Desire by Blood by Melissa Schroeder Page A

night. I don't know…”
    She raised her hands to her face and covered it. He knew her
feelings for him were normal. Their kind would always need sexual satisfaction.
But she was not ready to hear it now.
    He gently pulled her hands from her face. The unshed tears
in her eyes almost unmanned him. She was confused, especially because she did
not understand.
    “There is nothing wrong with your behavior, Cordelia. It is
natural.”
    She sniffed then looked away. “I really fear that I have
turned into my mother.”
    She said it with such disgust that he felt the need to ease
her worries. Nico knew he could not tell her everything. If he were to reveal
all to Cordelia, she would panic and run. He would follow, that much he was
sure of.
    He tightened his grip on her hands. “Look at me.” He waited
until she lifted her gaze to his. “There is nothing wrong with you for wanting
me. Do not ever think less of yourself.”
    She did not look convinced.
    “Tell me this. When you see Malik, do you want him to touch
you?”
    She actually looked repulsed by the idea. Then she smoothed
her expression. “Oh, it is not because he is…from somewhere else.”
    “I know. What I was alluding to is that you have these
feelings for me. You have been in society for a long time, Cordelia.”
    She frowned. “Not that long.”
    He smiled at the indignation in her voice. He knew he had
hit a nerve. “Tell me, have you ever had a chance to be compromised?”
    She sighed. “No.”
    “Do not doubt the attraction we have for one another. It is
good to be this way with your chosen mate.”
    She studied him for a moment then nodded. “I think I better
step out now or we will cause another scandal.”
    A sense of satisfaction filled him. He might not have wanted
a mate, but he had chosen well. He lifted her hands and kissed them.
    “But of course.”

 
    *   *   *   *

 
    Cordelia looked out over the street from her sister’s
bedroom window. She had not slept. She could not. She had felt relieved when
she first returned home. After checking on her sister, who was sleeping
peacefully, she had changed into her nightdress, slipped into bed exhausted,
but found herself unable to sleep.
    She had thought she would be too tired to even dream, but
she found herself staring at the canopy of her bed. After several wasted hours,
she decided to go to Diana's room to watch over her.
    Cordelia glanced at her sister's still form. It had been
years since she had seen Diana suffer from the headaches. She had assumed she
had grown out of them, but now she wondered if Diana had just kept herself in
the country because of them.
    With a sigh, she looked out over the street again. The sun
was just starting to peek over the tops of the houses. The only people she saw
were workers hurrying to their jobs for the morning. She was a person happy
with her own counsel. Groups of people had always made her nervous. Once Diana
had left home, she had spent most of her days by herself. Occasionally, one of
the staff would take pity on her and entertain her, but that was not so often.
The only reason she had gone out in society was necessity. To eat she had to
learn to overcome her misgivings. Truthfully, she would not have a problem abandoning
it if she didn't need the money. She always felt hemmed in when she dealt with
society. The rules had always been something she never agreed with. Why was it
acceptable for her father to have dozens of paramours, but not her mother? But
that had not been what had bothered her as much as the feeling of restlessness
that moved through her every time she stepped into a ballroom.
    And now she had the embarrassing situation of needing Nico.
It had taken her a good hour of thinking to realize the reason she was feeling
out of sorts was because Nico was not there. He drove her insane with his
attitude and his kisses, but there was something in her that resonated with him
when he was near. It was as if he soothed her in a way no one else