Free Blood Legacy (PULSE Vampire Series #6) by Kailin Gow Page B

bath.
     
    He looked up in surprise. Kalina was sitting before him, the lapping of the water just covering her naked breasts.
     
    “Kalina!” Her proximity was enough to drive him mad. “What are you doing here?”
     
    “I came to take a bath...” She smiled softly. “I woke up and wanted to warm up...the bed was so cold...and then I found you.”
     
    He could make out the contours of her form beneath the waters of the bath. She leaned in to kiss him, moaning softly as his lips parted beneath hers. “We didn't finish what we came for,” she said, pushing her palms against his broad chest, pushing him back against the marble bathtub. Her eyes were wide with playful mock-innocence.
     
    Octavius gave a deep sigh. How could he resist her – especially when she was so close to him? He could smell her, breathing in her intoxicating scent, her blood driving him mad, driving him to distraction. How could any man resist a woman like her? How could any vampire? She was sensuality personified – the Life's Blood creating in her a sensuality that drove him mad.
     
    “You know exactly how to make me weak at the knees,” he murmured, bringing her naked frame closer to him. “You know exactly what to do.”
     
    She kissed him, placing his hand upon her breasts. “Have you thought some more about what I asked?” Kalina looked up at him innocently. “Have you considered changing your mind?”
     
    So that was what she wanted. He saw steel in her eyes – Kalina wanted to be turned, and she was going to do whatever it took to get what she wanted. How cunning she was – how clever! A woman like that was not to be taken lightly. But how he wanted to take her!
     
    She took the soap and began lathering him up, pressing her lithe fingers into his back.
     
    “Well, have you?” She leaned in and kissed his ear.
     
    “No,” he said hoarsely. “I won't turn you.” His voice was grim. “No, there is no way I could do that, Kalina.”
     
    “Why not?”
     
    “Because,” Octavius sighed. This was the hardest thing he'd ever had to do. “You have a gift. A destiny. You can't just give that up. No matter how much you love me, Kalina. No matter how much I love you – you have a destiny that goes beyond our love. That brings you further from me than I can bear. But I cannot bring myself to take that destiny from you.”
     
    Kalina rose from the water, the soap clinging to her white, milky flesh. She was like Venus rising from the foam before him – the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen. He had seen the most beautiful maidens in the world in his day, but none of them ever compared with her. Octavius stared up at her, stunned. Her beauty was overwhelming – indeed, it seemed that she had never been so beautiful as she was at this moment. She was regenerating, he knew. Her Life's Blood was returning to her, stronger than ever, making her more beautiful and more powerful than she had been ever before. And that meant, he knew, that her Life's Blood was slowly taking over from his blood in her. Soon their close bond would reset – the glory of the past few hours gone. Octavius sighed. It would happen sooner or later, he knew – their connection would go back to what it had been before. She would still love him, but they wouldn't have this same electric connection – a connection that made it impossible for him to resist her, and for her to resist him. He would have to compete once more with Jaegar and Stuart for her attention. And she wouldn't be able to see into his soul the way she did when his blood was in her body. She wouldn't be able to tell how much he loved her; she wouldn't be able to see the longing and desire in his eyes. He would have to push her away again. He knew that they couldn't remain like this – this weakened by their dual desire – forever. He knew that things would have to go back to normal – he would have to feign distance in order to protect her. And she would no longer be able to see