Chapter 32
Chapter Thirty-Two
“I’ve never been good at camping. I don’t like insects.
When I saw you covered in them at the castle, I almost passed out.
” Skarde felt the shiver run through Gemma from where she sat in front of him on the horse.
An attempt to provide her with her own horse proved a disaster—she couldn’t mount, could barely sit in the saddle, and had no clue how to communicate with the animal.
He added riding lessons to his list of things he’d teach her.
He couldn’t believe horses were no more than luxury pets where she came from.
“What’s camping?” He had the biggest smile on his face that he couldn’t seem to wipe away, no matter how much he dreaded the other end of this journey. Because he was so fucking happy to not be alone, even though he should’ve left her with Cade. And her confidence in bed didn’t hurt.
“Camping is sleeping outside. Eating things cooked over a fire. S’mores and hotdogs. And bug bites.”
“You cook dogs where you’re from?”
“No, that’s gross. It’s a name for a type of sausage cooked over a fire.”
“You’re not human anymore. You don’t need regular food.”
“Can I eat regular food?”
“Sure. And we don’t sleep exposed. Daylight, remember? Small exposure to light causes burns. Full exposure to sunlight will cause you to burst into flames and die in a matter of minutes.”
“Roasted vampire. Delightful. Can I really eat normal food?”
“You can if you want, but some things won’t agree with you.” Like juice. “Avoid fruits.”
“How come I feel like there’s a story behind that?”
He grunted.
When the rain started drizzling again, she pulled the tartan up over her head. The distance they needed to travel would take two nights. That meant finding shelter would become a priority as the night waned.
“There.” Skarde pointed at the ruins of an old manor.
“Do you think anything still stands that can protect us from the sun?”
“We’ll find out.”
“What if there isn’t?”
“There’s always the cemetery.”
“Are you messing with me? As in sleeping in a grave?”
“It’ll be free from sunlight if you bury yourself.”
“You’re not kidding. Sleeping buried alive, drinking blood, sun burning us to death, hated by most in this world… Why would anyone choose to become a vampire?”
“I have yet to meet anyone who chose this life.”
The outer keep and main house were in ruins, but the chapel still stood. He set up the horse in a fenced-in area that still stood, offered it the food he’d packed, and broke through the ice on the trough to access water beneath.
He pried one door of the chapel open. Its hinges were rusted and dysfunctional. With Gemma’s hand in his, he led her inside. Surprisingly the roof still stood, except at the far end. “The windows are bad news. Maybe there’s an enclosed space under the pulpit.”
He pushed a few things, finally revealing a small space. He waved her inside.
She leaned in. “We won’t both fit in there.”
“It’s this, buried in a grave, or roasted vampire.” He glanced over to the copious windows.
Gemma scrunched up her lips.
“How about I do a bug sweep?” he offered.
She leaned onto her tiptoes and pressed a kiss to his lips. “That is the sexiest offer I’ve had all night.”
A brief evaluation of the area located one spider but nothing else. “Little secret… they’re not that interested in us. They like human blood, not ours.”
“What if the spider had bitten me?”
“I doubt you’d have had a reaction.”
She shivered, which was cute. “I prefer not being touched by a spider at all.”
The girl who’d shot a mage with a crossbow and scared Cade feared bugs. Skarde kissed her long and hard.
His hands fell to her waist as she parted her mouth for him. Desire ripped through him when her tongue glided across his, light and explorative. He allowed himself to relax and live in the moment, letting go of other concerns.
The problem with kissing her was that now he wanted so much more. They needed to get into that little space within the next few minutes, and it wasn’t going to afford them enough room for what he wanted. He was so hard, he could barely stand the touch of his own pants.
His hand slipped to her shirt to cup her breasts. “It was torture riding with you and not touching your skin.”
“I like you wanting me that much, but I don’t like you feeling tortured. I suspect you’ve had enough of that in your life. If you want to touch me, do it. Don’t sit there stewing about it.”
He rested his head in the hollow of her neck.
“I’m so tired of all the other things. Chasing evil. Don’t know why I continue.” He whispered the words into the peace of her stillness. With her he didn’t feel alone.
“I’m afraid this world needs you to be the one to handle those evils, but you don’t have to do everything by yourself.
I don’t know how to be helpful to you in those situations, but I learn fast. You can teach me.
” She framed his head with her hands and tilted up his head to place kisses along his lips and jaw but hovered above his neck.
“I don’t want you exposed to the kind of vile creatures I fight,” he said.
“I’ve seen some pretty awful things. I’m still me.”
“You might not be after seeing what these being do. It changes you.”
“How about we not stress about that right now?” She unbuttoned his shirt and kissed along his muscles to the nipple ring, which she took into her mouth. Small jolts shot through him with each tug and press. “How much time do we have before those big windows fry us?” she asked.
“Not enough.”
She eyed the small space. “How about a rain check?”
“A what?”
“A delay until sunset.”
He nodded and stepped into the small space first. She backed in, tripped, and landed on him.
“Oof,” he grunted.
“Sorry.”
He shifted her onto his chest, angling her so that her mouth hit his jugular.
He breathed in her scent, florals and something erotic. He met her reddened, dilated eyes. Most people found the red-hued sclera terrifying. To him, it was sexy as hell.
“Take it. I know you want it.” He leaned back, pulling her with him. With a tilt of his head, he further exposed the vein in his neck. It was all he had to give her.
She kissed his neck. “I think I’m starting to be in serious like-like of you. I’m not saying it only because you’re offering me what I want more than…almost anything. I think I prefer sex to biting.”
“Not sure what like-like means.”
“It means I don’t just like you, I like you.”
“Infatuation?”
She nodded against his neck.
He chuckled. “Sweetheart, you were infatuated when you spit your drink down your shirt the first time I spoke to you.”
“Perhaps. One glimpse of your naked ass and I was a goner. It’s the most perfect ass in existence.” She attempted to touch him, but her hand wouldn’t fit past his pelvic bone. “I’m not bringing out the big L word. One hint of love and you’ll probably develop hives and get weird.”
Emotion welled up so strong inside him he could barely breathe.
Love. What did it mean? That she owned his soul?
That he was trapped? That wasn’t what he felt for her.
There wasn’t a word seemed right for these emotions.
She was a light in his darkness, and at the same time a turbulent storm upsetting the tranquility he’d created for himself.
He wanted to figure out what it was she needed most and then provide it for her.
If this vast emotion was love, then he hadn’t been prepared for it.
“You have nothing to say back? This is awkward. Do you think you could love me someday? Maybe like-like me?” In the darkness, her hands roamed his face and she finally rested her face against his chest. “I can feel the emotions pumping from you, almost to the point of smelling them. How’s that possible?
There’s fear and something else—close to happiness, but not quite the same. ”
“For now, I’m giving you all I can.”