I giggle nervously. “Right. I mean, I know you said that last night, and it’s not that I didn’t believe you, but it’s…wild. Surreal, honestly. I guess I didn’t realize that was a possibility with the way my mom and dad always talked about this whole thing. I thought you—well, we…the women—were bought, and that was that.”
He frowns “They keep the information that way on purpose. It wouldn’t do to have all these women believing they had fatedmates out there. That would make this seem all the more unromantic.”
“Yeah. Hillary—one of the girls I’m friends with—she’s already teetering on the edge. One real sign that there’s a vampire destined for her somewhere out in the wild and she’d be jimmying the window with me.”
He smiles, but it’s not happy. Not at all. “I spoke with her tonight. When I think about women like her being sold to someone like Nathanial or Lucian, I nearly lose my mind.”
Nerves overrun me. I mean, I love to make jokes and light and laugh about the situation for the sake of my own comfort and shitty coping mechanisms, but this is unhinged. “Cal…I’m scared. About…everything. I mean, they left this damn lingerie hanging in the room tonight for tomorrow, and—”
He moves quickly, invading my space in less than a second. “Hey, hey. It’s okay. I’m going to take care of everything. I promise.”
“But how? I mean, you said yourself your uncle is watching your every move. Unless. Maybe you can sneak me out tonight? Just…take off. The two of us.”
He cups my cheek tenderly. “I wish I could. You have no idea. But nothing would change that way. All of these women—Hillary included—they’d still be sold. And after that? There’d only be more. Every time an auction came around, I’d have to deal with the guilt of leaving.”
I nod. I hate it, but at the same time, I’m proud. Proud to be fated to a man with this level of integrity. This level of care. This level of willingness to put himself in danger for the sake of others.
“I’m glad it’s you, Cal,” I whisper and mean it with every ounce of my being.
“That what’s me?”
“That you’re the one who’s destined for me. And honestly, in a weird way, it makes sense. Why I was so drawn to you when we were kids. Why I’m still so drawn to you now.” I swallow hard, admitting, “Even standing this close, I feel like I’ll burn straight to the ground if I don’t get closer.”
“I feel the same,” he whispers, his voice rough around the edges. “Like it’ll kill me if we don’t come together.”
“Maybe…” I start, pausing when the insanity of what I’m saying hits me. I mean, I’ve only just seen this man for the first time in over a decade in the last forty-eight hours. I hardly know anything about who he is or what he’s capable of at all.
“Maybe what?” he pushes gently, his fingertips glossing through the fringe of my hair and tucking it behind my ear and lingering right there.
Still, I can’t help myself or the things I’m feeling deep inside. Theneed. The want. The burn. I’m consumed by him. And Lord Almighty, I want him more than I’ve ever wanted anything.
“Maybe…maybe we should give in right now. Maybe we should…get as close as we possibly can.”
His smile is slow and deliciously dangerous and controlled in a way that makes it feel anything but. “Romy,” he murmurs. “Are you asking me to lose control with you?”
His gaze drops to my mouth, then back to my eyes, like he’s already imagining it. “To show you exactly what this pullbetween us means?” His voice lowers. “To take you to that bed…and not stop?”
The nervous giggle is back, but this time, it’s akin to something you’d hear from a hyena. I’m so freaking thrown off by my own audaciousness, I could throw up.
And yet?
I need him to take me up on the offer.
“I think…I think yes.”
His chest vibrates with an unreleased growl as his hand tightens ever so slightly in my hair. When he leans forward to take my lips with his, I meet him halfway.
The truth is, it isn’t even a question whether this is a good idea or not anymore; it’s theonlyidea.
The only want. The only need.
And fate is behind the wheel.
Curling up onto my toes, I push my chest into his and wrap my arms around his shoulders. His fingertips find my hips and squeeze, and I jump into his arms without prompting.
Locking my ankles around his waist, I hold on for the ride as he moves to the bed so quickly the room blurs.
As my back meets the comforter and his hips fall into mine, I gulp for all the air that’s escaped me and glance toward the door. “The guard out there. Do you think he’ll hear us?”
