“Gran doesn’t have time for us to stand around debating,” she snaps, but I catch the undercurrent of fear within her. Images flash through her mind – her grandmother teaching her spells, the hours she spent perfecting them, determined to meet the highest expectations. There’s a part of her that’s always doubted herself, tried harder just to prove she’s worthy. Her confidence is merely a mask.
But most of all, the depth of her love for her grandmother hits me hard. I understand her desperate need to act, but I can’t let her rush into danger again. Not when Lucien’s ambitions are finally coming to fruition.
“Kara.” I step closer, ignoring how her proximity makes my skin buzz. “Listen to me.”
She steps away. “I don’t need to listen to you. You’re already up here.” She taps her forehead. “And you won’t shut up.”
When she reaches for the doorknob, I brush her hand away, my fingers curling around her wrist. “You can’t keep rushing into danger.”
“Watch me.” Her eyes drop to where I’m holding her forearm. I don’t release it. I like the feeling of her skin against mine, even though now is absolutely not the right time to be thinking about this.
I exhale sharply. “Damn it, Kara, this isn’t a game. Lucien—”
“Don’t you dare tell me what I can and can’t do. My grandmother—”
“Will die if you get yourself killed trying to save her.”
Her eyes lock with mine. “And so will you, won’t you?” she bites out. “Don’t think I don’t know what this is about. That so-called blood match.”
I clench my jaw, fighting the urge to shake sense into her.
“It’s not a blood match,” I mutter. “I haven’t taken your blood.”
“You don’t need to,” she shoots back. “Rowan and Darick were connected before they even met. This thing between us—”
“Is nothing,” I cut in. Her pulse races beneath my fingers, where I still grip her wrist. “Just an inconvenient side effect of whatever’s happening.”
“Inconvenient is an understatement.” She rolls her eyes.
I release her arm and step back, trying to ignore how my skin tingles where I touched her. “I don’t have the Bloodbane. This has to be something else.”
“Liar,”her thought slices through my mind.
“Stay out of my head,” I growl, not caring that I’m echoing the words she keeps snapping at me.
“You first.” She crosses her arms, but I catch how her breath hitches when I move closer. “Besides, we have more important things to deal with right now.”
The scent of her floods my senses. My fangs ache with the need to taste her again. “We can’t ignore this forever.”
“I’m going to give it my best shot.” She tilts her chin up defiantly, but her thoughts betray her. I catch fragments of desire mixed with her anger.
“You’re thinking about the kiss.” The words slip out before I can stop them.
Her cheeks flush. “And you’re thinking about biting me again.” She steps closer, challenging. “Doesn’t mean either of us has to act on it.”
I grip the edge of the desk behind me, wood creaking under my fingers. Having her this close makes it hard to think straight. “This is just physical. A magical anomaly.”
“Exactly.” But her eyes drop to my mouth. “A completely meaningless connection that we’re both going to ignore.”
“Like hell we are.”
Her sharp intake of breath tells me she heard me.
“What happened earlier…it shouldn’t have happened,” she mutters. “You caught me off-guard.”
“Sure,” I say, though we both know it’s not true. What happened in the garden is the same as what’s happening now. A growing sensation pulling us closer. Even now, she’s staring at my mouth, and without thinking, I lick my lips. Her throat works.
“This needs to stop,” I growl, but my body betrays me, shifting closer to hers. The scent of roses and sunshine fills my lungs. “We can’t keep doing this.”
