“That was a pleasure first. A duty second. And an ‘I told you so’ third.” He smirked. “The last negates your need to say thank you.”
She bit her lip as tears came to her eyes. “You and Niamh showed me that I’m not the biggest monster in this outfit. Not by far. I would balk before doing the things you and she did. That Edgar got really into. His…displayturned my stomach.”
Tristan grimaced. “Yeah. That vampire.” He released a breath. “Thank God Niamh stopped him before he tried to hollow out the eye sockets and implant the testicles. Like…what?”
His bewilderment made her smile.
“The things I did were always out of necessity,” she said. “I got good at them because I had to. We had to survive. I never felt like I had a choice.” She crossed her arms over her chest, her emotions so damn raw from this morning’s meeting. She felt so vulnerable. It was hard to button it all up.
“I told you—you don’t need to do stuff like that, not anymore. I’ll handle it. Niamh will. Edgar would love to. You canchoosethe life you want now, Natasha. You’re in danger, so you have to stick with us, but you don’t have to get your hands dirty. You don’t have to do the things that you despise yourself for.”
A tear overflowed and trailed down her cheek. “I know,” she whispered. “It feels like I’ve been cut loose, but not pushed away. It’s like…I no longer have chains tying me down. I no longer have to solely shoulder the burden of Sebastian’s fate.” Another tear fell. “B-but…” She wiped her cheeks. “What if I’m given a choice and decide I don’t want the white picket fence? What if I don’t mind taunting an enemy with a knife to his balls? What sort of person does that make me?”
His grin was wicked. “Magical. As you said, you aren’t the biggest monster on this team.”
She studied him: his loose, easy confidence, his infallible swagger. For once, his eyes didn’t turn guarded. His walls and defenses didn’t come up while she assessed him. It was like he was allowing her to take a good look. Trusting her when usually he didn’t trust anyone.
“I owe you thanks for something else, too.” She licked her lips.
His gaze rooted to her mouth. “I don’t want thanks. I want to make you beg.”
Heat infused her cheeks, her body. She rolled her eyes, hearing the humor in his voice. She didn’t mistake the hunger in his eyes, though. What would it be like to take him up on that? To feel his powerful body pressing her into the mattress?
She cleared her throat. “The energy magic. The books. I’ve been practicing.”
“Good.”
“You directed me toward a magic that could essentially control you.”
“One hopes you’ll eventually be that good, but right now, I think I’m much too hardheaded.”
“But…you know what I mean. You willingly helped me with a magic that could render you vulnerable to me if I so chose.”
It was his turn to study her. “And?”
“And…” She shrugged. “You don’t seem like a guy who allows people to make you feel vulnerable.”
The silence stretched this time as he surveyed her. “You’ve made me feel vulnerable since the first moment I laid eyes on you. The effect you have on me is so strong, I thought you were a sprite. I’m not worried about you trying to control me any more than you’re worried I’ll kill you and turn you inside out.” His eyes sparkled with humor. “You have a good heart, Natasha. When you love, you love completely. You won’t do me wrong with that magic, just like you wouldn’t do Sebastian wrong. Or Jessie. If you want to use it to make me fall to my knees and worship between your thighs…it won’t take much energy. I’ll already do that gladly.”
He winked and pushed away from the wall. “Get some sleep. It’s been a long night and a longer morning. We’re all tired.”
He turned to go, and she had the sudden desire to pull him back to her. To paste him to her side as a shield in case nightmares should come. In case she heard sounds and thought the enemy was closing in on her again. With that gargoyle-monster standing in the way, nothing would get to her, not even her ghosts.
But she didn’t reach out for him and instead took a deep breath. She was just tired. Raw and tired. She was trying to latch on to him like a security blanket, and she needed to put on her big-girl pants.
He slowed as he neared the door. After he pulled it open, he paused. Instead of continuing through, he closed the door again and turned back, his eyes glowing brightly.
She didn’t speak as he started her way. Butterflies filled her stomach as she watched the smooth grace of the large predator. The battle-hardened monster. Crap, but he was handsome.
He stopped in front of her, incredibly close. His hands came up slowly to brace the sides of her face, and his thumbs moved across the wet tracks on her cheeks.
“How many times do I have to tell you?” he murmured, and then bent. His soft lips touched down on one of the tear tracks, then the other. “If you need something…ask. I can do more than torture people for you.”
His lips grazed across hers, and her eyes fluttered closed. Her core tightened, throbbing. Her heart felt ragged. She didn’t want eroticism—she wanted to be taken care of for once. Protected, especially after nearly succumbing to an extraction.
“I don’t want to?—”
“Shh,” he whispered. The zipper of her hoodie made a whirring noiseas he pulled it down, revealing a babydoll T she’d grabbed from the house as they were quickly packing. He hooked his thumbs into the top of her leggings and pushed them down her thighs and to the floor.
