Blood Slave: A Realm Walker Novel (20 page)

***

It was hours later when she began to stir. Thomas lay awake in the dark, watching her move. In a few minutes she’d want to make love again, and she’d want his blood again. And he’d give it to her and take from her as well. Juliana didn’t realize it yet, but Morgan had succeeded in one part of his goal. She was a blood slave. She’d do anything for his bite, and because Morgan had fed her his in such quantities, she’d do anything for Thomas’s blood, as well. And because of the nature of their relationship she’d want to make love while they did it.

Thomas would indulge her, not that it was a hardship to make love to his mate, but he wanted her in control of her desires.

He would wean her off the need, but it would take time. And she was going to have to stay constantly in his presence while they worked on it. She would not be pleased by that.

She turned into him and her hand ran up his chest. Tilting her head back she gave him a sleepy smile. “Hey.”

He returned the smile, though he could feel it was a little sad. “Hey, yourself.”

“I need you,” she said and stretched to kiss his lips.

“I know you do.” He ran his fingers through her hair and returned the kiss. She melted against him, and he held her tighter, reluctant to let her go.

“It’ll be okay, Thomas,” she whispered against his skin. “We’ll figure it out.”

He frowned down at the top of her head and she chuckled. “You think loud when you’re upset.”

With a groan, he closed his eyes. He’d been so used to her keeping her shields up, he hadn’t bothered to check his own. She looked up at him, green eyes sharp, determined. “He won’t win and he has nothing to do with the reason I want you.” She moved until she was on top of him, her legs straddling his hips. “Now, make love to me.”

He studied her, willing her to feel the depth of his love for her. She looked at him with such faith, for the first time all night he had no doubt they could make it through this. Together. He kissed her again. “As you wish,
Joya
.”

*****

Acknowledgments

As always, it took an army to get this book out into the wild. Thank you first and foremost to my husband and my children. Your unwavering support and willingness to step up and help mean the world to me.

Thank you to my mother for everything you do. My life would be so much worse without you in it. You do so much to help all of us and I don’t think I can ever say thank you enough.

To my dad, thanks for letting me still be daddy’s girl even at my ever advancing age. You’ve never failed to let me know how proud you are and that means the world to me.

Thank you to my brother for being the greatest uncle in the world.

To the rest of my family, especially my in-laws, I couldn’t ask for a better support system. No matter what I do you’re always there cheering me on. You guys rock.

To my coworkers, thank you for your support. You don’t have to have anything to do with this second job of mine but you get almost as excited as me when a new book comes out.

Terri, your help with this one was invaluable. Thank you for pushing me and listening to me moan when I thought I couldn’t do it. Thank you for your awesome notes and feedback.

Rachel, thank you for being an ear to vent my frustrations with so many things. We both had a heck of a year and we made it through. We’re onto bigger and better things and we’ll do it together. We got this.

Alta, every day you inspire me. You are an amazing person of incredible strength. Always remember that and know that I love you even if we don’t see near enough of each other.

Sarah L., thank you for the beta feedback. You are awesome and I’m looking forward to working with you in the future.

And to everyone that read this far, you are the reason I do what I do. Thank you.

About the Author

Kathleen Collins lives in the Midwest with her husband, two boys and two loveable mutts. When she’s not writing, she works as a clerk in the local prosecutor’s office. There, she sees all manner of things she doesn’t bother writing about because no one would believe any of it anyway. The rare instances she actually finds some spare time she spends it playing Munchkin or Castle Panic. Occasionally she scrapbooks and may even get the chance to read a book or two in there. She is currently hard at work on her next project.

You can find her online in the following locations:

Website:
www.kathleencollins.net

Facebook:
www.facebook.com/kathleencollinsauthor

Twitter:
www.twitter.com/kathy_collins

Other works by Kathleen Collins

Available from Carina Press:

Realm Walker (Realm Walker #1)

Death’s Daughter (Realm Walker #2)

Also Available:

The Making of Michael Bishop (A Realm Walker short story)