“I know. I don’t want to change you.”
It’s open-ended, like he’s worried that I want to change him.
“I don’t want to change you either, but if we’re going to do this, we’ll need to make some adjustments. No more secrets, no more scheming without me.”
He pulls back. “You’d like to scheme with me, little witch?”
“I mean, yeah, I think that some will be involved if we’re going to make this work.”
His hands are back on my face, and my hands slide up and down against the expanse of his solid chest.
“If I knew honesty would work this well, perhaps I should have gone with this approach sooner.”
I narrow my eyes at him, because haven’t I been saying that from the beginning?
“Tonight is the full moon. I need to be with my coven,” I say sternly.
“No fucking way,” he snaps back, taking our progress and little honesty session a few steps back.
“Achille has Conner locked up. The Slayer has been MIA. You and the council will spend the night hunting him and will stay away from coven land. I need to see my friends. I need some time to figure out what to do next. Also I need to stop at my cabin so I can stop my fucking period so I know I’m thinking straight,” I huff out, straightening my dress.
There’s a slight flashback of him sticking his fingers down my panties and how I’d really like to do a hell of a lot more right now. But there can’t be any more of that until we figure some things out.
I might be slightly delusional, but I need some assurances. I need Violet and Iris in my corner. I need to know that I won’t lose them.
Warin’s jaw is tense. “Betty will come with you. If anything is wrong, she’ll alert me immediately.”
“Okay,” I say, not pushing back. “My entire coven will be there too, ya know.”
“Yes, but you’re my witch,” he says, his thumbs stroking my jaw.
His.
Someone to call my own. Someone who wants me so deeply he’d wait a century for me, stalk me for years until the time was right. My mind is probably warped that I find this all endlessly romantic. But at this point, I’m pretty sure I’m over societal norms.
“What does being your witch mean to you?” I say in a sultry voice. This endless need is still thrumming in my veins. All I want to do is to succumb to this sensation and give into him.
He presses closer, a hand at the base of my skull and another cradling my chin.
“It means that I’ll always protect you, that I’ll cherish you, care for you. You’ll want for nothing, Ember. My life is yours.”
My heart stutters in my chest and no matter how stupid it is, I lift on my tiptoes and crash my lips against his.
He kisses me like a man starved, like everything in his life has led to this kiss. His hold on me is firm, yet gentle, as he deepens the kiss, his tongue sliding into my mouth as I moan.
There’s a lingering taste of blood on his tongue, and I find that I don’t hate it. If anything, I’m more turned on thinking about what we did earlier, the way his teeth sunk into my throat and how easily I fell apart at his touch.
I feel wholly woman in his arms and I know this feeling could never be recreated with anyone else. As scary and unknown as this all is, he’s my fate.
This complicated vampire is what the universe has chosen for me, and I’m not mad about it.
I lightly tug on his bottom lip as our lips part. I’m nearly out of breath and he’s in shock still, staring at me like I’m the reason the earth rotates.
“I still don’t like it,” he says, not letting go of me.
It’s like now that he’s been given access to touch, he never wants to let go, and I find it precious.
“You’ll use any magic necessary to protect yourself. If you need me, call on Betty and I’ll be there in a moment.”
