Page 7
HER QUIET brEATHS WARM my collarbone. The downy curls at the top of her head tickle the underside of my chin. The sweet scent of her release coats my skin and fills my senses.
My mate.
After years of waiting and longing for her, she is finally in my arms. Finally, fully mine in every way possible.
I brush the mark on her skin. My mark.
She sleeps with such calm, such trust, against my chest. Granted, she’s always been there. From the first moment we struck our bargain, and I fed off her, I have shared her bed, because she is mine to protect.
My gaze travels along the soft length of her curled against me, bundled in my arms and blankets. Her dark mane spills across her pillow and my chest, and I marvel at my good fortune.
“What did you mean yesterday about sharing her?”
I bury my grin into the riot of curls tucked beneath my chin. “Interested?”
“Don’t be a prick.”
I sweep my thumb over the arch of her cheekbone. Run it across her lips. “No more one or the other. Day or night, she gets both of us at the same time.”
There’s a lengthy pause that I fill by running my fingers gently through her curls, careful not to scratch her with my claws. Seraphine sighs and nuzzles closer. Her arm snakes across my ribs and heart.
“She’s my sister.”
This again.
“We are not human. Bloom is not human. but Seraphine is. How do you suppose that’s possible?”
Aiden is silent, but I can feel him thinking, putting the puzzle pieces together. He’s close. The spark is there, but he’s resistant to the truth.
“That doesn’t make sense.”
“It doesn’t,” I agree, running my tongue over the raw and tender marks on Seraphine’s soft flesh.
“How is that possible?”
I shrug. “That’s a question for Bloom.”
“What if you’re wrong?”
Careful not to wake Seraphine, I lower my face to the tender curve of her neck and inhale deep. I let the sweet scent of her skin fill my senses. I separate it from the salty scent of my cum and the faint hint of soap I used to wash her before putting her to bed, to locate the final two threads.
One is Seraphine. Her blood. The essence that created her. Every creature on earth has its own, and it always matches with their family.
“Does that smell like Bloom or us?”
“A little. I smell us in her.”
“Ignore that. The other half.”
Aiden takes a moment to scrutinize the scent before answering, “No.”
“Exactly. She has nothing of you or me in her, or Bloom.”
He’s quiet a long moment before asking, “What’s the other scent?”
The corner of my mouth tilts up. “The life she’s creating.”
Aiden’s alarm and excitement scatter through me in a shower of tingles. “Wait. Already?”
“No, it’s nothing right now, but it has found its home in her and will start to grow.”
“She’s pregnant?”
I open my mouth to respond, but the figure in my arm shifts. A shiver passes through her that has me dragging the threadbare blankets closer around her. The night is no longer mild but holds the chill of dwindling winter. It seeps through the thin walls and collects in the cramped spaces. It has very little effect on me, but Seraphine is human. Her fragile body can’t withstand such temperatures, and the cold isn’t good for the baby.
In the morning, we will discuss a better living arrangement with our human. For now, I swaddle her up in my heat and let her rest. Come sunrise, I have much bigger plans for her and Aiden.