A Turn of Tides (A Shade of Vampire #13)(35)

I still clung onto him tight, beckoning him to take more of me—all of me, if that was what he wanted.

But then he stopped.

Wiping my blood from his mouth with the back of his hand, he staggered back, as far away from me as he could on the deck.

His chest heaving, he turned his back on me and forced his gaze out toward the ocean.

I could only take his restraint and self-control as evidence that he didn’t want to end me.

I’d been right all along: he did still love me, and I just had to prove to him that I was still the girl he’d sworn to marry.

I felt a sense of elation as I stood there, watching him struggle to control his hunger on the other side of the boat.

His refusal to end me was the first step toward recovering what we’d once had.

I’d survived Caleb’s initial attack, and now he craved me.

Madly.

Deliriously.

I kept my distance from him for the rest of the night, as well as the following morning.

I noticed him putting more effort into navigating us toward a shore where he could drop me off, though I could still see land nowhere in sight.

In this old boat—unless we came across another ship—we had no chance of reaching land any time soon.

He fasted for the entire day, but as evening fell again and I settled down to sleep in my corner, he approached behind me, grabbed my waist and pulled me back against him as he once again gave into his craving for me.

I reached my arm around the back of his neck, once again pulling him closer, inviting him to take me fully, even though pain was shooting through me from his bite.

But as he’d done the night before, he regained control over himself.

I stared into his eyes—turned almost black with bloodlust—and brushed my fingers against his cheek.

He flinched as I leaned forward and kissed his neck, and shot back toward the opposite end of the boat again, cursing and slamming his fist against the wood.

But as morning broke, I woke up to a cupful of blood next to my head.

A long metal spear lay a few feet away from me, its tip tinged with red.

Caleb was nowhere in sight—though his breathing came from the inside of the cabin.

I smiled knowingly as I lifted the blood to my lips.

It was Caleb’s blood.

He couldn’t afford for me to waste away now, or he’d no longer be able to satisfy his craving.

He was addicted to my blood.

Now, it was only a matter of time before he became addicted to me.

Chapter 21: Rose

I couldn’t keep my head above the cloth for long if I wanted to stand a chance of clinging to Bella’s waist.

I found myself shivering.

I didn’t know how high up the dragon had brought us now.

A fierce wind whipped past us as it flew with breathtaking speed.

The cloak was damp against my back.

I wasn’t sure whether it was from sweat or rain.

I dared not ask more questions now that we were so close to the dragon.

I wondered if the beast had even noticed that it was carrying me along with Bella.

Bella had said they ate ogres.

I wondered if they ate humans too.

I lost track of how much time had passed.

Hours, certainly.

I managed to peek out a few more times and saw nothing but a vast expanse of ocean beneath us.

I was growing increasingly nervous as the time passed, because Bella’s arms seemed to be loosening around me, and I wasn’t sure how much longer I could keep holding onto her without her support.

I closed my eyes, shutting out all other distraction, and just focused on holding onto her.

Even though I might have a better chance of survival dropping into the ocean than allowing myself to be dragged along to the realm of the dragons, dropping into the ocean from this height would be certain death.

There was clearly no land for miles, and I had no idea what kind of creatures lurked within these strange waters.

So I closed my eyes and held on tight.

I was holding onto Bella so hard, I could hear every beat of her heart against her chest.

Suddenly, the dragon began to descend.

My stomach turned.

There was no warning as the dragon swooped in what felt like a freefall dive.

And the further we flew, the hotter it became.

Bella grunted.

I was about to peek out behind the cloth again to see what on earth was happening when the dragon jolted, pulling out of the dive so suddenly not even Bella could hold onto me any longer.

Our grip on each other loosened and the next thing I knew, I was falling.

I barely had a chance to take in my surroundings, much less scream, before my back hit the ground, my head slamming back against grass.

I was lucky that it hadn’t been a rock.

Groaning, I rubbed my head and sat up.

Although my back ached, it didn’t feel like I’d damaged anything seriously.

It seemed that I hadn’t fallen far.

My eyes widened as I took in my surroundings.

I was on the top of a hill.

The sky was a clear blue—not a single cloud in sight—and a bright sun beat down on me.

A few miles behind me was ocean, and spreading out in all other directions were ranges of hills and mountains, dipping down occasionally into lush green valleys.

My eyes fixed on the group of dragons carrying ogres in their claws as they disappeared behind a mountain.