No.12

"Bloody hell," I muttered as the mouthwatering scent of Sunday Fallon filled my nose and overwhelmed me yet again.

Night after night she'd gone for a run, and night after night I'd kept to myself, stalked her from the shadows, making sure she didn't see me. Avoiding her notice during the day hadn't been as easy, but I'd managed. She didn't need to have any reason to be in my orbit. Not if she wanted to keep breathing. Not with the way her blood called me home.

But tonight was different. Sunday wasn't out for a midnight run. I'd watched and waited just like every evening. She hadn't left her room. How had I missed this?

My heart lurched as I rounded the corner of the trail in the woods and found her in nothing but a thin nightgown, her body crumpled on the ground.

No.

Rage boiled inside me.

No. This couldn't have happened. Someone else got to her before I did. Someone ruined everything. I rushed to her, desperate to catch the scent of the creature who'd hurt her and whom I'd be killing as soon as I could trace him. Except she wasn't dead or hurt. She was curled up and fast asleep, her dark hair strewn across the path.

"What the fuck are you doing out here?" I whispered the question even as I knelt next to her, fingers itching to touch skin I knew I'd find warm and soft.

She moaned, and her lips turned down in a frown. "No. Don't go. Wait. I have so many questions. "

My stomach twisting, I almost answered her before it hit me. She was dreaming. She was a sleepwalker. Someone was going to have to bolt her door at night to keep our little wolf princess from wandering off.

"You may be more trouble than you're worth," I grumbled.

I couldn't leave her out here, vulnerable, alone, scantily clad. No one else could see her like this, not if I had anything to say about it. I scooped her into my arms and had to fight the groan that built in my chest at the feel of her skin against mine. My cock throbbed and fangs descended, ready to take her as they always were, every night. But this time? This time, she was within reach.

"Wh-what are you doing?" she asked, her eyelids fluttering open as I headed toward Blackthorne Hall.

"Shh, dove, I'll get you home. "Get you safe."

Her sleepy nod was the only answer I got, but it was all the affirmation I needed. I had her. She was in my arms and at my disposal. The elevator opened the moment I pressed my thumb to the scanner. There were definite perks to being vampire royalty, privacy chief among them. I should have taken her back to her room, where I was sure her flatmate would be sleeping, unaware of Sunday's nocturnal venture through the forest. Instead, I took her straight to mine, not even bothering to pretend I was going to stop on her floor. I have her now. She couldn't get away. I'd been hunting her for the last two weeks, and I was only so strong.

Kicking open my door, I strode through the living room of my suite and straight to my bedroom. I needed to see her splayed out on my bed, to get her scent all over my sheets, so when I had to let her go, I could remember she was here. Her soft moan when I placed her on the mattress went straight to my cock again, and I had to force myself not to press my lips to her throat, bite down, and drink deeply. God, but I wanted to mark her skin so everyone knew where she belonged. whom she belonged to.

I bared my fangs in a soundless snarl, maddened by the reminder that others were already sniffing around, coveting what was mine. I'd noted each of the offenders, already planning on repaying each transgression tenfold. Kingston was the worst of them all; his wild gaze was too focused on her whenever she entered the room. His attention was unwavering, his intent clear. He wanted her, my wolf princess. But he'd never have her.

It was a lesson he needed to learn, and soon. But not tonight. Tonight, Sunday was here. In my bed. And there was nothing anyone could do about it.