IN HIS ARMS

EVANORA’S POV:

I couldn’t sleep, mostly concerned about someone clawing out my heart and feeding my corpse to vultures. Yes, those words had stuck. 

Restlessly, I turned in my bed, which further ruffled up my already scattered sheets. Tossing around had been all I’d done since the maid had given me this room for the night.

I couldn’t get my mind to stay fixed on one thing. On one hand, I was still going crazy over the fact that I was supposedly a vampire. A creature of blood and nightmares. 

I still had so many questions concerning this nature. Why had I never felt like one? Would I have to drink blood now? Was the sun going to burn me up to ashes? Would I…live forever?

I assumed that King Darius would be looking furiously for me, afterall I’d left the Grimaldi castle without his permission. I just couldn’t imagine how pissed he might be. 

Well, there were bigger problems at the moment besides him. 

With Blade Sparrow being on the top of that list.

My heart skipped a soft beat like it always does whenever thoughts about the handsome man comes up. It had an unexplainable effect on me each time, an effect that left me breathless and itching to be around him.

I tossed again in bed, frustrated. For crying out loud, how was I supposed to trust a man I’d just met? How was I supposed to fall for his words that promised soul mates and burning adoration?

However, not even I could dispute how goddamn sexy the man was. I was still very much pissed, livid infact, from everything that had taken place with his mother earlier. 

Yet, something else within me craved to see those captivating blue eyes, that devious smirk that always promised mischief and his intoxicating scent.

More than I’d ever wanted any man, I craved to feel his touch once more on my skin, sparking goosebumps and heat down my body wherever they lingered. What the hell was wrong with me?

I groaned into my pillow. Maybe it was just the pent-up sexual frustration from being stuck with Blade. I’d never given myself to any man but just one glance at him has me wanting to do things - dirty, filthy things I’d never seen myself ever desire. 

After another minute of wallowing in my thoughts, I picked myself off the bed. My throat felt dry and I was in desperate need for some water. 

Well first, I’d have to find my way through this mansion. 

With the sheer lace nightgown I was given that barely reached mid-thigh, I exited my room, with no idea on how I was going to get to the kitchen.

Sighing, I walked through the hallways which were illuminated by lights. The whole place was dead quiet, opposite of the bustling mansion I’d met earlier. Not even the guards were up.

It gave me the creeps, and made me hasten my steps as I moved from hallway to hallway, searching for the kitchen. My nerves were on the edge, considering the fact that I was in a house filled with these beasts, and who knew if they had an appetite for blondes?

It felt like forever, but I finally stumbled into a large room where the aroma of recently cooked meals wafted deliciously in the air. 

However, the whole place was dark and I huffed in annoyance as I blindly walked into the room, cautiously moving around to find the light switch.

I bumped into something that hit my stomach forcefully and I howled out lightly in pain, being carefully not to raise my voice cause of the sleeping house.

While still in a hissing fit, I moved backwards to avoid whatever it was but I got the fright of my life when a warm hand gripped down on my shoulder and instantly, an ugly scream tore out of my throat.

I felt the life drain out of me.

I swung around, horrified and ready to smack my way out of this death-like grip, but that familiar dark chuckle halted me, instead filling me up with waves of embarrassment.

Blade laughed heartily at my expense, and I struggled to seize back control over my still thudding heart.

“Blade!” I scowled. “What the hell was that for? I could have died from a heart attack.” I smacked his hard chest, subtly feeling a spark of electricity from the contact.

Nonchalant as ever, he shrugged. “Well, you didn’t. Do you always creep around in the dark?”

“Do you always go around frightening defenseless girls in the dark?” I retorted.

“Only if they have lovely screams. Music to my ears, Eva.” I could barely make out his face in the dark but I could just tell that he had one of his wicked smiles on - the ones that always made his eyes hold glints of mischief.

I rolled my eyes, moving slightly away from him and continuing my quest to find the light switch.

“Do you have an actual reason for being? You know, besides being a stalker.”

“This is my home, last I checked. I can be wherever the hell I want to be. You, on the other hand…” 

“I was thirsty. And for goodness sake! Where is the light switch?”

Instantly, the lights came up and I looked to Blade who was casually leaned back on the wall, oozing dominance and danger, with the light switch right beside him. He smirked.

I huffed and rolled my eyes once again. Ofcourse he knew and did nothing to help. Very typical of him. 

For a second though, I was stuck staring at Blade in all his manly glory.

As always, the gorgeous man was shirtless with his perfectly toned abs and well-defined muscles on full display. His bed hair was tousled in a way that made him look effortlessly appealing.

My skin tingled and a blush crawled up my cheeks when I met his hot gaze, fixated on me as well, and realized how much I’d been gawking. 

However, the hunger that flitted through his icy blue eyes told a different story. Under his intensifying stare, I felt naked - not just naked, flush and needy. 

His eyes travelled down every inch of my partly exposed skin due to the sheer nightgown. This caused an outbreak of heat down my body and my nipples perked up, fully aroused from their slumber all because of the way this man looked at me - like I was the only woman in the world. 

“Don’t you own a shirt or something? Or is there an unspoken rule for wolf men to be nudists?” My voice broke the spell and with my pulse racing, I turned away from him to distract myself from the desire that slowly edged into the air. 

He was quiet for a second, then chuckled and that sound alone sent a delicious thrill up my spine.

“I went for a run. And don’t say you don’t enjoy the view, love. You were drooling seconds ago.”

I was by the cabinet that held the glass cups but they were positioned too high. I reached up fruitlessly to reach them, briefly scoffing as a response to Blade.

“Cocky, much? I’ve seen better. Like a whole lot better.” 

Lies. 

The room was quiet for awhile and I snickered. While still on my tiptoes, I swung my head around to Blade’s direction. 

“What’s up, hot shot? Cat caught your-”

The words died when I met the darkened look in his eyes, gleaming with lust and self-restraint. He seemed to be drinking in my form, carefully and painstakingly, and that was when it occurred to me how much my nightgown was riding up from trying so hard to reach to the cups. 

My breath hitched.

Blade lifted himself off the wall and took determined strides towards me, and my heart raced because of the thick desire that intoxicated the air. 

Once he got to me, my skin burned when he leaned against my back, his body heat radiating off him. His closeness electrified me, especially when he further pushed up against me, causing the hardness in his groin to rub against my backside.

A gasp escaped my lips as shivers ran up my spine, loving the warmth this brought to me - loving the tingles it sent to my core. Blade grunted straight into my ear, the deep guttural sound vibrating through me.

“Why are you being such a fucking tease, Eva?” His raspy breath kissed my ears, and I swallowed.

“I…I just wanted to get the cup.”

His dark chuckle filled the room. “Don’t you realize just how sexy you are? How everything about your voice, your face, your body drives me insane? How much I have to hold myself back right now from taking you against this counter?”

I shivered when his fingers trailed up my sides, teasing and light and consuming every fraction of my logic. I found myself leaning into his touch, pushing back against his groin, wanting more of whatever this was.

“Why won’t you? I…guess I wouldn’t mind.”

“Guess? You’re playing with fire, baby. I can tell that you’re still a virgin. Your innocence says that much, and the scent of your arousal…”

“W-what?”

Blade’s lips trailed up my neck and I bit back my lips from giving into the moan that threatened to spill. He grazed my ears, nibbling in a way that made me whimper.

“Eva, I’d very much love to indulge you in my darkest fantasies…but, not yet. I want to take my time with you. We have forever.”

I spun around now, coming face to face with him, and feeling my butterflies flutter at the proximity. Just an inch more and our lips would be touching.

Craziest part? I wanted it to. 

“So, you want me but somehow, it’s not enough to get you to…fuck me?” I glared, and not even I could believe my words. 

Blade smirked, dark eyes holding a wicked glint. 

“Feisty. The problem is if I start, I might not be able to stop. You’re not ready for that yet, trust me.”

I scoffed. “Now you’re a gentleman?”

“Just for you, Eva.” He breathed out, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me closer against himself. “Are you still mad at me?”

My heart raced and I struggled to keep eye-contact with his intense gaze. I blinked away.

“I guess…not. It wasn’t your fault. It was dumb getting angry at you.”

“I’m sorry that had to happen though.” He rested his forehead against mine. “I don’t care about what anyone else thinks, you’re mine, Eva. Nothing can change that.”

I breathed in his scent, allowing myself to enjoy the safety his arms offered and looked back into his eyes. 

“I know, but there’s your mum and there’s the fact that I just met you…”

“Yet here you are in my arms. I think you’re just scared, and you don’t have to be. I’m here to stay, I swear on this.”

A sense of peace engulfed me, in a way I’d never felt it before. I found myself leaning forward to Blade, closing up the distance between us until I tentatively grazed his lips with mine.

He held my gaze intensely, watching my face carefully, like he was trying to unravel a mystery. Then he stole the air from my lungs with the speed with which he caught my lips in his. 

I sucked in a sharp breath.