spray. Crap.
    It wasn’t as bad as it had been while I was hiding with the White Hats, but it was
     still nasty. I stuck my face under the spray and groped for a washcloth, scrubbing
     the residue from the corners of my eyes and around my nose.
    A cold hand closed on my upper arm and yanked me back, another soon pressing against
     my jaw to tilt my head back. It hurt too badly to open my eyes, but I wasn’t afraid.
    Well, maybe I was a little afraid.
    Shut up; you’d squeak like that too if you couldn’t see who was grabbing at you while
     you were naked in someone else’s shower.
    “When did this start?”
    Royce’s voice was sharp, cutting. I wasn’t expecting it and coughed a few times before
     stammering out a response. “Just a minute ago. I’m fine. Let go!”
    He did release my arm, but only so he could cup my face in both hands this time. “Did
     this happen last night? Is this what happened before you came here?”
    I nodded. He swore and crushed me against his chest. The combination of hot/cold from
     the shower and his body was suddenly discomfiting—almost more so than the pain under
     my eyelids and building in my sinuses—but didn’t compare to the sudden fear that the
     vampire knew more about what was going on in my body than I did. Why else would he
     be clutching at me like I was his favorite set of pearls?
    Between coughs, my voice shook with not a little fear. It was hard to say whether
     I was more afraid of this strange sickness, or of what Royce might know