So much conflict in those crimson eyes. Something hopeful, and resigned, like he wants to believe he can be enough for me but won’t let himself.
I don’t know what to say.
I don’t know what to do.
We have to face a fae queen tomorrow.
We have to go back to that cursed court, stand in front of her, offer her a consolation prize for what she really wants, and hope we somehow make it out alive to tell the tale.
With all that in mind, I’m tired of having this circular argument.
Callum will come around, or he won’t, and I don’t want to spend these few stolen hours we have together worrying what the outcome will be.
“Listen to me,” I say, and though the misery still hasn’t left his eyes, at least I have his attention. “Tomorrow, we’re going to Faerie. We’ll give the queen the ring and the letter, and she’s going to be so moved by it she’ll give us her damn bounty.”
Even as I say it, the likelihood of it actually happening seems laughable, but I keep going.
That’s just who I am, isn’t it?
Seren Pendergast, the witch who never knows when to quit.
Even when I probably should.
“And then you’ll take your half and sort your life out, and I’ll take my half and do… something with it. I’ll figure it out. It’s not important. What I’m trying to say is that we can do this, Callum. We just have to make it through tomorrow.”
He breathes deep, nods, and though the shadows in his eyes tell a different story, I’m going to take his acceptance at face-value for now.
Without another word or a second thought, I pull my shirt up and over my head. I toss it aside and reach for the button on my jeans.
“What are you doing?”
“What do you think I’m doing?” The jeans go next. I shimmy out of them and leave them in a heap at my feet, then put my hands on my hips and give him a challenging stare.
Despite his hesitation, I can’t miss the banked heat in his eyes. The want. The need.
Whatever battles he’s fighting with himself, I hope he wants this enough to set them aside for tonight.
“Seren—”
I kiss him. Quick and stumbling, my lips crashing into his before he can say anything else.
After a heartbeat’s hesitation, he kisses me back.
Onlykissisn’t exactly the word for it.
Callum devours me.
One hand on my ass, the other buried in my hair, he pulls me into him. Even with him sitting and me standing, he’s so damn tall that the angle is just right. Our faces align perfectly, mine just a little higher than his, and when I clutch at his horns and tilt his head back, lift my lips from his, it’s the prettiest picture I’ve ever seen.
My demon mate, wild-eyed and panting. Lips parted, crimson gaze locked on me like I’m the only thing in the universe that matters.
“I know how I want to spend tonight.” I lean in, run my lips over his throat under the line of his beard, press my teeth against his skin. “What do you want, Callum?”
Between one breath and the next, I’m plucked right off my feet.
Spun around and sprawled out on the mattress faster than I can process what’s happening, my demon looms above me. Wings spread wide and all the handsome angles of his face thrown into stark relief in the firelight, his wicked smile bares both fangs.
“You have to ask me that, star?”
