Bedeviled (27 page)
She wasn't Vampyre anymore. Who was to say that she had to behave like one?
When her door creaked open, she propped herself up on her elbow and smiled at the man who had entered her world with far less subtlety than he entered her room now. He'd more or less crashed into her life. Unasked for. Unwanted.
My how things have changed.
“I thought you might be asleep by now,” he said, tugging his shirt over his head and easing onto the bed beside her.
Kyana rolled over, pressing her chest to his as she lay atop him and forced him to meet her gaze. Thanks to his godly blood, the bruises on his battered face had faded to a faint yellowish-green. The swelling had completely disappeared. Only the ambrosia-inflicted wound on his forehead remained red and raw-looking, made her grimace over the pain he'd endured at Haven's hand.
She pressed her lips gently to the wound. “I might break your heart,” she said.
He shrugged. “I could just as easily break yours.”
She swallowed. “I don't know if I'm okay with that.”
Something flickered in his eyes as he watched her and traced his thumb over her lips. “What? Breaking mine or yours?”
“Either.” She sighed and laid her head against his chest. “I'm afraid it's not me you want, Ryker. I'm afraid it's this crazy notion you have of me. I'm terribly flawed, you know. Proud and stubbornâ”
“I hadn't noticed.”
She poked him in the rib. “I'm serious. I won't change.”
He took her head gently in his hands and lifted her gaze to his. “I hope not.”
Swallowing down that stubborn pride she'd been speaking of, she tried to find the truth in his eyes. She found them smiling up at her with a slight twinkle. For now, her flaws were all right, just as she was able to bear his. Overthinking, duty-bound, morally righteous though they might be. But one day . . . one day they might get tiresome and one of them might not choose to stay anymore.
What then?
“Does it make you happy?” he asked. “To have me here?”
She nodded.
“I love you, Ky. I've loved you for ten years. Can you deal with that?”
Her heart was racing and the urge to flee from his arms was nearly overwhelming. But this time, she wasn't going to listen to her head. She was going to listen to her heart.
“I can't promise you forever. I can't even promise you all of me,” she said, kissing his cheek, his nose, his mouth.
“I know.”
“And you're okay with that?”
His lips thinned and his expression turned solemn. Kyana ran her hands through his hair, brushing the golden strands off his face so she could better see him.
“If you can look at me now and tell me your feelings for me are strong and have potential, then yes, I'm okay with that. But Ky, I don't just want you in my bed. We can't give this a shot if you keep closing me out.”
She sighed, content as he gently rubbed the small of her back, his arousal waking her from her drowsy state. He was right, and she'd been trying. Little by little, she was becoming more of herself around him.
“I'll try,” she conceded, nuzzling his neck. “But Ryker . . . tit for tat.”
“Deal.”
“This,” she said, as he slid his hands down her back to cup her ass and his
tat
strained against her belly, “is about to get really interesting.”
A special thank you to our husbands for never reading what we write and, therefore, assuring we stay happily married.
We'd like to thank our agent, Roberta Brown, for her unrivaled support, and our editor, Erika Tsang, for liking Kyana enough to let her return to the page.
Brandy, Jess, and Katâfor always being there. Love you, Mom.
And Sydney and Hunterâfor growing up so beautifully. Mom.
SABLE GRACE is the writing team of Heather Waters and Laura Barone, long-time critique partners and friends who came together by fluke to discover their voices fit quite nicely during a writing experiment. The story became far too interesting to put down and Sable Grace was born.
Both Heather and Laura reside in Florida, are happily married to their real-life heroes, and are, well, complete opposites. Still, there's enough common ground for them to weave their words together in the voice of Sable Grace.
You can reach them both at [email protected] or visit their website at www.sablegrace.com.
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
BEDEVILED
. Copyright © 2012 by Heather Waters and Laura Barone. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
EPub Edition JANUARY 2012 ISBN: 9780062096319
Print Edition ISBN: 9780061964411
FIRST EDITION
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