Page 17 of Blood Moon Bound

I didn’t want to leave, but he obviously didn’t want me to stay. Hurt filled my chest, but I did my best to hide it. “Perhaps I’ll see you later, then,” I said and rushed out.

* * *

Constantine

I didn’t want her to leave, which was why she needed to get the hell out.

She walked out of my office, her sundress clinging to her delicate frame, and I cursed. My skin still tingled where she’d pressed her soft, warm lips. My little bride was a lot braver than I thought, and utterly confounding. She was as scared as a frightened rabbit around me, but still she sought me out, she even kissed me, she’d spoken of my eyes.

I bit back a growl, my fingers curling into a fist. Why the fuck had I picked that damned rose? What had compelled me to do such a thing?

She’d run from my room last night, red-faced, unable to meet my eyes, and once again, I’d had the utterly foreign urge to ease her discomfort, to make the pain in her eyes go away. The next thing I knew I was in the garden selecting the perfect fucking bloom.

Her light had been on late into the night, and I’d paced past her door for hours. And when it finally went out and I was sure she was asleep, I’d snuck in—and like a fool, I’d lingered in her room far longer than I should have.

She’d been asleep on her back, looking so fucking fragile, I hadn’t been able to leave. And I hadn’t, not until the urge to pick her up and carry her to my bed became overwhelming.

What was wrong with me?

You planted those roses for her. And deep down it pleased you that she loved them, just like you’d once hoped she would.

I shoved my fingers through my hair and stood. “Fuck.”

Striding from my office, I walked out the front door and got in my car. I needed to get away, just for a few hours. My house suddenly felt small, her scent, her presence filled every square inch. Christ, it was taking everything in me not to search Delphine out now, just so I could be close to her.

So I could touch her again.

Despite what some might believe, my brothers and I weren’t completely emotionless. Close, but not completely; though, Nero might be the exception—and the more time I spent with Delphine, the more my muted emotions were being revived.

Morgan, the head of my security, rushed over as I strode to the garage. “Stay with my bride, no visitors, trust no one. Her stepfather is capable of anything.”

Morgan strode back to the house and I got in my car.

Delphine was still young, she needed to feed more regularly than me. And going by the paleness of her eyes, it would need to be tonight.

And since I’d demanded she drink from me from now on, like a damned idiot, I needed to gather my control because if my little bride went as wild as she had the first time I fed her, I wasn’t sure I’d be able to keep the monster leashed.

Six

DELPHINE

Alice winced when I spilled cupcake mixture on the floor.

“Oh! I’m so sorry.” I quickly wiped it up. “I promise I’ll clean everything when I’m done.”

“You don’t need to do that, Mistress Caputo. That’s my job.”

“Please call me Delphine or Del.” I liked the idea of that. Mistress Caputo sounded so weird and I’d never had a nickname. “And it’s my mess, so I’ll clean it.”

She shook her head. “No, you will not. Mr. Caputo wouldn’t like it.”

Morgan, who I’d met for the first time today, sipped his coffee, a small grin curling his lips. I’d seen him about the place, but this was the first time we’d talked. He said he was head of security.

“You don’t have to hang around here. Honestly, I’m fine,” I said to him. I really didn’t need an audience witnessing my terrible baking skills.

“Constantine told me to stay with you.”

“He did?” I tossed the tea towel down on the counter. “Why? Where is he? Does he think there’s some kind of danger?”