I lay in James’s arms, my back to his front. We’d been awake since noon, but neither of us felt inclined to move, even though we both desperately needed a shower. I’d been sweating all night, but I was… content. James had his arm threaded under my pillow, the fingers of his left hand laced through mine—he had refused to leave my side throughout the night. He played with my engagement ring, the colors reflecting the sunlight coming through the open window. The sun was a rarity during New England winters, but it added to the warmth in the room from James’s body.
Or maybe that was just how he mademefeel… Warm.
“What do you mean?” he murmured dreamily. Lately, he’d been choosing to sleep more often. He claimed it was because it made him more effective at work, but I think it’s because he couldn’t wakemeup whenever he wanted—not without bribes or consequences, at least.
“The ring.”
“What about it?” James said, nuzzling into my neck. Like it could sense his presence, the venom trapped beneath my skin heated, sending a dull throb of pain through my body.
The aches and nausea I’d felt after our bath only lasted a few hours, long enough to trick us into taking the day off in case I was turning. Most of the symptoms faded away sometime in the early morning, and James had tried his best to hide his disappointment when I’d woken up human. Despite the second bite not working, I was still sluggish and weak and with the larger quantity of venom that had gone into me the night before, so James wasn’t inclined to bite me again.
Yet.
I wasn’t going to give up that easily.
“First off,” I said, “how long were you and my kid scheming behind my back?”
James’s laugh rumbled my back. “I didn’t need a supernatural bond to know we were soulmates.”
“James…” I warned. He knew that I didn’t do butterflies, but that didn’t stop him from giving them to me at every turn.
“To answer your question, it was right after we rebuilt the bar. I hoped you’d adjust to the idea of marriage someday and it gave me time I needed to craft the perfect proposal. Then you blurted out the two words I never thought I’d hear out of your mouth, and I couldn’t let all my hard work go to waste.” James nuzzled into my neck, his mark tingling beneath the attention.
I shuddered. “Hungry, vampire?”
“For you? Always.”
James’s fangs crept out, clearly in the mood to play. With my energy returning, so was I. I rolled my bottom lip between my teeth, biting down hard to keep my mouth shut. He needed my verbal permission to feed, and I was happy to drag things out.
“After I turn,” I said, relishing his groan when I didn’t say what he wanted to hear, “will I taste the same?”
“You will,” he said, pulling me closer. “Though I think you’ll taste even better because you’ll taste likeminein every way that matters.”
“Oh, God,” I said, rolling onto my back. “Keep talking like that.”
Before, that kind of talk would have put a giant, Ryder-shaped hole in the wall. Now, Icravedit.
“You aremine, Ryder.” He shifted on top of me, pressing his lips to my chest and nibbling an electric path down my stomach. “This mark on your neck? And this one here?” He paused to kiss the crescent-shaped splotch on my ribcage. “These mean you belong to me, and only me.”
My lips parted on a sigh, and James’s mouth disappeared below the blanket. I shut my eyes, anticipating his mouth on my swollen cock…
And my phone rang. I didn’t plan to answer it, but I glanced at the screen anyway. I whined, tugging James from beneath the blanket.
“Pause,” I told him. “Give me five minutes. It’s my mom.”
Pouting, my vampire lay on my stomach, and I suspected he had zero intentions of behaving.
I answered the call. I’d been trying to get in touch with my parents for over a week, ever since I asked James to marry me. Vastly different schedules had us missing each other every time. Not that I minded; I’d been trying to come up with the perfect way to give them the news. Considering my charming personality, it had to be good.
“Hi, Mom.”
James tried to distract me with his tongue in my belly button, but I clenched my free hand in his hair, holding on tight. He only looked at me as if daring me to challenge him. Had he wanted to fight me, he easily could have, but thankfully he laid back down.
“Aha! I finally caught you! No graveyard shift today?”
“Nope, James and I have the day off. Is Dad home?”
“He is—hold on, I’ll put you on speaker.” There was a brief pause while she tried to figure out how to do that—like shehadn’t been taught a million times. Then I heard the familiar echo, and my dad’s voice in the background.
