“You took the piercings out.” He sounds sad.
“I didn’t think I could prevent infection in my homeless state. You can re-pierce them.”
“No.” He drops the washcloth. “I don’t want to hurt you anymore.”
“You won’t. I’ll take the thorns with the roses, remember?”
He leans in to kiss me. When our lips part, he presents me with a perfect red rose. “Your rose with thorns.”
I grasp the stem. My cheeks are sore from smiling so hard. This love story isn’t perfect, but it’s ours. And that sorta makes it perfect.
I bring the bloom to my face and inhale. “There. That scent. My mother’s perfume, my past and future all rolled into one. It’s beautiful.”
“It is,” Logan says, but he’s looking at me. My heart swells.
“I love you, Logan Wulfe.”
He smiles, that rakish carefree grin that I love so much. “I love you, t—” he starts to say but then his expression suddenly changes. “Daphne,” he rasps, fear etched into the lines on his brow, around his eyes. He reaches out to touch my face, but I beat him to it.
Something wet is trickling from my nose.
I frown. What on ear— My fingers are red when they come away. Blood drips on my palm. Oh shit. The bottom drops out and suddenly I’m sinking, sinking—
Logan rips his white dress shirt and hands me a makeshift handkerchief to press to my nose. His big hand covers my forehead.
“No fever. Just a nosebleed?” His eyebrows pinch together but he doesn’t look too concerned.
“It’s not just a nosebleed,” I close my eyes, wishing I could stop time. No, no no no.
It’s not fair. Not when I just found him. Not when we just found this, here together.
“Then what? Daphne, what’s happening? My gods, I need to call an ambulance.” He starts to rise and I catch his arm. I’m weak, so much weaker than him, but he stills at my butterfly light touch.
“No, Logan. No ambulance. Just...stay with me. One minute longer.” I throw my arms around him, wishing I could go back to that perfect moment, that single second when I had it all before the gods stripped it all away.
“Daphne, please,” Logan eases me back. “Talk to me. What’s going on? Are you sick?”
“I’m sick, Logan. I’ve always been sick. The disease is in my blood.”
Horrified awareness dawns on his face as I swallow and pronounce my death sentence.
“I have Battleman’s. And it’s back.”
* * *
Daphne and Logan’s story continues in Beauty & the Rose, book three in the Beauty Trilogy. Pre-order link available soon!
Hungry for more dark romance from Lee and Stasia now?
Find out what happens when Marcus, the king of the criminal underworld who always gets what he wants decides to capture the beautiful, innocent Cora, in his web. He’ll give her everything that her heart desires. Except for one thing. Her freedom. She’s his to keep, and he’s never letting her go.
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Also by Stasia Black
Dark Contemporary Romances
Cut So Deep
Break So Soft
Hurt So Good
The Virgin and the Beast: a Beauty and the Beast Tale
Hunter: a Snow White Romance
The Virgin Next Door: a Ménage Romance
Daddy’s Sweet Girl (freebie)
Sci-fi Romances
Theirs to Protect
Theirs to Pleasure
Theirs to Wed
Theirs to Defy
Theirs to Ransom
My Alien’s Obsession
My Alien’s Baby
Also by Lee Savino
Lee's books on Amazon
Contemporary romance:
Beauty and the Lumberjacks: a dark reverse harem romance
Her Marine Daddy
Her Dueling Daddies
Royally Fucked - get free at www.leesavino.com
Paranormal & Sci fi romance:
The Alpha Series
The Draekon Series
The Berserker Series
About Stasia Black
STASIA BLACK grew up in Texas, recently spent a freezing five-year stint in Minnesota, and now is happily planted in sunny California, which she will never, ever leave.
She loves writing, reading, listening to podcasts, and has recently taken up biking after a twenty-year sabbatical (and has the bumps and bruises to prove it). She lives with her own personal cheerleader, aka, her handsome husband, and their teenage son. Wow. Typing that makes her feel old. And writing about herself in the third person makes her feel a little like a nutjob, but ahem! Where were we?
Stasia’s drawn to romantic stories that don’t take the easy way out. She wants to see beneath people’s veneer and poke into their dark places, their twisted motives, and their deepest desires. Basically, she wants to create characters that make readers alternately laugh, cry ugly tears, want to toss their kindles across the room, and then declare they have a new FBB (forever book boyfriend).
* * *
Join Stasia’s Facebook Group for Readers for access to deleted scenes, to chat with me and other fans and also get access to exclusive giveaways:
Stasia’s Facebook Reader Group
About Lee Savino
Lee Savino has grandiose goals but most days can’t find her wallet or her keys so she just stays at home and writes. While she was studying creative writing at Hollins University, her first manuscript won the Hollins Fiction Prize.
She lives in the USA with her awesome family. You can find her on Facebook in the Goddess Group (which you totally should join).
Beauty and the Thorns Page 19