He stepped in, his heart—no, her heart—pounding in his chest, his temples, his belly, his cock. His breathing deepened, slowed, as he thought of the relief he would have, sinking into her. His eternal love.
Victoria was waiting. She'd known he would come, had been expecting him since she returned home, refusing Max or Eustacia to accompany her. She sent Verbena away, gave the servants the night off.
She wanted to be alone when he came.
As he brushed against the side of the bed, she felt her breathing change. It was no longer hers. They drew in together, exhaled together. She opened her eyes and looked at him.
He was Phillip… beloved Phillip. She reached for him, and he fell onto the bed.
He kissed her, touched her, pulled the gown from her shoulders, and she let him. She allowed herself the desire, the comfort.
She felt it when he changed: the edge to his breath, the harshness of his pulse storming through her. The slip of his control. His eyes glinted rosy, and when he raised his face, his fangs glinted dull white and lethal.
But his voice was Phillip's. Unchanged. Familiar. Loving. 'Let me, Victoria, my wife,' he murmured… as he had done before. 'I will be very gentle… and soon you will feel only pleasure. We will be together forever. My destiny.'
When his incisors scraped over her flesh, at the tender joint of neck and shoulder, readying to sink in, she stiffened… sighed. Closed her eyes. Tears leaked from them.
She groped in the sheets, closed her fingers around the smooth wood. 'I will always love you, Phillip.' And she stabbed him.
When she opened her wet eyes, she saw someone standing in the door of her chamber.
Max. His stake was outlined by the moonlight.
'I followed him.'
'I knew he would come.'
He bowed his head, then looked up at her. 'You saved him. You stopped him in time.'
'I hope.' She drew in her breath. 'You were right about it all, Max.'
'For that, and for this, I am sorry.'
'You were right about me—I am a foolish woman.'
'No. You are a Venator.'
About the Author
Colleen Gleason lives near Ann Arbor with her husband and children. She has an English degree and an MBA from the University of Michigan. Before writing full-time, she worked in the sales and marketing side of health care and insurance products. She has managed large sales forces, worked in start-up companies, and owned her own business.
