We’re still taking things slow, but that’s becoming increasingly difficult the more time we spend together. I still haven’t told him about the mate bond. I know I need to tell Jared soon, but the timing never feels right. At first, I didn’t want him to feel pressured. Now I’m worried he’ll think I was hiding it from him because I wasn’t happy about it.
Things have been steadily heating up between the two of us, and it feels important to be honest with him before we take things any further. Right now, we’re snuggled up on my sofa for our weekly movie night. I’m laid between Jared’s long legs with my head resting on his broad chest, and he’s absentmindedly skimming one hand up and down the length of my arm. We’ve been taking turns showing each other our favourite films and television episodes. I’ve only watched a few human-made films Gwyn’s forced on me, and Jared hadn’t seen any supe-made films before—he didn’t know they existed. While I’m still not sold on them, I find the human films and TV programmes are much more enjoyable when I’m watching them with my mate, no matter how many things they get wrong about supes.
Tonight Jared’s making me watch an episode of a show about good witches who fight evil. This episode, they’re trying to save one witch from turning into a vampire. We’re only a few minutes in when the dark and brooding male vampire on screen shapeshifts and I can’t hold back my giggles. “That’s ridiculous. I’ve never heard of a vampire who can transform into a swarm of bats. Maybeone batif they were part shifter or witch, but bursting into a bat tornado?” I dissolve into a puddle of laughter.
Jared bands his arms around my torso. “By now you should know better than to expect the human stuff to get things right.” The warmth of his breath and gentle scratch of his stubble against the side of my face make me squirm. “Besides, you supes hardly get everything right about humans.” He nips shell of myear, and my breath catches. Then his words register, and I turn to face him, straddling his thighs with an indignant huff.
“Excuse you. Our films do a great job of portraying humans.”
Now it’s Jared’s turn to laugh. “In the last film you showed me the human womanbroke her armknocking on a door too hard.” OK, he has a point about that one, but the whole film wassupposedto be ridiculous. “We’re, I mean, they’re weaker than supes, but humans are more robust than you lot think.”
“Fine, I’ll let you have that one, but you have to admit on the whole we do a much better job writing humans than humans do writing supernaturals.”
“Your films should be more accurate—supes know humans exist and interact with them. Most humans have no clue that the supernatural is real.”
My fingers toy with the hair at the nape of his neck. “You may have a point.” He arches his brows. “OK, you definitely have a point.” I roll my eyes. “Happy?”
“Ecstatic.” His hazel eyes drop to my lips, the humour in them darkening to something more intense. Suddenly I’m extremely aware of every point of contact between us. My thighs on either side of his. My light grip on the back of Jared’s neck. His large hands on my hips.
I’m not sure who leans in first, but our mouths meet in a teasing kiss filled with the promise of more. He uses his grip on my hips to draw me closer, as our tongues engage in a sensuous dance. The frame of his glasses bumps against my face, and I break the kiss to take them off, stretching to set them on the coffee table. Jared doesn’t stop, trailing kisses down the column of my throat.
I pull off my sweatshirt and fling it behind me, then Jared leans in again, manoeuvring us so I’m flat on my back with him stretched out on top of me. Reaching one hand behind hisneck, he removes his own jumper in a move that would leave me tangled in my clothes but only makes him look hotter.
Jared fuses his lips to mine once more, using one arm to keep some of his weight off me. The warm palm of his free hand slips beneath the hem of my t-shirt, gliding up my ribs, and I gasp, arching my back.
“Wait,” I murmur against his eager mouth, using my grip on his shoulders to nudge him back.
“Too much?” He asks, pulling back slightly.
“No.” I reach behind me, pulling out the remote that was digging into my back, then wave it at him. “This.”
He chuckles, taking the offending contraption and setting it on the coffee table. “Cockblocked by an inanimate object—that’s a new one.” He sits up, encircling my wrists to pull me with him, our panting breaths slowly returning to normal. “Probably for the best.” The pads of his thumbs stroke my pulse points. “It’s getting late.”
“Yeah,” I reply, heart sinking with a cocktail of disappointment and shame. Itisfor the best. I need to come clean about our bond before we take things further, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. While I understand and respect Jared’s decision to take things slowly, part of me wonders if he’s only holding back now because he can sense I’m keeping something from him. The more he practices connecting to his magic, the less effective the amulet is at blocking his powers. Even his magical signature is more obvious now. Where there was nothing, he reads as a low-powered demon—still nowhere near his true strength, but there’s no denying that the amulet isn’t working as well as it used to.
Jared kisses me again, but the fire from moments ago is gone. This kiss is slow and sweet. His hands slide from me slowly, as if he doesn’t really want to let me go. His reluctant sighmakes me feel better. It’s nice knowing I’m not the only one who finds it difficult to say goodnight.
Stars, this is ridiculous. I should just rip off the plaster and tell him now. Jared pulls his thick cable-knit jumper back on, and I clench my fists, steeling myself. I can do this. Just tell him. My heartbeat ratchets higher. It’s fine. If he’s upset, we’ll deal with it. “Jared, there’s?—”
My phone rings, cutting off my confession before it really starts. “Sorry, one sec.” Grabbing the device off the coffee table, my brows tug together when I see Eve’s photo lighting up the screen. “It’s Eve, I should answer.” It’s strange for her to be calling so late, especially on a school night.
Jared finishes lacing up his boots, then presses one last kiss to my cheek. “No worries, I can let myself out. See you tomorrow.”
Guilt gnaws at my gut as I watch the door to my cottage swing closed behind him. I’ll tell him soon. “Hey, what’s up?”
“Michael asked me to the dance!”
Wincing, I hold the phone a good few inches away from my ear. Nothing like the excited shriek of a teenage girl to nearly burst an eardrum. “What?” I ask, putting the phone on speaker in case there’s more screaming.
“Michael asked me to go to the Halloween dance with him.” Ah, now the squealing makes sense. On Halloween, the closing night of the festival, there’s always a dance in the town square. Almost everyone attends.
“That’s great. Have you told your mum yet?”
“I was hoping you could help me tell her.”
“Were you now?” I chuckle, settling back on the couch and curling my legs up beneath me.
“Please? You know she has that whole thing about me not dating before I’m eighteen, but this isn’t some random supe—it’sMichael. We’ve been friends forever.”
