“Fine,” Maeve says, sweeping her coat from the chair and throwing it over her shoulders. “We’ll both go.”
Maeve shoves past Eloise toward the foyer. I follow. I refuse to leave until I know Maeve is on the other side of the door.
“No,” Eloise says firmly. I stop. Maeve does the same. “Maeve, I’ll call you tomorrow.” Her piercing gaze locks on her friend and then shifts to me. “Damien, I want you to stay. Please.”
“Eloise, you don’t know what you're doing,” Maeve bellows.
“I know well enough!” Eloise’s crossed arms hold a marked tension. For the first time, I’m gripped with despair and truly sorry I’ve caused her the pain I see in her eyes.
Maeve shakes her head one last time. “Never say I didn’t warn you.”
“I won’t.”
The witch exits the house without another word. Eloise locks the door behind her, then whirls to face me.
“She’s right, you know. You have power. It’s possible this attraction between us is magical… metaphysical.” I hate admitting the truth and my voice comes out gritty, the words forced.
“Are you suggesting you only love me for my power?”
“No,” I say with certainty. I should stop talking. I’mrevealing too much. “But I will not deceive you. Your magic is strong enough to bind me. I sensed it last night. Maeve was telling the truth.”
“But my power isn’t why you’re here.”
“No.” I swallow. “I fell for you long before I thought you had any magic. My feelings for you are true, but your feelings for me might not be. Magical creatures create magical bonds. You’d do well to fear what is happening between us.”
“I don’t believe that for a second. Nothing I feel for you is because of some magical spell between us,” she hisses through her teeth and takes another step toward me. “Is it true you want to mate with me?”
Her words burn through my blood, and my cock grows hard instantly. “Yes.”
“What’s that mean? Sex?”
“More than sex.” My voice is a rusted-out scrap heap, nothing but grit and growl.
“Then what does it mean to mate with a shade?” Her lids droop, her gaze drifting to my mouth.
The short leash I’ve kept myself on all evening slips from my hands, and I sweep into her like a dark wind, only stopping when her back is against the wall. Spreading her robe open, my hands grip her waist, and I press myself against her, my lips lowering to her ear.
“Careful, little dragon,” I growl. “When you speak about becoming my mate, it does something to me.” I hoist her up my body until we’re face-to-face. Her legs wrap around my hips. “To be a shade’s mate is to behis. To belong to him in every way. To be claimed by him. Once you are mine, you will always be mine. Do not tease a commitment you’re not willing to bear.”
“Do you want that?” she asks softly. “Do you want me to be yours?”
“More than you know.” Running my thumbs along her bottom ribs, I grind against her.
“I want that too,” she says. “I want to be yours.”
It’s almost more than I can resist. With her pinned against the wall, I wrap one hand around her throat in a loose grip, and lick along her jugular, barely keeping my instincts in check. But it’s wrong to do this when her grandmother has just passed. She’s vulnerable. It’s too soon. “Then you will be mine. But not yet. Not now, when your wings are clipped by loss and heartache. When I claim you, it will be at your strongest.”
Her breath hitches. “Not tonight?”
I swallow hard. “No.”
Her arms wrap around my neck, and her voice is all breath as she says, “Just sex then.”
Her lips crash down on mine.
37
Change of Heart
