“Then why sleep with her?”
“We’re old, Poppy. Our sexual needs are just that. Needs that we had to meet.” He lowered his head as the air between us shifted. “I’m sorry, though. I can’t change the past, and I sure as hell didn’t know I’d meet you.”
I reached up and grabbed the back of his neck before pulling him into another breathtaking kiss.
He didn’t owe me an explanation.
“What was that for?” he asked as he pulled back.
“You don’t have to apologize. I’ve fucked some questionable men in my past.”
“Don’t remind me.” He shook his head with a sigh. “Anyway, I need to get to the library. Kai should be up soon.”
“Feel free to come back up after your meeting!” I spun around, making my way to my closet as he turned toward the door.
“I’m sure Kai will want to spend some quality time with you. Especially when you smell so much like me,” he said in a low, husky voice before taking his leave.
I shook my head with a smile, lifting my arm and sniffing myself. Charcoal and soot wafted off my skin from Blaise and I’s steamy as fuck encounter. My body was still reeling with aftershocks of the orgasm he’d tongued into me.
I made my way to the closet and slipped a silk nightgown over my body that made me feel like a damn princess.
Kai went all out with my clothing, and I was grateful. When I was human, all I’d worn were jeans and sweaters because of the cold. But the temperatures didn’t bother me anymore, which meant I could dress how I wanted based on my latest whim.
I crawled into bed and sunk under the comforter as I waited for Kai to show up. My eyelids were heavy and fluttered closed as I wondered what my family was doing.
Were they still looking for my body? Did they have any hope I was still alive—probably not with the Alaskan temperatures and all the blood from the wreck. What did they think I hit? The car had been totaled.
Nagging in the back of my mind told me things were going too well, and the other shoe had to drop some time.
ELEVEN
Something fucking shifted. I knew the cards couldn’t be in my favor forever, but I’d hoped to hold them all a little longer.
I heaved a sigh and plunged my fingers through my unruly hair. “This isn’t as easy as it looks. What makes you think I’ll even be able to do it?”
Thaddeus pressed his tongue to his cheek, making a lump form on the side of his perfectly smooth face. I’d wondered why he’d shaved since he usually rocked some distinguished stubble.
“I told you, love, you’re blessed with two unique gifts already. The emotional manipulation—” He paused for a millisecond as a solemn expression flitted across his face before continuing, “and your extra speed and strength. It wouldn’t surprise me if you had a knack for something with the mind as well.”
After breakfast, Blaise and Kai bolted from the table as soon as they were finished, just as they had each morning since their meeting with Thaddeus. My control lessons with Kai ended without explanation, and Blaise hadn’t tried to spar with me at all.
Humiliation whipped around in my chest. Blaise and I had made each other come, but he hadn’t given me a lick of interest since. Rational Lilith knew there had to be some fucking reason for it, but scorned Lilith was ready to light the asshole on fire—reasoning be dammed.
The only one not avoiding me was Thaddeus, but I had a feeling it had more to do with him teaching me lessonsof the mind.
“We’ve been trying a whole week.” I pulled my head up to make eye contact with him. “You’re a vampire too. You said it wouldn’t work on you even if I did have the power.”
“All the more reason to try harder.” His pupils dilated as he shifted on the cushion next to me. “I’ll know if you have the gift, okay? Don’t forget that you have but a week until the full moon.”
“Don’t you think I know that?” I snapped. “I’m trying everything I can.”
“You’re not trying hard enough.”
I bit my tongue as irritation pricked my skin and gave a sharp nod. “Walk me through it again.”
He turned his torso toward me, making the couch jostle and our knees touch. “Stare into my eyes and make skin-to-skin contact with me to form a barrier between us. Once you feel a hypnotic pull, tell me to do or think something. I’ll let you know if I have an inkling of an urge.”
I wet my lips with a rush of breath. I brought my hands up to cup the cool skin of his face, and he stilled. His pretty green eyes widened, and his Adam’s apple bobbed.
