“Blaze—”
“I’ll check it out,” North volunteers. He leans over and kisses my cheek before setting off down the rocks, calling out her name as he goes.
Blaze pivots into me, and as we stand there, he toys with a few stray strands of my hair.
“Are you okay?” he asks.
“Which part are you asking about? My head, my heart, or my vagina?”
He smiles like he can’t help it, and it’s one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. “We’ll go from the top down,” he decides.
“Order of importance, got it,” I taunt him.
He laughs. “God, I love you,” he says, and it’s so offhand that it takes me a minute to remember we’re only a week into this and not a decade. My smile fades, and he sinks his palm to my cheek, swallowing as if he’s scared I might decide to run. “I do, Juniper,” he whispers.
It’s my turn to gulp. “My head tells me it’s too soon to make any decisions based on a deep infatuation and feeling of safety. However, my heart… It’s burning. It’s dilating and aching everytime I look at you. My whole body is restless, and while I don’t logically know what any of that means, I know that you make me so fucking happy that the thought of going on without you feels hopeless. Even still… I need you to promise me something.”
“Anything,” he says, sliding a hand around my waist.
“Don’t lie to me again. Don’t keep things from me just to protect me. If we’re going to be in this… If I’m going to be hidden and bound to you both, I can’t feel like you’re only telling me part of the truth. I want all of it—the good, bad, and horribly ugly. You tell me the truth always, no matter what it might mean.”
His thumb swipes across my cheek. “Okay.”
“Promise me, Blaze. On my life. Promise me.”
A muscle feathers in his jaw, and while he appears to be battling with himself over the decision to keep me safe or tell me the truth, ultimately, he exhales.
“I swear,” he says.
“On my life?”
He hesitates as if the weight of the words means something different to him. Like speaking such a thing out loud would jinx the universe into pushing us toward more peril than we’re already destined for.
“I swear on your life,” he whispers.
A feeling jolts my center and spreads over my extremities. Blaze tilts my chin back and kisses me, sealing our own bond. My knees weaken, and I breathe easier than I have all night.
“By the way, my vagina is really tender, so I need you two to be gentle with her later,” I tell him.
Blaze chuckles and leans his forehead against mine. “I think you’re ready for us, angel. We can seal the spell between us all together.”
“Is that part of the process?” I ask, curious.
“No. It doesn’t have to be. But it’ll make it much more powerful.”
I exhaled jaggedly at the thought.
Pack barks again, and I lean my head on his chest as we both turn to look at her and North running around in the sand.
“We might have to put him on a leash, too,” I say, watching him throw a snowball at her. She launches at his feet, nips him, and he jumps backward trying to get away from her.
“Sounds like something you two should do on your time together,” he says.
I snicker, and Blaze kisses the top of my head as he hugs me close.
“I’m glad you told us about your father. I know that was hard,” he whispers.
“Thank you for making me feel safe enough to tell you,” I say, looking up at him.
