trickled through her. The warmth spread, making her numb fingers and toes able to flex again. Everything still hurt like hell, but at least she wasn’t partially paralyzed anymore.
She blinked, her vision tracking into focus. Gabe’s familiar face swam into view. A dark angel. Gabe’s good looks were deceptively handsome packaging on a man capable of killing at least a hundred different ways with just his bare hands. Right now his dark brown eyes were guarded, but she couldn’t mistake the warm woodsy smell of him as a nightmare. It was too real. No one else had that the same wide forehead balanced by an equally strong jaw, or the sinfully sculpted mouth that made her brain muzzy. He shouldn’t look that good and be so deadly.
She coughed and sputtered, the taste of ichor on her tongue. For every vampire the flavor was different, changing to suit one’s most intimate fantasies. To Marina, Gabriel’s ichor tasted like rich strong espresso swirled with cream, with a kick of cinnamon. Unlike espresso, the ichor held a shimmering life power to it that radiated through her system in sparkling waves.
After more than a month of being drained daily by the vampire hunters interested in selling her ichor for illegal profit, she was too weak to turn away from the rich offering flowing from Gabe’s thick forearm.
The problem was she knew better. The act would bind them together. And as much as she had wanted Gabe once upon a time, that time had passed. He’d disappeared and she’d nursed a broken heart. She’d moved on.
“What did you expect?” he muttered under his breath, his voice rough.
Marina gasped and pulled away from his arm, scrutinizing him with her gaze. “I didn’t give you permission to read my thoughts.”
“Well, then, you should not have been thinking so hard while you were drinking. It’s not as though I could help hearing you.” He tugged his sleeve down over his arm, covering the slice that was already starting to heal.
Marina turned away, unable to meet his intense brown eyes any longer. She refused to be lured in again. Refused to think that Gabe was back for any personal reason. “I bet they thought they were being very clever sending you to question me, given our past.”
“They didn’t send me to question you. They sent me to get you out.”
Marina whipped back around and narrowed her eyes. Liar. Niccolo’s business partners didn’t want to get her out. They’d ordered him to be killed and then handed her over to the vampire hunters involved in their illegal ichor empire. They pimped ichor across the globe as a new miracle cure for everything from baldness to cancer. Surely there was nothing she had to offer that would warrant sending in a Shyeld , the most elite of the royal guardsman, to come to her aid. Unless the High Council thought she knew where Nick’s master list of ichor dealers was located.
She narrowed her eyes searching the face she thought she knew so well, to find out she’d not really known him at all. She’d seen only what she wanted to before. Gabriel was loyal to a fault. Unfortunately his loyalty did not belong to her. “Do you want to tell me the real reason you’re here, feeding me your ichor?”
Gabriel leaned back a bit, putting distance between them. He didn’t look any happier to see her than she was to see him. His thick dark brows were drawn together in deep slashes over piercing brown eyes. His hair was darker, shorter, revealing a neck much stronger looking than she remembered.
“I haven’t seen you since the funeral.” As always he spoke as little as possible.
Marina blinked. He’d been there. As vulnerable as she’d been, she’d barely been able to stand the sight of him. Seeing him at the funeral had only enlarged the gaping hole in her heart she’d tried to forget. Years ago she’d lost Gabe because Nick had pressed the relationship, the alliance, with her. Seeing Gabe six months ago had only underscored the loss, made it more
She blinked, her vision tracking into focus. Gabe’s familiar face swam into view. A dark angel. Gabe’s good looks were deceptively handsome packaging on a man capable of killing at least a hundred different ways with just his bare hands. Right now his dark brown eyes were guarded, but she couldn’t mistake the warm woodsy smell of him as a nightmare. It was too real. No one else had that the same wide forehead balanced by an equally strong jaw, or the sinfully sculpted mouth that made her brain muzzy. He shouldn’t look that good and be so deadly.
She coughed and sputtered, the taste of ichor on her tongue. For every vampire the flavor was different, changing to suit one’s most intimate fantasies. To Marina, Gabriel’s ichor tasted like rich strong espresso swirled with cream, with a kick of cinnamon. Unlike espresso, the ichor held a shimmering life power to it that radiated through her system in sparkling waves.
After more than a month of being drained daily by the vampire hunters interested in selling her ichor for illegal profit, she was too weak to turn away from the rich offering flowing from Gabe’s thick forearm.
The problem was she knew better. The act would bind them together. And as much as she had wanted Gabe once upon a time, that time had passed. He’d disappeared and she’d nursed a broken heart. She’d moved on.
“What did you expect?” he muttered under his breath, his voice rough.
Marina gasped and pulled away from his arm, scrutinizing him with her gaze. “I didn’t give you permission to read my thoughts.”
“Well, then, you should not have been thinking so hard while you were drinking. It’s not as though I could help hearing you.” He tugged his sleeve down over his arm, covering the slice that was already starting to heal.
Marina turned away, unable to meet his intense brown eyes any longer. She refused to be lured in again. Refused to think that Gabe was back for any personal reason. “I bet they thought they were being very clever sending you to question me, given our past.”
“They didn’t send me to question you. They sent me to get you out.”
Marina whipped back around and narrowed her eyes. Liar. Niccolo’s business partners didn’t want to get her out. They’d ordered him to be killed and then handed her over to the vampire hunters involved in their illegal ichor empire. They pimped ichor across the globe as a new miracle cure for everything from baldness to cancer. Surely there was nothing she had to offer that would warrant sending in a Shyeld , the most elite of the royal guardsman, to come to her aid. Unless the High Council thought she knew where Nick’s master list of ichor dealers was located.
She narrowed her eyes searching the face she thought she knew so well, to find out she’d not really known him at all. She’d seen only what she wanted to before. Gabriel was loyal to a fault. Unfortunately his loyalty did not belong to her. “Do you want to tell me the real reason you’re here, feeding me your ichor?”
Gabriel leaned back a bit, putting distance between them. He didn’t look any happier to see her than she was to see him. His thick dark brows were drawn together in deep slashes over piercing brown eyes. His hair was darker, shorter, revealing a neck much stronger looking than she remembered.
“I haven’t seen you since the funeral.” As always he spoke as little as possible.
Marina blinked. He’d been there. As vulnerable as she’d been, she’d barely been able to stand the sight of him. Seeing him at the funeral had only enlarged the gaping hole in her heart she’d tried to forget. Years ago she’d lost Gabe because Nick had pressed the relationship, the alliance, with her. Seeing Gabe six months ago had only underscored the loss, made it more
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