Page 27

AVERY

I stepped into the dark room, trying to be quiet so as not to wake my roommate. I could barely see him, lying on his side on his bed with his back to me, apparently already asleep.

Well that was good, I told myself. We clearly had nothing to say to each other anyway. I moved around as quietly as I could, taking off my school uniform and getting into my pajamas.

I was just trying to sneak into bed when I stumbled over something in the dark—probably a shoe—and fell.

I would have hit the ground pretty hard—and let me tell you, those flagstone floors were no joke—but there was a sudden movement to one side of me and then Saint had me wrapped in his arms. He stood me gently on my feet but kept his arms around me.

“Oh!” I exclaimed, too startled to protest. “What—I mean, thank you for catching me.”

Though how he had moved so fast, I’d never know. It must be part of being supernaturally fast and strong and having a Drake inhabit him, I guessed. At any rate, it was time to disengage.

“Excuse me,” I said, struggling to get away and into my own bed. But Saint didn’t let me go.

“Please, mi Corazon, ” he murmured in my ear. “Just let me hold you a little while longer.”

“Um…what?” I felt utterly confused.

“I said I need to hold you—to feel you near to me,” Saint told me. His warm breath against my ear sent a shiver down my spine. “I’ve been longing for you all day.”

“Well you certainly have a funny way of showing it!” I exclaimed.

But somehow, I wasn’t disengaging from the hug.

I wasn’t about to let this go, though. “If you’ve been ‘longing’ for me, then why did you treat me like some kind of leper all day?

I mean, you wouldn’t come near me except if another Drake was encroaching on your territory,” I pointed out.

“I had to protect you,” he said and I could hear the confused frown in his voice.

“Yes, well, you could have at least come to sit with me afterwards,” I pointed out. “You came to all my classes but you wouldn’t sit anywhere near me—at mealtimes, either. Here I am, wearing your Mark everywhere I go and the guy who marked me is acting like he doesn’t want anything to do with me!”

“Avery,” he said hoarsely. “I want everything to do with you. But I didn’t deserve to be near you today—not after the way I treated you last night. To be honest, I thought you probably wanted nothing to do with me .”

“What?” I twisted around in his arms so that I was looking up into his face. “Seriously? You’ve been avoiding me because you thought I was angry at you?”

“Why wouldn’t you be?” he rumbled, looking down at me. “Look at what I did to you.” His long fingers brushed my forehead and the side of my neck. “I hurt you, mi Corazon. I forced my Mark on you.”

“Look, things did get a little rough and crazy last night,” I said, frowning. “But I know your Drake…” I trailed off. “Hey—is this right now about your Drake? Your ‘longing’ for me?” I demanded. “Because if it is?—”

“He’s asleep,” Saint said quickly. “Though he cares for you deeply, I am speaking for myself now. I have been longing to hold you…to touch you…all day.”

I wasn’t sure what to say to that. Taking a deep breath, I tried to steady myself—to keep hold of my heart.

Did he really mean it? He wanted me for himself—not just his Drake?

Goddess, this was turning out to be an extremely complicated three-way relationship!

Which I supposed wasn’t surprising, considering one of the people in the relationship was a cursed, obsessively jealous Drake.

“Look,” I said, hoping he couldn’t hear how hard my heart was pounding. “Let’s sit on the bed and talk about this for a minute, okay? I think we need to lay some ground rules here.”

“Ground rules?” Saint asked, as we settled on the side of his bed, side by side.

“For being together,” I told him. “For being boyfriends .”

“Is that what we are to each other now? Because you feel like so much more to me,” Saint murmured, putting an arm around me.

Goddess, was he trying to melt me? But I had to stay firm—I couldn’t take another day like the one I’d had today.

If he wanted to be together in our room at night, we also had to be together during the day.

“Yes, that’s what we are,” I said firmly. “So you need to act like my boyfriend and not just in this room at night—out in public where everyone can see us. Is that a problem for you?”

“I’m wearing your Mark, aren’t I?” he demanded. “Tell me how to be what you want and I’ll try, Avery. How do I act like your boyfriend?”

I thought of all the ways I saw my Coven mates acting with each other every day—the easy affection between them, the sweet, loving touches and glances.

I wanted that—I’d wanted it for so long that the longing had almost worn a hole in my heart.

But I still wondered how Saint would feel about giving it to me.

“If you want to be a good boyfriend, you have to sit with me at mealtimes—not at the far end of the table, beside me,” I emphasized.

“And talk to me—people in a relationship talk to each other. And hold my hand and put your arm around me and let me put my arm around you. And…” I sighed.

“Look, if you want to know all the ways of being a good boyfriend, all you have to do is look at Megan and Griffin, or Ari and Kaitlyn, or Emma and Bran and Lachlan. It’s not hard—there are examples all around you here! ”

“I’ll try…” Saint sounded hesitant.

I frowned at him in the dimness.

“You don’t want to do this, do you? Are you nervous about PDA in public?”

“It’s not that I don’t want to touch you, mi Corazon,” he said earnestly.

“It’s just…that I am not used to it. To touching and being touched, I mean.

” His voice dropped, becoming low and rough.

“Do you know that the hug you gave me the other night was the first time anyone has willingly touched me in years?”

“What?” I stared at him, uncomprehending. “But…how can that be?”

Saint shook his head.

“Think of it—I’ve been cursed since my birth and an outcast ever since my Drake slaughtered the females who had been gathered to try and tame him.

Even Jalli—who is so sweet and affectionate—is careful around me.

Not because she thinks I will hurt her—she knows I never would.

But because she fears my Drake— everyone fears my Drake. ”

I wished that I could tell him that I didn’t fear his cursed Drake, but that would have been a lie.

I felt able to be closer to it than most people probably did because I knew that it really, really liked me.

But at the same time, did I want to be around when it came out completely and Saint was nowhere to be found?

No. No, I did not.

But the cursed Blood Drake wasn’t what I was most focused on—Saint was. The idea that no one had touched him in years—not even to pat his back or rub his shoulders or hug him—was so sad I felt tears stinging my eyes.

“Oh Saint,” I said, and put my arms around him. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.”

It took him a minute but then he hugged me back, wrapping both long, muscular arms around me and pulling me close to his chest. I could smell the masculine spice and the bonfire smell that always seemed to accompany him wherever he went.

It smelled really good and his body was extremely warm against mine.

But warm—not hot—and he didn’t squeeze me too hard.

Clearly he found it much easier to be gentle when his Drake was sleeping inside his head.

“ Dios, this feels so good,” he murmured in my ear. “Thank you, Avery. I was afraid you’d never want to touch me again.”

“I do want to touch you,” I admitted. “As much as you want to touch me. But there have to be limits—we’re not going to have sex. Not right away.”

“I wouldn’t expect anything of you that you don’t want to give,” he rumbled. “Besides, you’re not of age yet, are you?”

“No,” I admitted. “I’m not.”

“Then I will wait to claim you completely until you are of age,” Saint told me. “Thank all the powers that ever were that Marking you was enough for my Drake—I wouldn’t want to have a rape added to my many sins.”

I shivered at the thought. That would have been much harder—if not impossible—to forgive, even if he had been driven by his Drake to do it.

“What do you mean you’ll wait to claim me?” I said, concentrating on the other part of what he’d said. “What makes you think I won’t want to claim you?”

“We can claim each other when the time is right,” Saint promised, and there was a rumble of amusement in his voice. “But for now, I just want to hold you and kiss you.”

My heart started pounding again.

“You sort of did the other night, when you healed my lip,” I pointed out.

“Not nearly as much as I wanted to,” he murmured. Cupping my chin, he turned my face up to his. “Avery, I want to kiss you more—much more. I want to taste your mouth.”

“Goddess…” I whispered. “All…all right. Kiss me, then.”

Saint’s mouth was as warm and soft as it had been when he healed me.

“Gently,” he whispered against my lips. “To make up for last night, no?”

“Yes,” I breathed and then he was kissing me, taking my mouth with his and parting my lips to taste me deeper.

I gave a little groan and pressed against him. Now this was a first kiss to fantasize about! To remember forever. This was what I wanted—a guy who wanted me as much as I wanted him.

I wanted Saint .

The question was, would I get to keep him?