Bound by Danger (The Alliance #6) - Brenda K. Davies Page 0,68

working with them for a few days, but she was already getting stronger. She was better at yoga, and she’d discovered she had a talent for punching things.

She was becoming friendly with the women, and there were a couple she really liked. Vicky never failed to make her laugh, and she had a lot in common with Elyse, who was the only other one to have led a human life before coming here.

However, she missed her animals and her friends. She missed her job and having a purpose other than exercise every morning. She missed music and concerts and parties. Her feelings for Lucien grew stronger every day, but she still had no idea where any of this was going between them, or if it was going anywhere.

And though she was dying to learn the answer, she hadn’t mentioned it to him. She yearned for and dreaded the answer in equal measure.

She was acutely aware of the bite marks on the necks of her friends, but Lucien hadn’t tried to drink her blood again. Other than informing her about the existence of mates, he’d never said anything else about it.

She didn’t know what that meant for them. Why would he keep her here if he didn’t want something more from her? Did he feel sorry for her because she’d lost everything?

She really hoped that wasn’t the reason she was here, but then, she also didn’t want him to bite her again. Or at least, that’s what she told herself.

With the number of marks on the others, she couldn’t deny they had to find some pleasure in it. And she recalled the moan the motel clerk released when Lucien bit her. However, she also clearly recalled the pain of his bite.

She inwardly shuddered at the memory, but she couldn’t deny a growing part of her craved having it happen again. She was falling in love with him and ready to share more.

No, if she were honest with herself, she’d admit she’d already fallen for him. Which only made the fact she had no idea what he wanted from her worse.

Was she a convenience for him? When he was back to his full strength and could leave the compound again, would he toss her aside for someone new? And then what would happen to her? Would she live here, wandering around, doing yoga, training, and watching him come and go with other women until he found his mate?

She’d rather face a pit full of Savages again. At least then, she would know what was to become of her. She would prefer to take her chances on the outside than live such a mundane, lonely life.

Callie entered the mansion with Kadence, Elyse, and Simone after their most recent training session. They said their goodbyes and went their different ways.

She opened the door to the room she shared with Lucien and discovered him lying on the bed, recently showered, and wearing only boxer shorts. His back was against the headboard as he held a book on his lap.

When she shut the door, he lowered the book and smiled at her. “How was your day?” he asked.

“It was… a day.”

Lucien sensed the unhappiness in her tone as she leaned against the door. “Did something happen?”

“No.”

“Then what’s wrong?”

Callie didn’t know how to explain, and she was afraid of popping the bubble encasing them. However, she couldn’t keep going through this limbo her life had become. She’d lost control of her life, but she would take that control back.

“This isn’t my life. I like it here, I’m making friends, and I’m safe, but before the Savages took me, I had dreams, goals, and a career. I know I can never get that back, and it’s all gone, but I want something more than this.”

Lucien’s mouth went dry as panic seeped through him. He’d been trying to give her space and time to acclimate to her life here, and he’d believed everything was going well as she’d fallen into a routine and was making friends.

It was becoming increasingly difficult to deny his growing compulsion to turn her into a vampire, but he was waiting to broach the mate topic with her. She’d had so much thrown at her that he didn’t want to upset her by adding more.

As long as she was safe, here, and with him, he could keep his compulsion to change her under control, especially if he fed regularly, which meant he was drinking five bags a day. Even with the Savages having starved him