He pressed a kiss to the top of her head and tightened his arms around her, dreading the next 48 hours. “I am truly sorry, Logan. More than I’ll ever find the words to say…far more than you’ll ever know.”

Chapter 9

Logan did her best to remain as calm as possible while consciousness worked at a furious pace to reclaim her. First, she felt her heart pounding at a slow but steady pace, rushing heat through her chilled veins. Next, it was her body and every single muscle she owned throbbing as though she’d just run a marathon, twice. Last, and certainly most disgusting, it was the hairy spider that must’ve crawled into her mouth at some point and woven a sticky web around her tongue.

But in spite of all that, she had to admit if someone asked her how she felt right now, for the first time in five years she could say she felt good and mean every word of it.

There was only one possible explanation…

Withdrawal had killed her.

And that thought was only reaffirmed when she slowly opened one eye, only to be blinded by bright, white light. That single brilliant pearl of light, surrounded by a thousand shimmering halos was all she could focus on.

Obviously someone had made a big mistake.

She should’ve seen flames and heard hundreds of people screaming. There should’ve been little red imps with leathery bat wings dancing around with glasses of ice water and plates of triple chocolate cake.

She smiled. She should have gone down, not up.

But as her vision gradually adjusted, it was her theory that died when she realized she was staring at one of the track lights recessed into the white ceiling of the bathroom.

She closed her eyes and rolled her head to the side, letting her cheek rest against the cold tiles. She should’ve known better. The only way she’d get into heaven, if the place really existed, was if she won a bet against Satan himself.

All she had to do now was find the freaky bastard.

She opened her eyes, intent on getting up to find Kerestyan, but relaxed when she realized his handsome face was only inches away. His eyes were closed, and for the first time since she’d met him, she could barely see the thin lines around his eyes. His lips, usually firm and drawn tight, seemed so soft and inviting now. And the dark stubble shadowing his jaw, which she was sure hadn’t been there before, made him look more like a slumbering medieval warrior than the serious Lord Vampire she’d come to know.

It was as she traced the length of him that she realized just how naked they both were. One of his large arms was bent, serving as a pillow under his head, the other draped over her hip, hand resting at the small of her back. While a sliver of space separated her chest from his, from the waist down there wasn’t a point where their bodies didn’t touch. His long legs mingled with hers, one knee nestled snugly between her thighs.

It wasn’t until she noted their intimate position that she really felt him. Before, the contact of his warm skin hadn’t registered in her mind as anything more than an extension of her own. But now she felt every centimeter of his hard body, each sculpted muscle pressed against her, every delicious inch of his bare flesh.

She trailed her eyes back to his peaceful face. Although she didn’t know how or when they’d ended up in such an interesting position, she vaguely recalled the feel of him behind her and the cold bite of porcelain against her cheek. She remembered the hot sting of water against her back mixed with a hazy image of his intense blue eyes as he held her in the shower, remembered his gentle hands stroking her hair while she cried against his chest.

But what she did recall, with striking clarity, was the feel of his wet hair in her hands and the strained, almost brittle sound of his voice when she’d begged him to make the pain stop. “I can’t, Logan. But I promise I’ll stay with you. I won’t leave. I won’t lose you.”

He’d sounded just as scared as she felt.

Logan reached out and brushed a wisp of still damp hair from Kerestyan’s shadowed cheek, wondering why he’d stayed with her when he should have walked away.

When the fog of withdrawal had initially begun, she’d heard Odin’s angry voice somewhere in the distance. And deep inside, she agreed with every single word that echoed around her. She deserved every moment of agony, each and every shred of pain she felt. She’d done it to herself, and should’ve been left to endure it alone.

But the man only a handful of inches away, the moody and sometimes far too serious vampire, had promised he’d stay…and here he was.

She leaned closer and let the backs of her fingers scrape against his newly acquired stubble, wondering what it would feel like to be loved by a man like him. What it might feel like to love a man like him.

What it might feel like to love anything again…

Fortunately, she didn’t have the chance to consider it for long because her thoughts scattered in a thousand different directions when Kerestyan’s arm tightened around her hip and he pulled her lower body even tighter against his. Pleasure danced down her spine, lighting tiny fires under her nipples as a quiet growl vibrated in his chest and his hand slid from her lower back down to her ass.

She sucked in a deep breath and tried to hold it, even though what she really wanted to do was slip her tongue into his enticing mouth. Of course, it didn’t help at all that she could feel something hardening against the flat of her other hip. Granted, she knew men were capable of getting an erection while they slept, but did it hold true for vampires?

He’d said he only slept for a few hours every month, but didn’t say when the last time was. Was he sleeping now, or was he just pretending to be?

She stared at his face, watching for even the slightest twitch as she brushed the pad of her thumb over his nipple. She smiled when it puckered, but even more when not even the corner of his mouth rose.

Oh, the things she could do to him right now.

Squeezing her eyes closed tight, she stretched her mind, attempting to fill in the space between drinking the rotten milkshake and now. But all she could find, past what she’d already recalled, were a few blurry memories of lying in Kerestyan’s arms.

She had no clue how much time had passed. She didn’t know what day it was, what time of day it was, or even if it was day. If it was day, would he sleep until the sun went down? If it was night, could he wake up at any moment?

In the movies vampires slept like the dead. Nothing woke them up except the sun or getting staked by a crazed hunter. However, he’d already told her the movies had it all wrong. And right now, the only staking she was willing to consider ended in a screaming, panting orgasm for both of them.

Logan whimpered as her fingers, in blatant defiance of her mind, worked their way down from Kerestyan’s chest, exploring the hard grooves between his abs. She grumbled when they found his navel, followed closely by the thin trail of hair leading to where their bodies touched, and to something far more exciting. Something her fingers wanted to touch again, right now.

Really, did he have to feel this damn good?

She pried her hand from his body and covered her face. She’d die if she had to stay here much longer. Not able to move because of the strong grip he had on her ass. Not able to crawl away for the very same reason…and not even able to dip her head enough to suck that hard nipple into her mouth for a little taste.

As it was, every time she drew a deep breath it moved her body just enough that with the way his hand was positioned low on her left ass cheek, she had to endure the maddening sensation of his fingertips grazing her intimately.

She stifled a moan by grinding her teeth together when that damn hand, as if queued, squeezed tighter, spreading her just wide enough that she could feel his powerful thigh ripple against her clit. If it wasn’t bad enough that his now rock hard cock throbbed against her hip, she had no doubts that because of one well timed grope, there was a more than ample wet spot on his thigh.

She dug her fingernails into the sexy cut of muscle just above his hip and jammed her other hand between his face and the arm he used as a pillow. Once she secured a good handful of his silky hair, she shook him. “Kerestyan Nelek! I’m going to kill you!”

The bastard’s soft, tantalizing lips parted in a most devious grin. “Well good morning, Logan.” His eyes blinked open, two dark orbs of twinkling satisfaction. “I didn’t realize you were awake.”

“You’re so full of shit.” She pinched his side harder. “How long have you been awake?”

He growled, lips curled somewhere between a snarl and a smile, then rolled her flat on her back, pinning her between the cold, hard floor and his hot, hard body. She smiled as he rested his forearms on either side of her head and then shifted his hips to rub the thick head of his cock between her slick lips.

He nipped at her mouth. “Long enough to enjoy feeling you get wet.”

She shivered in response to the wildly erotic sensations racing under her skin. Reaching up, she buried her other hand in his hair and tugged him closer, unmoved when his canines elongated to fine, sharp points between his parted lips…but oddly taunted by the way his body tensed. “Tell me how long, Kerestyan.”

“Careful,” he breathed. “You’re in a very compromising position and we only have an hour before your meeting with my Father.”