Blood and Redemption (Cassandra Myles Witch Series) Read Free Page B

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    I was having a rare moment of mindless me time in Quintus’ study when I heard a faint knock on the door. I quickly shut my magazine. I didn’t want anyone to know I was reading “Ten Ways to Please Your Man in Bed.” Quintus poked his head in the door.
    “Can I come in?”
    “Of course; this is your study.”
    “I consider this house as much your home as mine. I always have.”
    I knew he meant it and it was a comfort to know I had a home.
    “Thank you, and you have always made sure I felt at home.”
    “I know we all agreed that to celebrate Christmas just seemed wrong this year, but I couldn’t resist giving you something. I should have done it a long time ago.” He had a mischievous glint in his eye as he sidled further into the room. He had his hands behind his back and he was looking a little too pleased with himself.
    “What did you do, Quintus?” Please don’t be an engagement ring, please please please. My stomach fell to the floor as I waited for him to give me my gift. I wasn’t ready to go on a date and I certainly wasn’t ready for marriage. Why had my mind gone there so quickly?
    He brought it from behind his back. It was a flat rectangular box. Relief flooded me and I felt foolish that I had even thought he was going to propose. I took the exquisitely wrapped gift with the velvet black bow and started to unwrap it. Who would think a 2000-year-old vampire would have a gift-wrapping room in his mansion?
    I pulled off the top of the box and peeled back the tissue paper. Two smiling faces looked back at me. Tears immediately rolled down my cheeks. It was a picture of my parents, taken the year they died. A close-up of their faces spoke so much about how they were when they were together. Mom looked so happy and Dad looked at her the way he always did, like she was the best thing he’d ever seen.
    I had been so terrified even to think about my parents. I couldn’t bear to have that image of the last time I had seen them in my head. The fear had kept me from having the comfort that came with seeing them happy. Now, looking at their faces—so full of life, so much in love—I knew how wrong I had been to have no reminders of the people who had loved me the most. I couldn’t pull my eyes away from them.
    “I know Lucius told you that I own your house and cottage back in Nova Scotia. I got the caretaker to search for pictures and have them sent here. The rest are boxed up in one of the spare rooms so you can look through everything when you get the chance. You were quite an adorable little girl, by the way.”
    “I love it and I’m sorry I haven’t thanked you for buying the house and the cottage. When this is all over, maybe we could go there so I could see them. I miss the lake; we had so much fun there when I was a kid.” I realized I was smiling. The tears rolling down my cheeks were happy ones. I had locked all the good memories away with that one bad one and now I knew it was safe to let them in.
    He pulled me up from the chair into his arms. His cool lips brushed my ear. “I love you, Cassandra Myles.” A warm pulse spread through my body. My stomach erupted with a million butterflies.
    He tilted my head up and his lips came down on mine. Being in someone’s arms felt so good, I lost myself in the comfort it brought. I had been keeping my distance from everyone so I could concentrate on what I had to do to get back to the wolf compound. His strong hands gripped the back of my neck, bringing me in closer. Then Declan flashed across my mind and I pulled away.
    “I’m sorry. I’m just not ready.”
    The glow coming from his eyes was blinding and his fangs glinted in the firelight. His voice was dry and husky. He took a step back before he spoke, like he didn’t trust himself to be that close.
    “I understand. Can I ask if you have any feelings in that way towards me? I don’t want to push you, but I thought telling you would make it easier to be around you. It has been the