Page 69 of Thorn Evermore
His face relaxes a bit, his eyelids fluttering before he closes them. This is the worst of it.
I wrap my arms around him as his body convulses and he gasps for breath. It’s painful to feel so helpless, but I know the outcome.
He’s mine forever now.
Chapter 21
KYSON
Pain radiates through my chest, threatening to split me open. Everything hurts. My mouth, my fingers, my body. I try to open my eyes but they’re impossibly heavy, like weights hold them down. I want to see Thorn’s face, but I settle for his presence wrapped around me, holding me close.
“Shh, my love,” Thorn whispers, kissing my forehead. “It’s almost over.”
Another tremor of pain tears through me, squeezing my organs and choking me. Just when I’m not sure I can take anymore, it subsides, falling away like leaves in autumn.
I blink heavy lids until they finally part enough for me to see Thorn’s handsome face hovering over me.
“Welcome back, gorgeous,” Thorn whispers.
“Am I gorgeous?” My voice doesn’t quite sound like my own. It’s deeper and hoarse. “Vampire gorgeous?”
He smiles, flashing his fangs. “Yes, you are vampire gorgeous. The most beautiful amongst all of them.”
I lift my hand to touch his face, but gasp, marveling at the long white nails at the tips of my fingers. “Wow.”
“How do you feel?”
I attempt a deep breath but find it unnecessary. Slowly, itsinks in that my eyesight is blurry. I remove my glasses and a smile spreads across my face.
“I can see you clearly.”
Thorn frowns. “Oh, but I love the glasses. We’ll have to get some for cosmetic reasons.”
“You’re weird. You have a nerd kink.”
“No kink shaming, love, and not all nerds. Just you.”
“I’m good with that.” I try to sit up but the room spins. “Whoa.”
“Slowly.”
Thorn helps me, and once I’m upright, my attention moves to the soft rolls of my stomach, which are still there. “Why…” I frown. “Why am I still chubby?”
“What do you mean?”
“I thought… maybe all my flaws would be gone.”
“They are. Your eyesight was fixed. You have no blemishes, no scars, no ailments. You will always be in perfect health.”
“But…” I poke my soft belly. “I’m still overweight.”
“Obviously, you’re not. This is your perfect body. If you were unhealthy in any way, it would have changed during your transition process.” He places his hand over my tummy and rubs. “You’re perfect as you are. You’ve just been conditioned to believe you aren’t by unreasonable societal standards.”
“But…” I blow out a frustrated breath. “If you had found me twenty years ago, I would’ve been at the height of my youth and stayed like that. Now I have crows’ feet and gray hair in places. I’m gonna look like this forever. I can’t believe I have a vampire boyfriend who didn’t find me until I was old.”
Thorn’s expression immediately hardens. “I won’t tolerate this kind of talk, Kyson. The universe is billions of years old. This strange rock has floated in space for longer than our minds can even comprehend. Nature unfolds in perfect symphony, disrupted only by human influence. Don’t you see that’s what has happened to you? You are beautiful andperfect as you were made, but human influence and a poisoned society has disrupted your view.”
“That’s easy for you to say. You look like a dream come true.”