The Replacement (A Culling of Blood and Magic, #1)

by K.M. Rives

“You’re going to be my undoing, woman,” he whispered, and before she could respond, his lips crashed against hers.

Her exhilarating scent lingered on him, teasing him. She was different, though he couldn’t place exactly what made her so. He did know the bloodlust that plagued him all his life ceased when she was near. Instead, his body hummed in response to her and drove him to the brink of insanity with the need to claim her. Even the mere thought of her caused him to shift in his seat. She was it. He didn’t know how he knew, but she was it.

want her to want to be my treasure. One I would cherish every day, body and soul, for the rest of eternity, if she’d allow me to.

The other women saw a prize, but she saw something entirely different. She saw an impossibility. The vampire of her childhood nightmares housed within a man who was so much more than his title

Finding love, especially an epic love, is limitless. It’s not bound by the prejudices we are taught.

“He’s masculine in every sense of the word. So much so that when he holds you, it’s impossible not to feel safe. When he speaks, it's laced in the truth, even if a bit brutish. I think it’s because, even though he has a reputation to uphold, he ultimately cares very deeply about the wellbeing of his court and his kingdom. He puts others above himself, but not for recognition. He does it because it’s the right thing to do. If you entrust him with a secret, he will carry it with him without a single thought of betraying you.”

“I knew you were different from the moment you arrived because of your strength. Well, that and your sarcasm. But it’s okay to not be okay sometimes.”

kind lips had her choking back a sob. To be seen. To be heard. To be recognized as herself was all together a moment she would cherish.

He was a prince in every sense of the word, but not the one who would inherit the vampire throne. He was her prince. Her August. The passionate man who ignited her body. The intellectual who stimulated her brain. She’d take their last dance and hold on to the memory of it because it would have to last her a lifetime.

“It’s more than just physical. I want to know you. Understand you. See what makes you tick. What brings the smile that touches your eyes. The one that makes me hard the moment I see it. I want to comfort you when the world is too much. To slay the demons that haunt you. I want to share my life with you. Expose the deepest parts of me. The parts that no one else gets to see. And honestly, that scares the shit out of me because I’m not a good man, but you make me want to be.”

“Oh, my dear, the war between selfish and selfless is the hardest battle to be fought.”

August promised to ruin her for any other man, but the truth was she ruined him. He was fucking destroyed. No other woman would ever compare.

“Forever in my heart. Forever in my veins. Forever on my lips.”

He’d forever be her prince.

What her heart knew to be true was all that mattered. August was hers, and she’d do anything to keep that bond alive.