“You know my mum and grandma?”
“Well enough to stay on the sidelines of their sad little world. I’m glad you opted to up and leave before they could crush your spirit even further.”
My thoughts were spinning so fast my mind couldn’t keep up. I closed my eyes and tried to focus, begging my head to take control.
“Stop fighting it,” Hans said. “Instincts over brain, remember?”
“I don’t… I don’t know what to say…”
My voice sounded like a whisper, my whole world spinning and crashing in tidal waves, until there was silence.
Just like that, there was silence.
There was only me and Hans, the beautiful man standing in front of me, all London noise faded and gone.
“Tell me to leave you alone, Katherine,” Hans whispered. “Or tell me you want me to stay. Your choice, but make it now.”
My voice sounded more assured this time, without the chaos of thoughts there to lead me astray.
“And if I tell you to stay? What happens next? You suck the life out of me here on the cobblestones and I get the grand exit of my dreams?”
The thought seemed surprisingly enticing.
He smiled his stunning white smile, long pointed canines shining bright.
“I think you might be quite surprised by the outcome, Miss Blakely. Why don’t you make your choice and find out?”
Chapter Five
Twochoices.Twoverydifferent outcomes.
“Come on, Katherine,” Hans said. “You must know what the legend says. For a vampire to enter your home, they must be invited.”
“Yes, I do. And once a vampire has been invited in, there’s no way you can get them to leave.”
“Absolutely.”
“This isn’t my home you’re talking about though, is it? This is my life.”
His stare was so steady. “Your lifeisyour home, and your body is your temple.”
My breath caught at his words.
My body is my temple.
He smirked at me, clearly reading my thoughts.
“Yes, little one, I have every intention of entering the temple as well as the home. I showed you that last night.” He paused, his eyes bright in the darkness. “You enjoyed it though, didn’t you?”
I felt so inexperienced there before him. If the streetlights had been brighter, it would have been obvious I was blushing like crazy.
“You were very good at it,” I said.
He laughed. “You’d certainly hope so. If you weren’t a master after seven hundred years of practice, you’d be quite ashamed of yourself, I think.”
“Is that how old you are?” I asked him. “Seven hundred years?”
“Stop avoiding the question.”