She’d been so immersed that she hadn’t even realized she’d gone through two glasses of wine.
Nyte voiced his thoughts and questions freely as the movie went on. With anyone else, that would’ve begun to annoy Ember. Not with him. There were moments when he was curious or confused, moments when he was appalled, but he was engaged throughout, and she was happy to have someone watching with her.
When it came to a particularly graphic, gory scene, Ember cringed, her hands shooting up to shield her eyes, but she stopped short of doing so.
“Why do you watch such movies if you can scarce stand to look?” Nyte asked.
Ember finally tore her attention from the screen to look at him, finding him studying her with his head tipped and his brow furrowed. “They’re horrifying yet…thrilling. It’s this strange feeling of wondering what it would feel like to be in their situation, to experience that fear, but being able to do so from a safe place. You get to look at terror and death and walk away feeling more alive.”
“I suppose you humans have long found entertainment in death and bloodshed.” He nodded toward the screen. “Are these mortals criminals offered up for execution, witnessed through your magic boxes rather than at town squares?”
“Are they criminals offered… Wait, you think what’s happening in the movie is real?”
“Is it not?”
Ember gaped at him in horror. “No! Nothing that’s happened in the movie is real. No one is actually hurt or dead.” She pointed at her chest. “You thought I’d enjoy watching someone getting tortured and killed?”
“I’ve seen more public executions than I can count, witch. They were not attended by bloodthirsty monsters, but by unassuming humans. Laborers and tradesmen, aristocrats, families. Mothers and fathers with their children. People capable of love and compassion who still went to watch other humans die.”
“Times have changed, Nyte. There haven’t been public executions like that for a long time. Most people would be horrified if something like that took place.Iwould be.”
Ember gestured at the television. “It’s all acting and special effects. The actors are paid for their work, and they go home when it’s done and continue on with their lives. Movies tell stories as much as books do. And just because we enjoy watching or reading about something doesn’t mean we want to experience it for real.”
Ember had consumed enough dark romance novels to know that for as thrilling as it was to read on the page, she sure as hell wouldn’t tolerate any man treating her that way in real life.
Nyte frowned, eyes flicking over the screen. “Movies are…illusions?”
“In a sense, yes. It’s all fake.”
His attention shifted to Ember, his gaze heavy. “But the emotions are real.”
She smiled. “That’s the power of storytelling, especially combined with very talented actors.”
Ember looked back at the movie just in time to get the biggest jump scare of the evening—unexpected pounding on her front door.
“Pizza’s here!” she announced, pausing the movie and getting up. When Nyte began to stand, she waved him back down. “I’ll get it. You can stay here.”
“I’m disinclined to leave you alone, witch.”
She chuckled as she walked backward toward the hallway,wiggling her fingers in the air. “Do you think I’m going to cast a spell to make the pizza delivery person fall in love with me?”
He scowled. “No. But we have been watching a movie about humans being murdered in grisly fashion.”
“Oh,” Ember said a little uneasily as she dropped her hands. “Um…well… Murders at night in homes are not unheard of.”
Nyte became a torrent of shadows, moving to stand before her so quickly that she instinctively jerked back from him.
His expression was deadly serious. “I’ll accompany you then. Just in case.”
Her heart quickened as she stared up at him with wide eyes. He was being protective of her, and damn if that wasn’t sexy as hell.
Nyte raised his hands to her chest. His long, claw-tipped fingers deftly caught the dangling ribbons of her pajama top, which he drew fully closed, tying it securely. He motioned down the hall. “After you.”
Though he’d tied the ribbon to conceal more of her cleavage, that didn’t stop her nipples from hardening in response to his actions. The brush of his fingers, the teasing scrape of his claws, and the possessive gleam in his eyes stoked the embers of desire smoldering in her core.
I seriously need to do something about that if he won’t.
Turning, Ember made her way toward the front door, and the trepidation she would have normally felt about opening it at this time of night was gone knowing that Nyte was guarding her.
