“He’s done with his revenge,” I said, but I didn’t trust my words.
Gabriel laughed, a darkness to the sound that made ice claw at my ears. “He will never be done, especially if he ever learns you’re mine again.”
I stepped back. “I am not yours again!” I protested. “I hate you, Gabriel Arundel. I promise you I do.”
He shadowed me. “I know you hate me, Kara. But the thing is, you have a really hard time differentiating between love and hate when it comes to me. You go back and forth between the two so much you don’t even know the difference anymore.”
“You betrayed me! You promised me that you wouldn’t turn me no matter what!” I said.
He backed me up against the wall, every inch of him touching me. “What are you so adverse to? The darkness? Your vampire instincts have taken that fear from you or else you wouldn’t have left the way you did. Never seeing your loved ones again? You pushed your friends away, and your grandmother was sick, Kara. She was too sick to not be somewhere surrounded by doctors. And seeing her like that was tearing you apart. I felt that from you. Is immortality too frightening? What about the inevitable darkness of death that comes to humans? And the blood? The thirst? My blood belongs to you. Take it from me, and there will be no more pain for you. Your enhanced emotions? I can help you bear that burden. Once you connect to me, my strength is yours.”
Tears leaked from my eyes, and his next words tore at my heart.
“Is it so wrong that I saved you by turning you? Is it so wrong when I try to atone? Is it wrong that I want you in my life? Is it wrong that I need you by my side?” His lips brushed the side of my mouth. “Is it so wrong that I love you?”
I shook my head. I wasn’t sure if I was answering his question or making a silent plea for him to get away from me.
Gabriel put his face into my hair and inhaled, as if intoxicated by the scent. “I will wait for you forever if I have to, but every moment apart is agony not just for me, but for you as well,” he whispered.
“Gabriel,” I gasped, electricity replacing the blood in my veins. I couldn’t stop it. I couldn’t fight it.
“Ask me,” he demanded, his voice rough.
“Kiss me.”
His lips came down on mine, frenzied and hurried. He lifted me up against the wall, and I wrapped my legs around his hips, squeezing him to me. Our tongues collided as his mouth slanted harder against mine, and I pressed closer to him, running my hands through his hair. His hands were like lightning on my skin, grazing my stomach underneath my shirt in a teasing pattern.
I was going to shatter.
I wanted him. No, I needed him. I needed every part of him.
I pulled away, my fangs shooting out. I bit into his neck.
His arms stroked me, crushing me to him as his words whispered encouragement into my ear. He loved me and needed me so much; it made me soar to unimaginable heights.
“Drink from me,” I begged inside his mind.
Without hesitation, his mouth went to my neck, and bliss sank into my skin. The golden light of him was intoxicating and consuming.
I wasn’t sure if it was him or me who tore off my clothes.
***
I stretched lazily, love and happiness shining inside my heart. I snuggled deeper into the silk sheets against Gabriel.
The scent of our blood was everywhere. I cracked an eye open, sat up, and looked around the room.
Our clothes were shreds on the floor. There was blood on the walls, the floor, and on the bed.
There was also blood on the ceiling.
Amusement filtered through me, and it wasn’t my own.
“No need to be embarrassed,” Gabriel assured me softly inside my head.
I looked around in disbelief. “I acted like an animal.”
He grinned. His lips were stained red, and dried blood covered his chin. “We acted like animals. Don’t take all the credit.”
I was suddenly shy. “I wish I would have saved myself for you.”
Gabriel smiled gently. “I know. I feel the same way. And I am sure you already realize this, but I do not count your drunken mistake as your first time anyway.”
I kissed him lightly. “I guess I don’t hate you anymore.”
He groaned jokingly. “Don’t worry—the day is just getting started. There is plenty of time for you to get angry with me again.”
“I’ll try not to,” I said honestly.
He ran his fingers through my hair. “Eternity with you is going to be very interesting, heart,” he said.
“Eternity,” I mused. “I can’t fathom it.”
He snuggled closer to me. “Not many can, including most vampires. It is one of the reasons why suicide is so common among us.”
I traced his chest with a fingertip. “I’m not sure about living forever.” My words were hesitant.
“I know.” Gabriel tucked my hair behind my ear. “I’ve always known how you felt about immortality. Just promise me one thing.”
“Ask away.”
He caressed my cheek, his gaze holding me. “Spend at least a hundred years with me. Give me one century with you. After that, if you still want to leave this world, then we will leave together.”
I cracked my knuckles. A hundred years . . .
Now that I was a vampire, immortality was no longer quite as frightening, but it was still eerie and shaded with the promise of the unknown—much like death had been when I’d been a human.
I closed my eyes and concentrated on the slow beating of our hearts, completely in time with one another. I could hear the whisper of air floating in and out of our lungs. I could hear the pulse of our blood inside our veins. We were one, and now that my mind was melded with
