Page 17 of Eternally Bound
His mouth was about to touch hers when common sense returned to her and she stepped back. What waswrongwith her? Being attacked by a vampire and having pints of blood drained had completely rattled her intellect. She should be trying to stake every vampire she came across after everything Joseph had done to her loved ones, not thinking about kissing one of them!
She was alone with this man —vampire—apparently in his place. If she didn’t keep her wits, she’d end up dead or a vampire blood bag.
Ronan reluctantly released her arm and stepped away from her when she stiffened against him. The last thing he wanted was for her to fear him, yet she edged further away from him. “I’m not going to harm you; there’s no reason to be afraid.”
Her chin rose. “I’m not afraid.”
The small smile curving his lips made him even more irresistible. Ugh, she was a mess, she decided. Just then, her heel connected with something on the ground. Looking down, she spotted the lamp she’d knocked off the nightstand and the scattered medical supplies on the floor—the medical supplies that had been used on her, she realized as she recalled the bandage on her neck.
Monsters didn’t help heal their victims. Or maybe they did, what did she know? She had no experience with any of this, and she had contemplated licking the vampire, so her brain cells weren’t exactly up to snuff right now.
“Where am I?” she inquired.
“You’re in our home.”
Her eyes went to the closed door behind him before coming back to him. “Who lives here?”
“Lucien, Saxon, Killean, Declan, and I do, along with Marta and Baldric. Though Lucien has been staying somewhere else lately.”
“How come?”
“Because it is necessary for him to be elsewhere. Let me put your shoulder back into place.”
Ronan braced himself for her rejection when she frowned at him. Then, she glanced at her sagging shoulder as if just recalling it.
“Yes, that must be done,” she murmured.
“It will hurt.”
A muscle in her cheek twitched as she eyed him. “I can handle pain. Do you know how to do it?”
“I’ve dislocated and broken more things than I can count. Most of them I’ve put back into place myself; some I’ve had help with. I’m sure, as a hunter, you would prefer not to go to the hospital for it.”
“Would you let me go to the hospital?”
Ronan rocked back on his heels. He wanted to put her at ease, but he couldn’t lie to her. “No. I will make sure you are safe when I let you go, but I will not leave you to the care of the humans. Even though you are more human than I, there are still differences between you and them that they would find very intriguing.”
“I can take care of myself.”
“I’m sure you can, but I won’t risk your life in such a way.” More, he wasn’t ready to let her go, but he didn’t say that. She already looked like a rabbit ready to bolt, but he couldn’t tell if she was frightened of him or wary of the whole situation.
“None of this makes any sense,” she said.
“I suppose it doesn’t, to you. Perhaps it will make sense by the time you leave.” Her lips flattened into a thin line. “Your shoulder,” he prodded.
“Yes, of course,” she murmured.
“Please turn around and grip the wall.”
Swallowing heavily, Kadence turned and did as he suggested. She could handle pain, but she was not looking forward to this at all. However, her shoulder had to be back in place if she was going to defend herself. After what had happened with Joseph, she didn’t delude herself into thinking she could take a vamp out on her own, and especially not this one.
The power emanating from him made every other vampire she’d seen look like a child. She had a feeling she’d only seen the surface of what Ronan could be capable of, but she would go down fighting if this was all some ruse and she really was dessert.
Ronan clasped her shoulder and her arm. Her head bowed so that her braid fell forward to reveal her nape. His eyes latched onto her bare skin as images of running his lips over her flooded his mind. She’d be sweet against his lips and tongue. The erotic sounds she would make would be something he’d never get enough of hearing, and he knew her blood would be a rush unlike anything he’d ever experienced before.
Shaking his head to clear it of his thoughts, he pulled back on her arm. A loud crack echoed through the room. The muffled cry she released made his blood boil. Releasing her, he glared at his hands for inflicting hurt on her as she rotated her shoulder back.
He almost drove a fist into the wall. He pulled it back at the last second and rested it on the wall as he battled the turmoil rolling through him. Never again would he be the one to make her issue a sound like that.
