Page 31 of Mating Season
“You were exhausted. If you’re going to rescue her, you need to be rested.”
She’s not wrong. It’s late afternoon, and Nikki seems like she’ll drop at any minute. I’m grateful it’s Sunday, and the office is closed for the day, or else I’d have to find a way to explain ourpresence to local government employees who don’t take kindly to rule breakers.
I take the plans from her and confirm, that yes, this house does have a basement. We put everything back the way we found it in the records room and go back upstairs. I type the address into Google Maps, only to find a blank lot.
“Maybe the house never got built,” Nikki says, her tone worried like we just did all that work for nothing.
Selene wasn’t kidding about the power of his wards, if the building can’t even be recorded by technology.
I shake my head. “It got built. Marcus just doesn’t want to be found.”
17
ROSALIE
Ipace in the cell. I’ve eaten most of the food from the mini fridge, and now I’m just waiting for my fate. It’s fifty-eight minutes until sunset. I’ve barely slept, and every second that ticks down, my fear climbs higher. Marcus is going to feed from me, and there won’t be any bad-tasting drugs left in my blood to stop him.
What if he loses control and kills me?
What if he doesn’t?
I’ve run the fantasy through my mind a thousand times that Cooper somehow finds and rescues me. But Marcus said he won’t be able to, and even if he could, he wouldn’t want me now that a vampire has tainted me.
It’s so medieval. Like I’m some despoiled virgin—unwanted because I’m not pure. Some other supernatural creature’s fangs have pierced my throat first, and now… what? He wouldn’t want me anymore? So much for fated mates, I guess.
This fills me with so much shame. I can’t even blame Cooper. I spent so much time railing against my fate that I didn’t stop to consider that he’s someone I would have chosen if the choice had been free. And now… this new fate turns out to be too bitter a pill.
Fifty-five minutes. I think I’m going to vomit. There’s no way out of this cell. It’s just a solid concrete room with a locked door and a guard on the other side. Before the sun came up, the vampire guard was switched out for a human. I heard them talking just outside the door, but I only heard enough to understand it was just a shift change.
Even if I could get out, I couldn’t get away. I’ve tried so hard to keep it together, not to cry. Because if I start, I won’t be able to stop.
I’m startled out of my fear and regret by the sound of something banging hard against the door. I take several steps back as if there’s anywhere for me to run to in this cell. A second later the door swings inward. Blood drips down the metal surface. My gaze follows the blood trail down to the unconscious—or dead—human guard on the ground.
I look back up.
“Rosalie.”
“Cooper.” I can’t even be mad that he didn’t warn me about the vampires. I know I should be, but I’m just so happy to see him, and I hope with everything inside me that I’m not just dreaming all this—some last desperate fantasy before the hell really begins.
Please let this be real.
He walks into the cell and shuts the door behind him. His mating scent fills the cell, overwhelming me with a white hot blast of need. Before I can say anything, he’s got me pressed against the stone wall, his mouth covering mine. I gasp against his invading tongue as his hands roam down my body. Is it really possible this is our first ever kiss?
I’ve had so many vivid dreams, so many sensations, and yet, this is the first time his lips have caressed over mine, the first time he’s devoured me like this—like I am his only sustenance.
He pushes away from me to pull his shirt over his head. I’m hypnotized briefly by the black tribal tattoos on his chest and arms and the way his sleek muscles flex and contract as though putting on a show explicitly for my hungry gaze.
I glance at the red digital numbers counting down—fifty-two minutes—as he starts to kiss and suck on my neck. He runs his tongue over my collarbone. Wetness floods my panties in response to his increasingly possessive touch. I want to straddle his leg and ride it… I just needanythingtouching me where I need it right now. But I have to think.
I push him away, breathless. “Cooper… we need to get out of here.”
He shakes his head. The look in his eyes is harder and more resolute than I’ve ever seen it.
“No. I don’t want to be a monster with you, Rosalie, but I should have claimed you the second I had you alone in my human form. You will not be safe until this is done. And as your mate I refuse to put you in any more danger. Hate me if you must, but this is happening.”
“But… does it have to be here?”
My gaze drops to his hands as he unbuttons his jeans and shoves them down. He’s not wearing underwear, and I gasp as his stiff thick erection springs free from his pants.
