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“How are you going to do that without getting hurt?”

“Very fucking carefully.”

Our voices are low, and our faces close. The cig is burning low. I grab it from his hand, take one last drag, and tamp it out on my belt buckle before tossing it onto the side table.

Before I can exhale, Ethan kisses me. He wraps his arms around my neck and climbs into my lap. My breath catches in my throat as he inhales and sucks the smoke from my lungs into his.

I grab onto his hips and ass, tugging him even closer.

As we kiss, the smoke trades back and forth between us until it dissipates from the corners of our mouths in wispy cloud.

Everything is gone while I kiss Ethan. Nothing else matters anymore. My father can fuck himself with a two-by-four if he doesn’t like me being with Ethan, because he’s all I want.

The taste of his mouth invades mine and I suck at his bottom lip while he squirms against my lap. Just feeling his body heat in my grasp, his hips trembling and and lips melting against mine, makes me hard as fuck.

Remembering the night before, how sweet, how perfect, how sexy he was…it brings up emotions in my chest that I don’t know how to process, or how to explain to myself or anyone else.

“I need you,” I whisper against his mouth.

Ethan moans softly. “L-Let’s move to the bedroom. I’ll turn the stove off.”

He starts to pull away from me, but I stop him, gripping his ass tighter. “No. Ethan, I need you…forever. I can’t lose you. I want you forever.”

Ethan looks into my eyes as he pants for air. “What do you mean?” His face is flushed so gorgeously pink. I reach up and brush my thumb along his cheek.

“Do the ritual with me. Pledge yourself to my family, and bind yourself to me in blood.”

15

ETHAN

Istare at Dante while I’m straddling his lap with a semi pressing against his stomach.

“Did you actually just say what I think you said?” I blink at him as I try to catch my breath. I’ve leaned back from him, our lips no longer close to touching.

Dante leans in closer and his arms, so strong and warm, envelop me even tighter. “Pledge yourself to me and my family,” he repeats. “Then they’ll accept you and you’ll be safe forever.”

My entire body is flushed warm and my heart is racing, but it’s no longer just because of arousal.

“I…Dante,” I mumble as I stare into his face. His dark, stormy blue eyes tell me he’s serious. A sudden fear crosses over me, anxiety creeping up my spine, and my mouth feels dry.

Even so, there’s a part of me that feels ignited with a fire that urges me to say yes.

“I can’t,” I blurt out.

Dante’s shoulders fall a bit and his grip on me loosens, but only just. “Why?”

I take a slow breath. “It’s too soon. I’m not ready,” I admit. “I’m scared.”

“You’ve nothing to be afraid of, angel,” he whispers to me as his hand brushes a soft tuft of my hair behind my ear. “I want you to be mine, in all ways.”

I swallow hard. “I know. I’m just not ready yet.”

The nervous tension in the air grows thicker. It’s difficult not to worry that Dante might not accept my answer.

His eyes dart to my lips, then back up to my eyes. “I’ll wait. As long as it takes.”

Relief floods through me, and I lean forward and press my forehead against his.