Payne and Night filtered out of the room and closed the door, leaving her alone with the two witches and Grave.
Elissa closed her eyes, held her hands out over Isla and began to chant. Lilian mirrored her. The candles around the room flickered and then burst to life, filling the space with warm golden light.
Isla kept her focus on the two witches, and on allowing their words to flow over her. Colourful ribbons of magic swirled around their outstretched hands, beautiful and dazzling, stealing her focus away from the pain steadily building inside her, making her feel as if she was being squeezed into a container, restrained and restricted.
When the pain became so intense that even the bright magic couldn’t distract her, her eyes sought Grave. He had moved closer to the end of the bed, his steely blue eyes fixed on her and her alone.
Elissa picked up something from the side table and splashed it on her. Her skin burned wherever it touched, blazed red hot and she grimaced as she tried to keep from crying out. The witch bent over her, slipped one hand under her head and lifted it up as she brought the cup to her lips. Isla swiftly drank the contents, not wanting to draw anything out.
The second she swallowed, an inferno swept through her, fire that crushed her inwards, compressing her, and she arched up off the bed and screamed.
“Isla!” Grave’s voice penetrated the fierce fiery darkness consuming her, a light that she reached for, and her throat burned, her voice giving out as she exhausted all the air in her lungs. “I am here, Isla.”
Cool fingers touched her toes and a chill swept through her, dousing the fire and giving her relief.
She breathed hard through the pain as Elissa and Lilian continued to chant, sagging back against the bed and struggling for air. Gods. She writhed and screwed her face up, wanted to claw her way out of her skin as it pressed down on her.
Caged her.
Fresh pain rolled through her as Lilian stopped chanting, leaving Elissa’s as the only voice for her to focus on, and she tried to bear it, panted through it and told herself over and over again that it was worth it.
She would bear pain a thousand times worse than this to be with Grave.
Elissa finally fell silent, so the only sound that filled the room was her own fast breathing.
And then Grave, his voice a low snarl.
“Gods… I think we should do something about this before anyone comes back in… I might kill them.”
She frowned but before she could open her eyes, a blanket was covering her, and she realised her transformation from phantom to corporeal hadn’t brought her clothes with her this time and she was naked.
Warmth spread through her cheek as his palm pressed against it and she rolled towards him as he sat on the bed to her right. “Isla?”
She slowly fluttered her eyes open and flinched at the brightness of the room. The lights dimmed and she struggled to focus on Grave. He was a hazy blur above her. She stared up at him and slowly he came into focus. Concerned blue eyes held hers, darting between them, and then relief flooded them when she smiled and managed to lift her hand and place it over his on her cheek. That relief coursed through her too as she took in the sight of him, solid again just as she was.
“How are you feeling?” Elissa popped into view beyond Grave, her silver hair falling to her left as she canted her head to see past him. “You look pretty solid.”
Isla smiled up at the witch. “I feel pretty solid.”
“Well… we should probably let you rest now… but remember, you will have to take regular doses of medicine to stop your problem from reoccurring.”
Grave frowned at that, turned and looked at the witch. “What medicine?”
Elissa waggled a silver eyebrow. “The sort that makes a bond between mates stronger.”
A beautiful blush stained his cheeks, drawing a smile from Isla, one that fell away as he shifted to gaze down at her and the heated look in his eyes scalded her.
Gods, she was all too happy to start that course of medicine right now.
“Rest,” Elissa ordered, but she wasn’t listening to the witch, and it seemed Grave wasn’t either.
He leaned over her, his focus dropping to her mouth.
Out of the corner of her eye, Isla saw Elissa grab Lilian and drag her out the door. It closed behind them with a soft click.
Grave stopped with his lips just a bare millimetre from hers and whispered against them, “Have a nice rest.”
She growled, grabbed his shoulders before he could even think about leaving, and pulled him down onto the bed, rolling him onto his back and landing on top of him. He chuckled and planted his hands on her bare hips, his eyes darkening and turning serious as his laughter died and he looked her over, taking in her nudity.
His hungry gaze drifted back up to hers. “I am weak… I think I need medicine.”
She rolled her eyes, wondering how many times he was going to use that excuse each day to get her into bed with him.
And how many times she was going to use it to seduce him.
“I think I have just what you need.” Isla pressed her hands to his chest, feeling his heart beating strongly against her palms as she leaned over him, lowering her mouth towards his.
He lifted one hand from her hip and brushed her hair behind her ear, and stole her breath.
“You are all I need, Isla.” He feathered his fingers along the line of her jaw, his eyes darting between hers. “You were all I ever needed.”
Gods. Her heart leaped into her throat at the sincerity in his eyes and the love behind those words, and she kissed him, losing herself in him as he wrapped his arms around her and held her close to him.
The love she had felt for him a century ago, the love they had both tried to deny and destroy, had conquered her all over again and it had done the unimaginable too. It had conquered the vampire beneath her, a male who never lost a battle, a male who was hers now and would be forever.
He was everything she wanted.
He was everything she needed.
Her dreams come true.
Her love eternal.
Her King of Death.
The End
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Felicity Heaton is a New York Times and USA Today best-selling author who writes passionate paranormal romance books. In her books, she creates detailed worlds, twisting plots, mind-blowing action, intense emotion and heart-stopping romances with leading men that vary from dark deadly vampires to sexy shape-shifters and wicked werewolves, to sinful angels and hot demons!
If you're a fan of paranormal romance authors Lara Adrian, J R Ward, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Gena Showalter, Larissa Ione and Christine Feehan then you will enjoy her books too.
If you love your angels a little dark and wicked, her best-selling Her Angel romance series is for you. If you like strong, powerful, and dark vampires then try the Vampires Realm romance series or any of her stand alone vampire romance books. If you’re looking for vampire romances that are sinful, passionate and erotic then try her Vampire Erotic Theatre romance series. Or if you like hot-blooded alpha heroes who will let nothing stand in the way of them claiming their destined woman then try her new Eternal Mates series. It’s packed with sexy heroes in a world populated by elves, vampires, fae, demons, shifters, and more.
In 2011, five of her six paranormal romance books received Top Pick awards from Night Owl Reviews and Forbidden Blood was nominated as Best PNR Vampire Romance 2011 at The Romance Reviews. In 2012, she was awarded the GraveTells Author of the Year Award, and Heart of Darkness was announced as a 2013 Epic Ebook Awards finalist in the Paranormal Romance category. Many of her books receive five star reviews from readers and review sites alike.
To see her other novels, visit: http://www.felicityheaton.co.uk
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PARANORMAL ROMANCE BOOKS BY FELICITY HEATON
Stories in the Eternal Mates romance series
Book 1: Kissed by a Dark Prince
Book 2: Claimed by a Demon King
Book 3: Tempted by a Rogue Prince
Book 4: Hunted by a Jaguar
Book 5: Craved by an Alpha
Book 6: Bitten by a Hellcat
Book 7: Taken by a Dragon
Book 8: Marked by an Assassin
Book 9: Possessed by a Dark Warrior
Book 10: Awakened by a Demoness
Book 11: Haunted by the King of Death
Stories in the Vampire Erotic Theatre romance series
Book 1: Covet
Book 2: Crave
Book 3: Seduce
Book 4: Enslave
Book 5: Bewitch
Book 6: Unleash
Stories in the Her Angel romance series
Book 1: Her Dark Angel
Book 2: Her Fallen Angel
Book 3: Her Warrior Angel
Book 4: Her Guardian Angel
Book 5: Her Demonic Angel
Book 6: Her Wicked Angel
Book 7: Her Avenging Angel
Book 8: Her Sinful Angel
Stories in the Vampires Realm romance series
Book 1: Prophecy: Child of Light
Book 2: Prophecy: Caelestis & Aurorea
Book 3: Prophecy: Dark Moon Rising
Book 3.1: Spellbound
Book 3.5: Reunion
Book 4: Seventh Circle
Book 5: Winter's Kiss
Book 6: Hunter's Moon
Book 7: Masquerade
Book 8: Hunger
Books 1-3 are also available in one anthology ebook: Prophecy Trilogy
Stories in the In Heat romance series
Book 1: In Heat
Book 2: In Heat: Mating Call
Stand alone paranormal romance books
Blood and Snow
Love Immortal
Ascension
Forbidden Blood
Heart of Darkness
Vampire for Christmas
COPYRIGHT
Copyright © 2016 Felicity Heaton
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means mechanical, electronic, photocopying, recording or otherwise without the prior written consent of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
The right of Felicity Heaton to be identified as the Author of the Work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First printed July 2016
First Edition
Layout and design by Felicity Heaton
All characters in this publication are purely fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
Cover by Felicity Heaton
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