"I believe you need to get more rest. She was alternating her gaze between him, the door, and her coat when Lucian said, "Your coloring is still odd.
When he reached behind her to pull back the covers on the bed, her fingers gripped his wrist. The warmth of her skin scorched through his body, and he froze. She cautiously touched his wrist with one of her fingers, as if she couldn't help but want to feel more of him.
His gaze returned to hers. He wanted to take her up, lay her on the bed, and bury himself inside of her, but she had no clue what she had done to him. She would have every right to flee this room in a panic if she knew, and she would.
You're saying something that I don't comprehend. She enquired, "How are you, not my adversary. We "were born to kill each other."
When she wavered on her feet, he nearly grabbed her but refrained because he wasn't sure how she would respond and because she should be focusing on getting well, not on fighting him.
He said, "Now is not the time to go into it. I know you don't understand, I know you were taught differently. You seem to be going to pass out.
The question "Is Joseph dead?"
The knowledge that the person who had wronged her was still alive made Ronan tense up. "No. He assaulted you, and Lucien and Killean rushed after him, but they couldn't catch him.
She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She gripped her middle and let go of his wrist. He was unaware of what she was doing as she bowed her head until the salty aroma of tears flowed to him and she began to sob quietly.
"Hey, now, hey, don't do that."
Lucian nervously touched her shoulders, unsure of what to do. He had never had to deal with a weeping lady in all his years and had no clue how to stop her. He then gave her a head pat, but when that failed to calm her down, he encircled her in his arms and brought her close. He bounced on his heels with her, holding her head against his chest. His skin was soaked by her tears, but she made no attempt to stop or acknowledge the person who was holding her.
He stroked her silky braid to try to calm her down. His fingers became stuck in the band's tip. Unable to control himself, he unfastened the braid and stretched its silvery length after slipping the elastic out of the way. She had a big head of hair that flowed freely down the center of her back.
As her tears kept falling, she buried her face in his chest, her breath warming his skin. As he held her, he had no sexual arousal; all of his passion had been subdued by the force of her anguish. He pulled her tighter, wanting nothing more than to give her comfort.
Lucian pledged, "He'll never hurt you again." Never approach you again. I'll make certain of it.
Kara swallowed her next sob and willed the tears to stop, feeling utterly ashamed of her actions. As they sank into his back, her fingers seemed to have a life of their own. Although his muscles created a strong cushion for her head, his skin was silky against her.
His aroma soothed her even more as she inhaled it. He smelt like cinnamon, and his pores sent forth an odor she knew as power—ozone. She discovered that she was resisting the urge to kiss him. The intensity of her intense want to taste him caused her knees to collide. She gave in to the need and moved her head just enough so that the corner of her lips touched his skin on the subsequent breath.
He stiffened against her, and she quickly averted her lips. She struggled to contain her blush in the hopes that he would mistake it for an accident rather than intentional behavior on her side.
He said, "Do you feel better now?"
She was unsure of her feelings at the moment. Definitely confused and fatigued. Angry with herself for not being able to stop Joseph and for undoubtedly being the cause he escaped. She is utterly perplexed by her attraction to this monster, which she can now add to the litany of contradicting feelings that are now plaguing her.
"Yes," she affirmed, eventually getting her treacherous fingers to let off of his neck.
To prevent grasping him once again, she clapped her hands together in front of her. She couldn't stop her jaws from falling as she noticed how wet her tears had made his chest. He seized her wrist before she could touch him and held it loosely between his thumb and forefinger as she sought to wipe her tears off of him.
She yelled, "I'm sorry!"
You had a difficult night. She yanked at Lucian's wrist, and he reluctantly let go.
She turned away from him, feeling humiliated. She never had been a crier, but ever since her father passed away, she had to fight off the temptation to cry and the need to want to curl up and sob till she was unable to move. Now that she had finally snapped, He likely saw her as a helpless kid in his presence.
What does it matter if he has negative feelings for you? She had no idea why it was important, but it was.
Never in her life has Kara felt more exhausted or degraded. She collapsed into the large mattress behind her once her legs gave out. She should have been requesting explanations, hunting for a weapon, and organizing her escape, but she was powerless against the constant pull of her eyelids shutting. When her head touched the pillow as she reclined on the mattress, she sighed.
Lucian wrapped the covers back around her and placed them there. He removed the remaining moisture from her face with a gentle touch of his palm. She grabbed his hand to stop him as he started to draw it away.
She said, "Are you going to keep me here?"
He replied, "No," in a gruff voice. "We will find a way to return you to your brother as soon as you are well enough," said the doctor.
She muttered, "I don't know what to believe, what to suppose.
Her forehead hair was brushed away by him. "I know, but for the time being, you need to recover. Here, you are secure. I'll look out for you.
Kara took her next breath and slept out.
In order to go to the opposite side of the bed, Lucian let go of her hand. He wouldn't touch her, but he would stay above the covers and she wouldn't like it if she found out he had slept next to her for the rest of the day. If he were to be really honest with himself, he needed to sleep and couldn't pass up the opportunity to lay next to her, even for just one day. To avoid upsetting her, he would make sure to get out of bed before she woke up.
He lay back on the bed, listening to her gentle breaths, and let her beautiful aroma lull him to sleep.
***
Kara regained consciousness. She sprang upright, unsure of the hour or her location, and almost fell out of the big bed.
A man's voice from near her muttered, "Easy," in a hazy voice.
She shrieked and spun so quickly that she was sure she had whiplash.
The man urged once again, "Easy."
Had she recently been married? Was Logan there at her side? When she smelled the man, she felt comfort, which made her shoulders droop. She would never ponder throughout her lifetime why she felt more pleased to discover herself in bed with a vampire rather than her future spouse.
She managed a "What... what are you doing?" question.
I was dozing off. The way he spoke with a languid murmur and the increasing amount of Irish accent that came through made her heart rate increase. "I'll stand up."
"No, I…" I what? Please don't leave after drawing my blood. But remain, you're welcome here. She shouldn't be saying any of them since they all made her seem pitiful. "Your bed is here."
"It is," he said. He hadn't intended to be in it anymore, but he wasn't dreaming of blood and death for the first time in as long as he could remember. He hadn't woken up once more until she got to her feet. I'd be pleased to share it with you, but if you want, I may leave it.
She could see him plainly as he lay only a few feet away from her now that her eyes had become used to the darkness. Why does a vampire have to be so seductive? She looked at him in awe.
You can continue to support yourself, she added.
Kara leaned against the cushion and placed her feet back on the mattress while Lucian grinned. She had fallen back to the ground, but her body was still poised to run.
When he realized how happy he was that she was eager to lay next to him, he reminded himself that she had to go. He didn't give a fuck about it right now for the life of him. He just worried about getting the chance to be close to her while he could.
She let out a little sigh and cocked her head to look at him. She muttered, "I shouldn't be able to trust you.
"Kara, you are secure with me, I vow to you. The vampire that attacked you the previous evening is almost dead.
She exhaled, and the wind swept her forehead hair back. Despite the fact that we are meant to be opponents, I find myself believing you for some reason.
No, we're not. He began, more forcefully than he had planned, "Hunters have made us their enemies when we don't have to be," but he was sick of this false notion held by the hunters. Over the years, it had claimed a great number of innocent vampire lives and cost the hunters a great number of their own.
Last night, Joseph attempted to murder me. He injured my family and killed my buddy.
He rolled onto his side and rested his head on his hand, looking down at her. Joseph is no longer one of us; he is a Savage.
"What do you mean by no longer being one of you?"
Not all vampires prey on innocent people. In actuality, many people never murder. However, some vampires succumb to the bloodlust that is ingrained in all vampires and are influenced by the power that murdering may offer them. Every day of their life, many vampires battle the urge to give in to their bloodlust. More so than others, some of them must struggle with it. Joseph formerly collaborated with us and battled his destructive tendencies, but he lately stopped fighting and turned into what we refer to as a Savage.
She questioned, "Why do some give in?"
"There are several reasons why vampires go wrong. They are bored, looking for more power, something inside of them breaks, they are naturally bad to begin with, they are sick of fighting themselves all the time, or they are intrinsically evil.
"She spit them.
"It may not be the greatest explanation, but who can say what ultimately makes them lose control? When confronted with eternal life, things eventually become... boring. Some people may just be hoping to feel something fresh and thrilling again, while others may simply be curious. It doesn't matter what it is; once a vampire takes the first step toward becoming a Savage, it is much simpler to take the other steps that will prevent them from ever becoming what they once were.
Is trying to stop these Savage vampires the reason you desired Joseph?
Lucian raised himself to a sitting posture against the headboard while resting his hands on the mattress. He looked at the empty wall opposite from him while crossing his ankles. A future life may be saved if she was more informed about vampires. She would be leaving shortly and couldn't take too much information with her.
"We do stop them," he said.
"Why?"
Why do your people hunt them, you ask?
Because hunters were made and are born to hunt them, and because they are bad.
He was aware that was probably why the hunters had been sent to the planet. The universe had a way of balancing itself out, and the emergence of the more human-like hunters had counterbalanced the emergence of the more demon-like vampires.
He said, "What do you mean by bred?"
She rolled in his direction with a shrug and raised her head onto her hand. She looked at the wall behind him while her fingers fiddled with the blanket's stitching. She responded, "The hunting line must be maintained strong. To ensure that, "the best available men and women are paired together."
As she spoke this, Lucian's teeth began to grind against one another. Her brother seemed to be in control of her since she didn't have a ring on, but he knew that one day she would find love too.
He had experienced the time when women were married off as if they were no better than livestock, and he had not liked it. He was no longer a fan. Particularly purebred female vampires always have their own minds and talk freely. He had grown up among these kinds of ladies and adored them.
The fact that his mother was a second-generation purebred and his father was the only fourth-generation to ever exist meant that even though they hadn't been matched or in love, they had consented to have a kid so that their offspring may become the most powerful vampires ever created. The power and attention that his mother had coveted came to her with his birth. His parents had other partners after he was born, but they remained friends until the day they were both murdered.
"I see," he said.
Kara prompted him, hoping to divert the conversation from the dismal subject of marriage by saying, "So not all vampires are Savage."
"They are not, no. Although you weren't given the whole tale, I think you are correct that hunters were developed to halt Savages.
"And so that is?"
Not every vampire is a bad guy. Your race hunts all vampires without distinction; only a few of them become evil.
She said in a low voice, "We didn't know that.
"I know."
Why wasn't any of this taught to us? Why didn't you tell us? If what you claim is true, why would we be enemies from the start?" she questioned.