“Yes, absolutely, if that’s what it takes to get you to talk to me.” I hold her gaze.
“Valen … I…”
“Please,” I beg and lower my head, pressing an open-mouthed kiss to her neck. “Talk to me, love. I don’t like you locking meout.”
“I have vibrators,” she exhales breathlessly. “I don’t need you.”
“Mmm,” I hum. “Is that so?” I brush my lips over her ear and she shivers. “You don’t want my mouth on this sweet cunt?”
She practically chokes. “Cunt?”
“Zavier was right. Those bodice rippers are very insightful. A vibrator, though…” I say slowly, dragging my tongue down the column of her neck and nipping her skin when I find the spot where her pulse flutters. “I am very curious about what that does. We still haven’t played with the one you got for Christmas.”
“I’ll show you sometime.”
I lower myself to my knees. She’s wearing tights beneath her dress, and I reach under, slowly working them down her thighs. Her small intake of her breath has me grinning in satisfaction.
“I’ll kiss you right here,” I say, pointing to a spot high on her inner thigh, “if you tell me in one word how you really feel.”
I keep my finger in that spot, drawing small circles. She shivers and her hand reaches down to grip my shoulder.
“Scared,” she answers.
I lean in, inhaling her scent before I kiss the spot I promised. Looking back up at her, I ask, “Why are you scared?”
Her head falls back against the wall. “Are you sure you’re not doing some kind of weird vampire mind magic on me that’s making me want to spill my guts?”
“No,” I chuckle. “But we’re mates, and it’s been a few days since we’ve been … intimate. Your body is craving mine as much as I am yours.”
“Hmm,” she hums. “What are you going to do if I answer?”
I wet my lips with a swipe of my tongue. “I’ll kiss you righthere.” I glide my finger over her slit that’s covered by her underwear.
Her legs tremble. “You don’t play fair.”
“Not when it comes to you, Starlight. I’ve let you keep quiet and retreat into your mind a little too long. You’re going to talk to me now. Let me ask you again—why exactly are you scared?”
She frowns down at me, and I scent in the air just how badly she wants to keep the words to herself. Letting out a frustrated little groan, she says, “I almost killed Celine.”
I blink up at her, stunned. “Love, I would hardly call a broken arm close to death.”
She huffs. “You heard what Jade said about her mom. She killed her by accident when she came into her powers. I almost killed Celine. It’s pure luck it wasn’t more than a broken arm.”
I reach up and grasp her chin, forcing her to hold my eyes. “You protected us from the worst of the blast. Your love for us shielded us. Celine is just human, though, and therefore far more breakable than even you.”
“How can you know that?” She pouts down at me.
“Because youobliteratedthose vampires, Ava. They were nothing but dust, while the area around us looked completely untouched. Stop beating yourself up for this.”
“I can’t help it.” She whimpers when I kiss her core over her underwear.
“You were incredible.” I kiss her inner thigh, not waiting to pull more information out of her first. “You saved us. Stop beating yourself up. We’d either be dead or captured without you.”
She looks down at me, bottom lip wobbling. “I’d never forgive myself if they took you.” She exhales shakily. “You’re mine.”
“Iam.”
There’s no denying the fact that I belong to Ava McGuire, heart, body, and soul.
