But as I pressed my mouth harder against his, he began to respond—even if he was just sucking away the blood, it felt like he was caressing me.

And at that moment, that was all that mattered.

His fangs caught my bottom lip, causing a cut.

His lips crushed against mine as he drew more blood, my scent once again driving his senses into a frenzy.

His grip around me tightened.

I leaned backward, pulling him down with me onto the floor as I reached for my skirt.

He was so absorbed in my taste, he barely seemed to notice as I bared myself.

I wrapped my legs around his waist, pulling him closer to me.

Tears brimmed in my eyes as I thought about all the times I could have made him mine.

All those years Rose Novak hadn’t been around.

When it had been just him and me alone in that big castle, no interruptions.

No distractions.

If only I had desired him then as much as I am burning for him now.

I wouldn’t be in this position, where I had to trick him into wanting me.

He’d wanted me with all his heart.

Still, as much as I lamented over my actions, I couldn’t undo the past.

I just had to make the best of the situation I now found myself in.

He loosened his grip on my lip to pause for a breath.

I smiled faintly as his dark, hooded gaze met mine.

He lowered himself again, this time digging into my neck.

I arched my spine, guiding his hands down to rest on the small of my back.

“Let’s continue our story,” I said softly, brushing my lips against his earlobe.

I wasn’t sure if he was even conscious of the words I spoke through the haze he was in.

But then he tensed suddenly.

I hardly dared believe what was happening as he withdrew his fangs and placed a long, lingering kiss on the base of my throat.

My heart soared.

I barely knew how to contain the joy that one gesture had brought me.

Then he murmured something.

But his voice was so muffled, I couldn’t make out what it was.

“What did you say, my love?” I asked breathlessly.

He repeated it again.

A short, one-syllable word.

Clearer this time, but not clear enough for me to be willing to believe what I thought I’d heard.

The third time it was unmistakable.

“Rose,” he whispered, his voice hoarse.

My whole body froze beneath his touch.

My chest burned.

I gripped his hair, yanking his head upward.

“No,” I hissed.

“Annora.” His eyes were shut tight.

He wasn’t even looking at me now.

He dipped again and caught my lips this time, kissing them with passion and hunger I hadn’t experienced since the first time he’d ever kissed me.

That kiss would have lit my body on fire, had he not finished it off with the same ugly, detested word.

“Rose.” “Stop saying her name,” I wheezed, tears beginning to spill down my cheeks.

“Stop saying it.

She’s dead.” He shook his head as he brushed his thumbs against my face, his fingers reaching into the roots of my hair as he showered kisses over my face.

As he was about to taste my lips again, he froze.

His eyes shot open.

To my shock, they were no longer black.

It was as though the dark mist covering them was clearing before my very eyes and they were returning to their warm brown color.

Wiping his mouth, he let go of me and staggered backward, a look of confusion on his face.

“Rose,” he said, no longer in a whisper.

“I hear…” His voice trailed off as he climbed out from beneath the shelter and began staring up at the early-morning sky.

“What?” I hurried out after him.

“Caleb, darling.

She’s dead.

You burned her body.

You’re hallucina—” Beyond the rain clouds, the sun hadn’t yet risen above the horizon.

But the sky was light enough to see, even through the drizzle.

My jaw dropped as I followed Caleb’s gaze.

He was staring at what looked like a giant bird, flying toward us in the distance.

Now even I could hear a faint shouting across the waves.

Suddenly, it was followed by a spine-tingling roar.

No.

It can’t be… And yet it was.

As the bird drew nearer, it became clearer and clearer that it was no such creature.

It was a dragon—a beast I’d only heard rumors about.

The two figures atop the creature’s back became more visible with each beat of its wings.

A large, thick form that looked much like an ogre, and next to it, a smaller, frailer figure with long dark hair.

Rose Novak.

My eyes shot toward Caleb.

The look on his face as he stared up at her shattered my heart into a thousand pieces.

All my planning, all my efforts to make Caleb mine again had been a waste.

I’d tried to kill Rose, yet here she was, as if returned from the dead.

I’d thought I’d come so close to reclaiming him, but at that moment, I knew that I’d been lying to myself.

I knew the truth that I had been denying ever since he’d first abandoned me for her in the cave.

I’d lost him.

And there was no getting him back.

I could barely breathe as envy and grief consumed me.

As the dragon approached within a few dozen feet from us, I saw red.

If I can’t have Caleb, nobody will.

Chapter 25: Rose

I had something better than bird crap to surprise Annora with this time.