261

~Carmen~

Slipping my legs off his shoulders, Zegulf gathers me up in his arms and rolls onto his side.

I whimper into his chest when he pulls me close. My legs twitching and shaking as I stretch them out. The effects of everything wearing off.

I can still feel him inside me, connected to me, but all I feel is his... joy to finally have this moment. It’s like a warm brick pressing against my ribs, where my heart is.

With a start, I realize I haven’t felt my heart beat this entire time. I know after what we just did it should be beating like crazy. But there’s nothing moving in my chest. There’s only the buzzing heat of Zegulf’s presence.

Blood is cycling through my veins, my lungs are still working, but my heart is still and unmoving.

Zegulf’s arms tighten around me as he senses my distress. “I know it’s disturbing, sweetheart, but you’ll get used to it eventually. We all do.”

Through the connection, he soothes me with a burst of warmth and rubs his hands up and down my back. My worry quickly gets driven away by his tender touch.

‘There’s nothing to fear, he reassures me. I would never let anything happen to you.’

I begin to quickly relax again, my body melting against his.

My knees bump into his knees as I wiggle closer. He pulls me closer until we’re completely wrapped around each other. My arms wrap around his neck, my fingers find his nape, and I begin to lazily play with his hair.

Every so often, he places a kiss against the top of my head. Softening against me with contentment.

Minutes and possibly hours drift away as we lie in each other’s arms, flesh against flesh, until Zegulf unwraps one arm from around me and tips my chin to look up at him.

“Look at me, beautiful.”

Lifting my lashes from my cheeks, I peer up at him, and it’s like I’ve opened my eyes for the very first time.

His face has changed. I draw back in surprise. Somehow, he’s even more beautiful, his skin too perfect. I search for a flaw but find none. Not a pore, nor a wrinkle. Not even the faintest of lines.

And his eyes... his eyes are brilliant and stunning. They’re every blue ever made. Colored from the skies and ocean.

Zegulf says my name to get my attention. “Carmen.”

“Yes?” I exhale, still stunned and trapped by his eyes.

“Blink and look down.”

Putting my trust in him again, I force my eyes to blink, then look down. As I take in the sight of my own naked breasts, whatever spell he cast on me is broken.

“What the hell!” I exclaim.

Then my attention narrows in on my own skin. I look so perfect, without a single blemish.

“Look up,” Zegulf urges, “but don’t look too closely this time.”

Following his lead, I do as he commands, lifting my gaze back to his face. My eyes are instantly drawn to his eyes, and I quickly find myself being sucked into them.

Zegulf closes his eyes and smirks, breaking the spell himself. Embarrassed and not appreciating the way he’s messing with me, I frown at him.

“Stop doing that. It’s not nice.”

Zegulf’s smirk grows. “What am I doing?”

“You’re...” I start and leave unfinished, my cheeks burning with heat.

“What am I doing, Carmen?” Zegulf chuckles.

Grumbling, I say, “You know what you’re doing. You’re bewitching me.”

When I try to pull away, his arms flex to keep me in place. “I’m doing nothing,” he insists.

A flash of irritation sizzles through me, and Zegulf must feel it through the bond because he immediately chuckles. “I promise you, sweetheart, it’s not me. It’s you.”

Stilling, I frown, “How can it be me?”

He smiles now as if he’s pleased. “It’s your vampiric sight. Now that you’ve awakened from your turning, you’re coming into your powers.”

“What does that even mean?” I ask, a little flustered. Vampiric sight? Turning? Am I supposed to know those things?

His smile fades, turning into a scowl. “You’re a vampire now, Carmen, like me. I have a wolf too. But my wolf hasn’t claimed you yet. Believe me, he is super pissed that my vampire is getting all the attention for now.”

When I only return his scowl, he asks, “Can you feel it?”

Closing my own eyes, I try to feel whatever changes are supposedly happening to me.

“There’s a... warmth in my chest... and my heart isn’t beating,” I admit after a few seconds.

Zegulf hums thoughtfully. “That warmth is our bond, and you don’t need to worry about your heart. Like I said before, you’ll get used to that. Do you feel anything else?”

I focus hard on my body, “Everywhere you’re touching me tingles…” I stop myself with a sigh.

Zegulf crushes me against him to nuzzle the top of my head. His voice drops, becoming deep and husky. “It pleases me that you’ve never touched another man. I’m the only man you’ll ever know.”

Something tugs at me. I feel like there’s something I’m forgetting. Something important that I need to remember.

My memory seems dark and fuzzy and the harder I try to remember things, the quicker they slip away.

“Carmen,” Zegulf murmurs to bring my attention back to him. “Open your eyes.”

I do as he asked, but as soon as I open my eyes, what I see is so sharp and vivid, my stomach twists.

Squeezing my eyes shut, I ask, “What’s wrong with me?”

“Nothing is wrong with you,” His fingers slip into my hair and tighten. I feel the truth of his words in my bones as he speaks them. “You are perfect.”

To him, I am perfect. But it’s all in the eye of the beholder. Even the most broken and damaged of goods can be perfect and useful to someone.

“I can’t remember anything.”

There’s a stab of alarm from him that gets my blood rushing through my veins with my rising anxiety.

“I don’t know how I got here. Where is even here?”

Zegulf takes a deep breath, as if to settle himself, then he says, “Calm, my love.” He pushes soothing, numbing waves through the bond. “It’s normal after awakening. It will all come back to you.”

“You can trust me, Carmen. I know what’s happening to you is frightening, but you can trust me to take care of you,” Zegulf insists. “No matter what happens... I want you to remember that.”

There’s an edge of apprehension to his declaration, giving me the impression that he’s afraid of the future. Why? What’s there to be afraid of?

I have no idea, but I can sense it as sharply as I feel the blood moving around my body.

Do I need to be afraid if he’s afraid? I want to be... but it’s so hard with whatever he’s pumping through our connection, tranquilizing me.

“Will you remember that?” Zegulf asks, and there’s so much desperation behind the question, I want to ease and soothe away whatever is bothering him.

I don’t want him to hurt or worry. I want to please him and make him happy.

“Of course,” I answer automatically, not understanding why it’s important.

“Everything will come back in time,” he says, but I’m not sure if he’s saying it to me or himself.

But those are his last words to me before he lulls me to sleep.