Read Night Seeker for Free Online Page A

stretching, luxuriously, enjoying the sun as much as I was.
    Grieve glanced at my stomach—I was wearing a crop-top—and a slow smile stole across his face. “You’re wearing my symbol. Cicely, you’re all grown up now. Sincelast year, you’ve become a woman.” His voice played across my heart as surely as if his fingers had stolen across my skin.
    I shivered. “I had to grow up. I
wanted
to grow up.”
    “Are you still with your mother?” His eyes flashed. I knew how he felt about Krystal, but he seldom said more about her than to ask if I was still in her care.
    I nodded.
    “No matter, then. Come, let us walk in the wood and you can tell me what you’ve been doing the past year.”
    As he reached for my hand, I knew that if I gave it to him, I’d be lost. His voice set me spinning, and his scent was that of oat straw and apples and long grass after a cool rain. He watched me carefully and right then, I knew that he knew. He knew how I felt, and he was offering me more than his hand. He was offering me a chance at love, a chance for a life, a chance to belong to someone. He was offering me his heart.
    I bit my lip, staring at his hand. The long thin fingers were delicate, and yet they could probably twist the head off an enemy. I knew that Grieve was volatile, but he’d always been just. And he played no games.
    Do I dare? Do I dare take a chance on loving him? On letting him into my life? Can I ever have a life free of Krystal, free of the constant running? Do I dare choose love?
    Ulean, who was sweeping along beside us, laughed, her voice tinkling on the slipstream.
Dare you not?
    And with that, I made my choice. As my fingers touched his, he enclosed them in his hand, then drew me to him.
    “My Cicely. I will never hurt you.”
    He tipped my chin up to look him in the face, and I lingered over his beauty. And then, slowly, my world came tumbling in on me as he leaned down and his lips pressed against mine. The fire built as I slid into his arms, reveling in the feel of someone who wanted to hold me, someone who wanted to love me, someone who would never let me go.
    “I love you, Grieve. I’ve always loved you—first as a child and now…”
    “I am a Prince. Someday, when you’re ready, you will become my Princess and rule by my side. Now that I have you back…” His voice trailed off and an odd look flashed through his eyes. “It’s been so long, so very long…I’ve waited for you to return to me for so long.”
    “What do you mean? It’s only been a year.”
    “No, so much longer than that.” But when I asked what he meant, he only shook his head as his mouth covered mine, pressing his hard, lean body against me as he drew me into the kiss. The world began to spin. The pact was made as I handed over my heart to Grieve that day. And I knew that I’d never be free—no matter whether I was three thousand miles away or in the next room, I belonged to Grieve. And he belonged to me.

     
    As Lannan left the room, I glanced at Grieve.
    He motioned to me. “I have something to show you. It won’t take long.” He held out his hand and I took it, as he led me through the room. The others went on cataloguing our finds.
    “Lannan is an ass. Don’t let him goad you.”
    “I’d like to run him through, but you won’t let me. But someday, I won’t be so congenial and the vampire will find himself subject to a stake in the heart. For now, however, I will accede to your wishes.” He led me to one of the doors near the back of the large room. “Close your eyes or I’ll have to blindfold them.”
    Curious and cold, I obediently closed my eyes. I heard the door squeak open, and then Grieve led me through and the door squeaked again and closed. “We’re almost there,” he said. “Just a little bit farther.”
    And then I smelled something—it smelled like vanilla. Grieve took both of my hands in his, holding them by the wrists. He leaned close and whispered, “Open your eyes.”
    I blinked.