She shrugged. “I don’t know,” she said hesitantly.
He stared at her for what felt like forever, and final y, he sighed, as if resolved.
“Very wel then,” he said. “You can fol ow me to my room, if you wish.”
Pol y stood there, her heart pounding, overwhelmed with excitement. Had she heard correctly?
Sergei turned and walked away, and she hurried to catch up.
“I’d like that,” she said, as she walked. “Very much.”
CHAPTER THIRTY ONE
Sam couldn’t get over the concert. He had never heard classical music before, and he couldn’t get over that guy’s voice. The guy seemed like kind of a jerk, but he had to hand it to him: he real y could sing.
More importantly, his night with Kendra had been amazing.
She hadn’t stopped cuddling up to him the whole night. He never knew what to expect with her: she was hot and cold. It seemed that once she’d gotten sight of Caitlin, she’d become super territorial and possessive. She barely left his side since.
He didn’t mind. He felt like she was total y into him, and nothing made him happier. He felt completely glued to her side.
As soon as the concert ended, she’d taken his hand and led him out the room, away from al the people—and he hadn’t resisted. She didn’t want to stick around and talk to the singer. She wanted him to herself. And she clearly had plans for them for the night. With a mischievous smile, she led him away, and he had been thril ed.
She led him down a back hal way, through a huge chamber, and up a flight of steps.
“You haven’t seen my room yet,” Kendra said with a smile.
“It’s the grandest in the palace, except maybe for Marie’s.
Of course, it should be.”
Sam couldn’t wait. He thought back to his time with her, after horseback riding, and how amazing it had been.
They ascended another flight of marble steps, and a servant opened a set of double doors for them, and then, as they entered, closed it behind them.
They barely got a few feet, when she turned and began tearing off his clothes.
She covered his face and neck in kisses, and he reciprocated, caught up in her whirlwind of passion.
“Sam,” she whispered in his ear, as she pul ed off his shirt.
“Wil you do something for me?”
Sam could hardly think straight.
“Yes,” he said, kissing her neck.
“Anything?” she asked.
He nodded, as he kissed her.
“I want to be with you forever,” she said, kissing his neck.
“So do I,” Sam said, and he meant it. He’d never been so obsessed with a girl. He couldn’t help thinking back to his time with Samantha. That had been intense, too. But nothing like this. She was the whole package for him. In fact, if he were given the choice to marry her on the spot, to spend his whole life with her, he would do it.
“I know how we can spend forever together,” she said.
“How?” he asked her, between kisses.
She pul ed her head back, took his face in her hands, and stared at him. Her aqua eyes transfixed his.
“You can turn me,” she said.
Sam was shocked at her request. Immediately, he sensed that would be forbidden. That if he did it, he would be an outcast. That they would both be on their own. He remembered the one rule he had been given when first introduced to this place—and he certainly didn’t want to break it.
On the other hand, it seemed so natural, like the perfect way for them to be together, forever.
And it was what she wanted—and she was the one asking for it.
“I…” Sam began, not knowing what to say. “I’m not sure if it’s…al owed.”
Kendra suddenly pul ed back and frowned, a storm of emotion crossing her face.
“Of course it’s al owed!” she snapped. “The only people who say it’s not are just jealous—
jealous they don’t have a human they love that they can turn.”
Sam had never thought of it that way. Maybe she was right.
Maybe he had just been misled.
“I…” he began, then stopped, stil not knowing what to say.
She suddenly looked down, and her eyes wel ed with tears.
She looked so sad, Sam could hardly stand it.
She slowly nodded.
“Now I see,” she said. “You don’t real y love me, as I love you.”
Sam felt his heart breaking. He never wanted to hurt her.
He took her by the shoulders, and pul ed up her close and looked into her eyes.
“Kendra, don’t say that,” he said. “I do love you. I real y do.”
Even as he said it, he knew the words to be true. It felt surreal to him, that he would feel that strongly about her so quickly, but he did.
Her eyes suddenly fil ed with hope again.
“But you don’t want to be with me forever?” she asked.
“I do,” Sam said. And as he said it, he realized it was true.
“So what’s wrong then?” she asked. “Is it that you are afraid? Afraid of what others wil say?
Afraid that they wil punish you?”
Sam scowled. “I’m not afraid of anyone. And I don’t have to answer to anyone.”
She smiled back, looking victorious.
“That’s what I thought about you. That’s the man that I thought you were.”
The more she spoke, the more Sam felt that she was right.
After al , why should he have to answer to anyone?
“Then show them,” she said. “Prove it. Prove it to me. Turn me. Make me yours forever.”
She came in and kissed him hard on his mouth, and as she did, he could no longer resist the primal instinct overwhelming him.
He suddenly leaned back, and with a primal snarl, his front teeth extended, longer than he ever imagined they could.
And he plunged forward and sunk his teeth deep into her neck.
She cried out with a gasp of pain—but it was too late now.
His teeth were deep in her neck, and as she leaned back, he held her head with one hand, and with the other plunged deeper, unable to stop himself, as he felt her life force fil his veins.
He drank and drank and drank, as if there were no tomorrow.
CHAPTER THIRTY TWO
Pol y lay in bed, besides Sergei, both of them naked, beneath the sheets. She rested her cheek on his shoulder, and looked up at him, studying his face. He lay there, eyes open, staring at the ceiling, expressionless.