Book 8 - Chapter 34 (1/2)

”Murdoch used to say that women are like bottles of liquor - sample them, savor them, then discard them,” Rurik drunkenly declared, his eye patch crooked.

More vampires had joined in the gaming, and they all laughed. Yet Rurik's words sounded hollow to Murdoch, hollow like the ache in his chest. What a slavering jacka.s.s I used to be.

He remembered other men slapping him on the back over his conquests. They'd been so envious of his success with women. He no longer shared their definition of success.

Rurik quieted his tone, skewering Murdoch with a look. ”I wonder if he still feels the same way.”

He's aware that my heart's beating. At length, Murdoch answered, ”Until you meet the one woman who's meant to be yours. Then you hold on and never let go.”

How well was he holding on to Daniela? I'm driving her away.

She'd been so vulnerable when she suggested they sleep through five decades. And he'd been so busy raging over the unfairness of their situation that never once had it registered what she had just offered to do for them - sacrifice fifty years of her own life.

He hadn't thanked her for her offer. He'd ridiculed her for it.

I've been such a fool. What the f.u.c.k was fifty years if they were together? She's my life now.

Clarity. His brother Nikolai had told him that love would feel different from anything he'd ever known. Murdoch concluded he was right.

I'm in love with her.

He pushed away the bottle. Go to her...apologize. He'd left her crying. He'd been such an a.s.s, like the old selfish Murdoch who'd boasted about women being as expendable as liquor.

With that thought, the truth sank in. I'm not worth her tears.

But he could be.

He stood unsteadily, donning his coat and the obligatory gloves, then traced to the lodge. When he didn't find her inside, he started out into the still-raging blizzard, following her fading tracks.

Finally, he caught sight of movement among the thick drifts. Just as he was about to trace to her, he spotted something that defied belief. He stared in drunken shock, squinting through the flurries.

There was another male, one who looked to be of her kind, with Nordic coloring and pointed ears. He was easily as tall as Murdoch.

And Daniela was up on her toes... kissing him.

Can't be real. I'm drunk. Can't see through the blizzard. Somehow she was withstanding the male's touch, receiving his kiss. The b.a.s.t.a.r.d grasped her bare upper arms - with his ungloved hands. Murdoch gnashed his teeth. Skin to skin.

A jealous rage ripped through him. All the frustration he'd grappled with for months roared to life. His fangs went sharp with aggression, his heart pumping with wrath. Just when he realized he loved her, she would betray him?

The words from his dreams echoed in his mind: How badly do you want her? What would you sacrifice?

Anything, he'd do anything...

Didn't she know that she belonged to him? After tonight, she will.

* * *

This is nice, Danii thought. But it's not as I imagined it.

There was no loss of control or breathless wonder. No weakening of her knees. No l.u.s.t.

Because it wasn't Murdoch.

Just as she began to pull back from Jadian, her ears twitched. Something was wrong -