Free A Shade Of Vampire 5: A Blaze Of Sun by Bella Forrest

occupying the penthouse.
    Of all the Elite’s penthouses, however, there were four that occupied twenty redwood trees. These four penthouses w ere called the Pavilion and home to the Novaks, The Shade’s royalty. Since Gregor and Lucas Novak’s deaths, their penthouses had been given to Cameron and Liana Hendry and Eli and Yuri Lazaroff as a reward for their loyal service to the Novaks and The Shade throughout the centuries.
    It was to the Pavilion that Derek brought me . Its wide veranda was home to a view that never failed to take my breath away. As we stared at the magnificent view of the island, illuminated by the moon’s soft light, Derek pulled my back against his chest, his hands rubbing against my waist and my hips.
    “I love your warmth,” he whispered, his voice husky with emotion. “I love you, Sofia.”
    I wondered what was going through his mind and what could’ve brought about this mood of his. I didn’t want to ask, afraid that it might spoil the moment, but I couldn’t shake the feeling that something was amiss away.
    “I love you too. You know that, don’t you?”
    I could feel him nod, his lips pressing against the back of my head.
    I couldn’t help but smile as a wave of nostalgia came over me. “We’ve been through a lot, haven’t we?” I found myself asking, memories in The Shade – both good and bad – suddenly replaying through my mind. One memory in particular came at the forefront. The Sun Room.
    During my first months in The Shade, I was mostly known as Derek’s favorite slave. For my own protection, I wasn’t allowed to leave his penthouse unguarded. Of course, the girls and I found ourselves bored out of our minds so I took on a pet project. Derek allowed me to turn one of the rooms in his penthouse to whatever I wanted to make of it.
    I turned it into the Sun Room. The memory of the first time he saw it was still fresh on my mind.
    “So you did this?” He looked around the room, a mural of a beautiful sandy beach painted on one wall, large mirrors on the other walls to make the room brighter and reflect the light projected by the recessed LED lights on the ceiling and the walls.  At the center of the ceiling was a sunroof, mostly composed of LED lights over a glass window, creating the illusion of sunlight streaming through the room.
    We chose lawn furniture that would create the feeling of being outdoors.
    I smiled at Derek. “It wasn’t just me. Vivienne was more than happy to get us everything we needed. The girls and Sam and Kyle helped too. I guess it’s not just you who misses sunlight, so thanks for giving me the idea.”
    To my surprise, he gently pulled me against him. He took my arms and laid them over his shoulders and around his neck. He then held my waist and led me to a slow dance.
    “There’s no music,” I reminded him.
    He grinned. “In my head, Sofia, there’s always music.”
    I found the thought funny. “That must be interesting. It’s like you always come with your own background music.”
    He nodded, smiling down at me. “Exactly.”
    He then pulled me closer and placed a soft kiss over my forehead. His kiss then fell on my cheek, then to the corner of my lips. I knew he was going to kiss me , and if I were to be honest with myself, I wanted it to happen, but I pulled away.
    “I’m sorry... I… I can’t.”
    I was expecting him to ask why or assert himself and insist.
    Instead, he just nodded and looked away from me. “I understand.”
    Derek could have demanded that kiss from me, but he waited – the same way he waited for me to be ready to get engaged to him, the same way he was waiting to marry me before we could make love, the same way he waited for me to agree to turn into a vampire. He never forced me into anything until I was ready. I wondered then if he could wait a little bit more before we could get married.
    “Do you really think we should go ahead and get married, Derek?” I felt guilty just asking the question, but I