Then, just as suddenly as it started, it’s over.
Vex tears himself away from me, stumbling back like I burned him.His chest is heaving, his eyes wild and white, his fangs fully extended.He looks wrecked.Ruined.
“Fuck,” he breathes.“Fuck, Tessa, I can’t—we can’t—”
“Vex—”
“Go back to your room.”His voice is raw, desperate.“Now.Before I do something we’ll both regret.”
I want to argue.Want to close the distance between us again and make him admit that he wants this as badly as I do.But the look on his face stops me.He’s holding on by a thread, and if that thread breaks, I don’t know what will happen.
So, I turn and walk away, my lips still tingling from his kiss, my body aching with want I don’t fully understand.
But I feel his eyes on me the entire way back to my room.
And I know, with absolute certainty, this is far from over.
Iclose the door behindme as quietly as I can, leaning against it and pressing my fingers to my mouth.My lips feel swollen, tender.Claimed.I can still taste him, cold and dangerous and so addictive.
Hannah is still asleep, oblivious, and I’m grateful for that.Thank god, I don’t think I could form words right now, even if I wanted to.My heartbeat is a snare drum against my ribs when a soft deliberate tap sounds against my door.
I pray it’s Vex.
It isn’t.
Blade fills the doorway when I open it, broad shoulders blocking the hall light.His gaze goes straight to Hannah.
“I need her,” Blade says, voice low.
Moving back, I open the door wider.Blade moves past me, gentle in a way that feels unreal for a man guilt like a glacier.He crouches bedside the bed and slides his arms under Hannah with absurd ease, lifting her as if she weighs nothing at all
Her eyes flutter open.Sleepy.Soft.
Then she sees him.
A slow smile spreads across her face, dreamy and warm.“Blade,” she breathes gaze locked on him.“It’s good to see you, my mate.”
The word mate vibrates through the room, through me, through him.I see the moment it hits him, not shock, not confusion only recognition and acceptance.Something fierce and ancient settles behind his eyes.Blade’s mouth curves, tender in a way that shouldn’t be possible for a monster.
“It’s good to see you too, babe,” he murmurs.
Andfuckthe softness in his voice is almost painful to witness.
Hannah rests her head against his chest without hesitation, fingers curling around his neck.He adjusts his hold around her, cradling her as though she’s precious.
The air thickens around them, humming with a bond I don’t understand but I can feel pressing against my skin.It’s intimate in a way that has nothing to do with sex.Something older and deeper.
Blade glances over his shoulder at me once, a silent thank you or maybe a warning, I honestly can’t tell, then carries out with slow steady steps.His door closes a moment later, soft but final.
And I’m left standing in the doorway, breath caught in my throat.
I should be horrified.
I should be terrified.
Instead, I understand.
For the first time, I really understand.
