Because he was an idiot. One who had no self-control when it came to her.
Do you know how many males I’ve been with?Zero, Mirakel. I have never taken a male inside my body.
There was no denying the rush that had threatened to level him when she’d admitted that. To know she’d never had another male inside her was a temptation unlike anything he’d ever known. The need to claim her had been so potent, the only thing he could do to refrain was to send her away.
I want to be with you. I want to know what it feels like to have your hands on me, your lips. Your tongue. I want to feel you move inside me.
Even now, as the words pierced his frontal lobe, Mirakel knew he couldn’t call her to him. It was wrong on so many levels.
His thumb hovered oversend. The text was already written—Come to me, Briony—but sending it would ultimately alter both of them.
He’d felt her desire, knew she wanted him. Only he wasn’t sure she wanted him the same way. How could she? Briony didn’t know the first thing about him. They’d fed from one another, but that was the extent of their interactions. The brief conversations they’d had were mostly contrived of his attempts to keep away from her.
It would’ve been so easy to take her up on her offer, to pleasure her body, but Mirakel knew he would want more. And he damn sure wasn’t going to think simply because he’d imprinted that she belonged to him.
Didn’t work that way.
The angels had it all figured out. Or, he figured, whoever was in control up there in Heaven. They had predestined souls, and once they came together, they wanted one another. Vampires weren’t that lucky. Nor were Fae, he suspected. The only thing they truly had in common with angels was the fact that they mated only once, loved only one.
And Kaj had mated with Acadia.
Mirakel figured this was significant in some way. He was truly happy for the male, but at the same time there was a hint of jealousy. He wanted what Kaj now had. He wanted to claim his female, to ensure all other males understood she belonged to him and him alone.
With a heavy exhale, he tossed his phone on the bed then dropped back to his pillow, staring up at the dark ceiling. He began running through multiplication tables in an effort to shut off his brain and relax his body. He went so far as to purposely tense and relax every individual muscle from head to toe. By the time he got to his abdominals, he was interrupted by a knock on the door.
Figuring it was Blaz or Huracan there to gossip like women, Mirakel yanked the sheet over his lower half and shouted a half-hearted, “Come in.”
The door opened, but it wasn’t either male who had arrived.
“What are you doing?” he asked Briony, watching as she gently closed the door behind her.
Her brows lowered in what appeared to be confusion. “You asked me to come.”
Glancing over at his phone, Mirakel groaned. He snatched it up and what do you know? He’d sent the fucking text.
Great.
Just fucking great.
Briony was watching him as though he was a rabid animal seconds away from breaking its chain. And what do you know? He felt like one, too.
What was he supposed to do now? Send her away? Tell her it was an accident, that he hadn’t really wanted her here?
And what sort of asshole would that make him?
With a sigh, he sat up, ensuring the sheet remained over him, though he wasn’t sure why he bothered. She’d already seen every inch of him.
Mirakel propped himself against the headboard, then motioned her over. “I’ve decided to feed.”
She nodded politely, and if he wasn’t mistaken, there was definite disappointment in her eyes.
When she approached the side of the bed, Mirakel intended to take her hand, to use her wrist. All those good intentions left the building when he inhaled her sweet scent. So, instead of taking her hand so he could pierce her wrist, he tugged her forward, shifted his legs apart, and patted the mattress.
“Like we did the other day.” Yep, that was his voice all ripped to shreds thanks to the lust coursing through him.
Briony gracefully joined him, shifting her robes so they settled around her and over his knees.
Mirakel took deep, calming breaths as he eased her back against him, her back to his chest. He relaxed against the headboard but didn’t do anything more.
