Embracing Winter Read online Jocelynn Drake (Lords of Discord #4)

Categories Genre: Fantasy/Sci-fi, M-M Romance, Paranormal, Romance Tags Authors: Series: Lords of Discord Series by Jocelynn Drake
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Total pages in book: 149
Estimated words: 139076 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 695(@200wpm)___ 556(@250wpm)___ 464(@300wpm)
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Fox looked back to see the vampire put the “Do Not Disturb” sign on the outside of the door before locking it. The guy looked dead on his feet—no pun intended. And in truth, Fox was starting to crash from his own adrenaline rush as well. Big Sexy, his magic, and the escape from the evil fucks had been enough to get his heart racing, but that run had already started to come to an end.

Standing there now, body trembling from a lack of food, sleep, and an overdose of fear, Fox had to wonder if he’d have had any kind of shot if he’d run in the parking lot. It was looking more like not.

“Man, I really hate to ask, but you got any food?” Fox asked. He stood in the middle of the room, his shaking hand on his empty stomach. “They didn’t feed me much over the past few days. Threw me an apple here and there like it was supposed to be a full meal.”

The vampire winced and shook his head. “Room service won’t be up and running for another few hours.” His eyes widened and he quickly crossed the room where he picked up a large basket filled with random junk food. “Can this hold you for two or three hours?”

Fox nearly whimpered. The damn thing was filled with every gloriously unhealthy food he could think of, and he wanted it all. “You sure? It’s a mini bar. This shit is expensive.”

“Kill it all. I don’t care. Just let me get a few hours of sleep; then we can order room service.”

Fox swallowed back a groan of relief. He did try to eat somewhat healthy, but after days of nothing more than fruit and the occasional granola bar, he was ready for empty calories, carbs, and so much sugar. He fucking earned this salt and chocolate heaven.

Accepting the basket from the vampire, he flopped down onto the bed. He should grab a shower, but he needed to put something in his stomach first.

Just as he was digging through it all, the vampire came to stand beside where he sat, and firmly grabbed his hand. Fox froze in shock, air becoming trapped in his lungs. The vampire lifted his arm to the light, turning it slightly as he inspected the rope burns on his wrists from where he’d tried to break free. Releasing his hand, the vampire carefully touched his chin and tilted his face up, moving it to the left and then right. Fox could only imagine what he was seeing. He hadn’t seen his own reflection in a couple of days, but there were a few sore spots on his face.

“Do you hurt?” the vampire inquired.

“Headache,” Fox managed to whisper. He was lucky to get that word out. There was something so intense about the vampire standing over him. His expression was fierce and angry, but it didn’t feel like those emotions were directed at him necessarily. “But…but that could just be from hunger.”

The vampire grunted and released him. He walked across the room and picked up a black bag Fox hadn’t even noticed on the floor. Setting it on the end of the bed, the vampire dug through it before pulling out what looked to be a first aid kit.

“Really?” Fox said, feeling a little braver now that the vampire proved he wasn’t looking to tear his throat out for breakfast. “Vampires need first aid? I thought you healed fast.”

“We do. Just not as fast as the movies like to show it. Sometimes I need a Band-Aid to hold my guts in until I heal,” he muttered.

Fox gasped and tilted his head, trying to look into the vampire’s eyes. “Was that a joke? Did you just make a joke?” The vampire stopped and glared at Fox, making him chuckle. “It was an adorable joke. A good first attempt,” he teased.

The vampire ignored him as he tossed two new packets of aspirin at him. He added a small tube of ointment to the pile. “For the headache and the rope burns.” He straightened with a roll of gauze in his hand. “We should probably wrap your wrists, so they don’t get infected.”

“Uh, no. Thanks, but I’d rather not look like I tried to slit my wrists.”

The vampire narrowed his eyes at him. “But you’re comfortable looking like an escapee from a bad BDSM scene.”

For a heartbeat, Fox was rendered speechless by that assessment, but then a flood of questions and thoughts filled his brain if that was the vampire’s first thought when he looked at his wrists. A slow smile spread across Fox’s lips and the vampire looked very, very uncomfortable.

“I have soooo many questions now,” Fox said, almost purring.

“Eat,” the vampire barked. He shoved the gauze into the kit and returned it to the bag.


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