“Not you,” I said hoarsely. “Neveryou.”
He looked up at me then, eyes oddly bright, as if he were on the verge of tears—which was ridiculous. I’d never once seen Blaise cry.
“I was angry with myself,” I went on. “My bloodlust, my need to make sure you were safe—it made me cross a line. I took advantage of you while you were under the influence of vampire venom, and—”
Blaise snorted a laugh, cutting me off. “Ambrose. Vampire venom is an aphrodisiac—and a mild one, at that. It can only enhance what’s already there. It doesn’tcreatefalse feelings.” A bemused chuckle followed. “Gods, we’re incubus demons. Literally designed for sex and pleasure. Evenourtouch can’t force feelings that don’t already exist.”
I reverted immediately to my mouth-hanging-open-when-words-fail-me pose.
“You didn’t take advantage of me,” Blaise continued gently. “Even without the venom, the way you looked at me... that still would’ve been the moment I realized I was in love with you.”
Then a wicked smile tugged at his lips, and he offered me a playful wink.
“But,” he added, “the venom definitely enhanced what followed.”
“Aw, you guys... ” Caitlyn said from her end of the table. She pressed her hands to her cheeks as she gushed, and something warm unfurled in my chest.
This is going to work,I realized.
And for the first time that evening—no, for the first time in months—the tightness around my ribs finally dissipated.
And that’s when I felt it.
The inferno I’d always felt for Blaise, dampened under months of guilt and years of restraint, wasn’t actually an inferno at all.
It was a mating bond.
With what little strength I had left, I managed the four words that summed it all up.
“I’m a fucking idiot.”
I half expected Blaise to crack a joke. Instead, he sat there, the grin on his face wavering. It took me a moment to realize why.
He’d just professed his love for me.
And he was waiting to hear whether I’d accept it.
I really,truly, was a fucking idiot.
I grabbed his hand. From the corner of my eye, I saw the creepy doll move, her hands lifting to her cheeks in an identical mirror of Caitlyn’s gushing.
“I love you, Blaise,” I said. “I’vealwaysloved you. From the moment—”
Blaise’s lips crashed into mine.
His scent billowed over me—cardamom and sandalwood and love and hope—andfuck, his lips were so fucking soft despite the force with which he pressed them to mine. When his tongue nudged insistently at the seam of my mouth, he swallowed my groan as I opened for him.
Heat licked up my spine as his tongue swept across mine. My mind emptied of thoughts and I barely registered the sound of wood scraping beneath me and what sounded like tiny feet retreating out of the kitchen.
And then, without breaking the kiss for even a second, Blaise was straddling me.
My arms wrapped around him, palms flattening against his back as I dragged him closer. It was his groan I swallowed when his hard length pressed against mine, his fingers coming up to cup my cheeks as his tongue explored my mouth—possessive and hungry and,fuck, I was such a fucking idiot for wasting years restraining myself over nothing.
All too quickly, it was over.
He pulled back just enough to rest his forehead against mine, breath warm against my lips, a goofy, utterly Blaise grin tugging at his mouth.
“I’ve wanted to do that for six months.”
