"The words, pet," he urged. "Can you not say them?"
"It's not easy for me."
There was a long, painful pause before he heaved a sigh and pulled back. "No, it's not easy. Come, we should not linger."
As if to prove just how stupid she truly was, a flare of panic raced through her. This was the most important moment in her entire life and she was blowing it. Blowing it with glorious, stunning success.
And all because she was a flat-out coward.
Tough to admit, but there it was.
Reaching out she grasped the shredded fabric of his shirt. "Viper?"
Stilling beneath her touch he regarded her with a guarded expression. "What is it?"
"Shay?"
You can do this, Shay. And if you can't, then you damn well don't deserve this man.
End of story.
She moved until she was pressed tight against him, her expression grim with determination.
"I love you."
There was a shocked silence as he absorbed her abrupt words. They hadn't been elegant, or particularly original, but they were sincere.
That had to count for something.
At last a smile curved his lips. A slow, beautiful smile that sent a warm rush of pleasure through her entire body.
"As I love you, pet" Lowering his head he kissed her with a fierce, hungry possession before pulling back to study her with glittering eyes. "I thought by buying you from Evor and bringing you into my home I would rid myself of my obsession with you. I was not nearly so clever as I thought."
"Not nearly," she whispered.
He touched her cheek softly, as if he were touching the most delicate object.
"Of course there are a few compensations," he murmured.
"I'm afraid to ask."
He assumed his most arrogant expression. "I will never again be plagued with those pesky women who are desperate to have me in their bed. Or enter nightclubs through the back door for fear of causing a riot. Or have blood junkies trailing behind me pleading for a bite."
Shay roiled her eyes. "It's a pity that no one is willing to pay for bullshit. I would be rich."
His soft chuckle brushed over her skin. Her lower body clenched in delicious response.
Yummy.
"Ah, but you are rich," he breathed into her ear.
She pulled back with a grimace. "Don't remind me. For the moment that's something I would rather not consider."
The dark eyes flashed with amusement. Not surprising. What woman would ever complain of too much wealth?
It was like being too thin. Or too beautiful. There just wasn't any such thing.
"You would rather live in a squalid ruin and struggle to survive?"
"It's what I've done all my life," she retorted with a hint of defiance.
"No longer." His own tone was firm. "I intend to shower you with luxury."
Shay gave a tug on her braid. A sure sign of her discomfort. "That's what scares me."
Viper shook his head, "You are the strangest creature."
Strange? Her?
Ha. That was certainly the pot calling the kettle black. Or something like that.
She narrowed her gaze. "We aren't mated yet, vampire."
His expression abruptly softened with a tenderness that brought a small ache to the center of her chest.
"Not yet, but soon. Very, very soon." He swooped forward to steal a heart-wrenching kiss before pulling back with a rueful reluctance. "Now we truly must be on our way."
Being on her way was the last thing Shay wanted. Not with her lips tingling from his touch, and her heart thundering against his chest.
Thankfully, she wasn't entirely lost to reason and when Viper rose to his feet and held out his hand, she readily allowed him to tug her upright
"Yow." She sucked in a sharp breath as her entire body clenched in protest at the sudden motion. "I must have been more tired than I realized."
Concern touched his expression. "You were weakened and in sore need of rest. How do you feel?"
She rubbed her aching neck. "Like I've been sleeping on a bunch of rocks."
He slipped a finger beneath her chin. "Besides that?"
"I'm fine."
"You're certain?"
She knew he was still worried about the amount of blood he had taken from her, and she took his hand to gently kiss his fingers.
"Yes, I'm certain."
He squeezed her fingers. "Then let's get out of here."
She allowed him to take the lead since she had only a fuzzy memory of being carried into the narrow cave. A testament to how weak she had actually been.
They moved in silence, both sharply aware that with the fall of night the vampires would be out of their coffins and swiftly in search of their missing captive. No matter how vast the catacombs it wouldn't take them that long to track them down.
As it turned out, Shay was so intent on trying to move with the same quiet grace of Viper that she nearly missed the narrow tunnel where she had first caught the scent of humans.
Giving a tug on his hand she forced him to a halt. "Wait, Viper, we must go this way."
"No. It goes too close to the occupied caves."
"That's where I smelled the troll."
His features tightened. He wanted to haul her from the caves. He wanted to hide her in some deep hole where no bad monsters could get their hands on her. She could read it in every stiff line of his body.
Thankfully, he was wise enough to realize they could no longer simply run and hide.
"Do you still smell him?" he grudgingly demanded.
She sucked in a deep breath. "It's faint, but yes, it's there."
"I can detect nothing."
Sensing his smoldering frustration Shay moved down the tunnel. The scent of troll was definitely stronger. She wasn't imagining it.
"There must be a glamour disguising his presence."
Viper followed close on her heels. "Styx would never allow witches in these caves. They would be a danger to the Anasso."
"There are demons capable of performing rudimentary magic."
"True enough," he conceded, although she could still feel the tension that hummed about his large body. "But why would they be in these caves and why would they hide the scent of the troll?"
They were questions Shay had no answer for so she simply kept moving forward.
Not a bad strategy until they rounded a corner and there was nothing ahead but rocks.
"Not that I doubt your tracking skills, pet, but this looks very much like a dead end," he murmured at her shoulder.
Shay studied the smooth rock blocking the path with a frown. "A troll has come through here and not that long ago."