Born In Blood (Born Hunter Book 1) (18 page)

Twenty-Eight

                 
 I
'm thirsty
, Cara thought to herself. Her throat ached with an unquenchable thirst.
I thought you aren't supposed to want for anything in heaven. Oh God, maybe I'm in hell
. She certainly shed enough blood in her lifetime to warrant a place there. The beat of her heart kicked up in panic. The very alive reaction startled her into the realization that she was not dead. She was in Aiden's ridiculously large bed in his suite of rooms on his island. The same set of perfectly hued emerald green eyes crowded her vision just as they did before when she thought death had claimed her. This time the look on his face was one of relief instead of helpless grief.
                   "I thought I was in heaven, then I thought I was in hell." Cara's voice came out hoarse and raspy. "How long have I been out?" She asked Aiden.
                   "For too long." He brought his mouth down on hers in an urgent kiss. His lips moved against hers as if they may have never gotten the chance to again. He drank her in as if kissing her was the only sustenance he required to live.
                   "If you're going to kiss me like that, I should almost die more often," she said in a breathy voice.
                   "Don't you dare," Reiya said from the other side of the bed. She hugged her tightly then loosened her grip when Cara winced. Her torso still felt tender. "Sorry," she backed away from the side of the bed. Her eyes said she wanted to say much more along with the sorry.
                   Cara reached for her hand, giving it a firm squeeze. "You don't have to say anything more. You were ready to give up your life for the slim possibility of mine. That's enough for me."
                   "I'll give you two privacy," she said then left the room.
                   Cara watched her leave then looked at Aiden questioningly.
                  "Asad found her in a cell not far from yours. She was unharmed. Godrell had not had time to hurt her yet. He was too busy focusing all of his efforts on you. I assure you he is being paid back for it as we speak."  Gold quietly glowed in the recesses of Aiden's eyes. 
                   "Good. That bastard stays alive until I can carve out his heart with a silver blade myself."
                   "Whatever my mate wants, my mate gets." Aiden placed a kiss to her for head.
                   Cara choked on whatever words she were going to say next. "Your what?!"
                   His face displayed the arrogant grin she wanted to knock from his face during their first interactions with each other. That same grin had also made him irresistibly charming and undeniably sexy. Now it made her want to drag him into bed alongside her. The heat in his eyes told her he knew what she was thinking.
                   "I am aware you may not agree at first, stubborn woman that you are, but I'm persistent. You will come around eventually."
                   She thought back to her last thoughts before Aiden entered her cell to save her and knew she was already there. "If I come around now can I have a fancy dress, and throw a huge party, and drive the McLaren?” He already had her heart, but hey, a girl had to negotiate the terms of her surrender.
                   "If you come around now you can
have
the McLaren...and this." He picked up a small blue box that sat on the table beside the bed. He placed it in her hands allowing her to decide if she wanted to open it or not.
                   She eyed him and then the box. She felt like a giddy schoolgirl. She opened it with shaky but sure fingers to reveal a sparkling diamond of flawless clarity. Delicate emeralds surrounded it in a glittering crown.
 "It's beautiful," she told him. "I didn't know vampires got engaged?"
                   "They don't. But you're mine and I want to claim you in every way possible. Both human and vampire...if you will have me?" He said the last part a little unsure as if he were bracing for her rejection all the while hoping for her acceptance of him. It revealed an underlying vulnerability Cara had never seen in him. It endeared him to her even more.
                   She took the ring out of its box and held it out to Aiden. Then she held her right hand out and waited for him to slide it on.
I'll have you.
She let the intensity of her gaze and the words intimately whispered from her mind to his answer for her. Joy flooded his features as he placed the ring on her hand. 
                   "I thought you were going to die, Cara. I thought you did die. Your heart stopped beating in my arms. All I could think was it would be the end for me too. I cannot live an eternity without you."
                   A thought belatedly crossed her mind. "Did you turn me into a vampire?!"
                   Aiden erupted into laughter at her animated response. "No, but I would have. I didn't need to though. The trace amounts of my blood left in your system after Godrell gave you the serum to try to purge its effects saved you. Would it really be so bad if I had to though?"
                   Cara thought about it for a moment. She would become the very creature she hunted for so long, but then again her vendetta toward them had been misplaced. The wolves, not the vampires, were responsible for her father's death. There was still no doubt in her mind that one species could be just as cruel and inhumane as the other, but Aiden had showed her that to judge them all as monsters was wrong. Just as decent humans existed aside the corrupt ones, she saw the same was true for the vampires and maybe the werewolves as well. Reiya certainly seemed to have a conscience.
                   "No," she finally said. "It would not have been that bad. I can imagine worse things than spending an eternity with the man I love."

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