Page 97 of Protecting His Vampire Mate

“Maybe I ought to make you a friendship bracelet,” he suggested, grinning. “Make this shit official. My new vampire bestie.”

“Don’t fucking push it, hunter.”

*

“Well, that was interesting,” Tobias said, hours later, cuddling me close to him. “I would not have guessed this was how today was going to go.”

“Me either,” I said, smiling a little. “But I don’t know if I mind it.”

“Me either,” Tobias admitted.

I chewed on my lower lip for a moment. “The equinox is coming up…”

He went stiff beside me. “Yeah. It is.”

“Your coven is having a celebration, right?”

“They are,” he allowed. I felt his unease through the bond. And his quickly tamped-down desire to see his friends and family again. It was something he tried not to show me. I knew he didn’t want me to feel guilty. “It’s usually a whole weekend of partying.”

“I want to go.”

“Are you sure?”

“I am.” I met his gaze and, though I still felt a trace of fear about the prospect of returning to Seattle, I added, “I’m going to work through everything. This is me trying to do that. Besides, you still haven’t met my family. My sister is going to love you. Once she stops kicking my ass for disappearing.”

Tobias nodded, still looking concerned. “We can wait longer, if you need that. Poppy will understand. It’s not like we don’t see her often enough as it is.”

Poppy had ‘popped in’ on us more than a few times to catch up. She was getting good enough with the bilocation spell that she could actually pick up physical objects and interact with them just as if she was actually there. She did have the decency to text us first—most of the time, at least—so we could be sure we were actually dressed and appropriate before she stopped by. But since she was now officially dating Simone—it was getting much more serious, according to her—I was betting she understood firsthand why she needed to text us.

“You haven’t seen Ethan in months,” I reminded him. “And he’s your best friend. Besides, I need to rip the band-aid off. I can’t miss out on the people I care about just because I’m afraid. I need to fight to be better. I want to.”

“I love you,” Tobias told me, pulling me in for a kiss. When he pulled back, he added, “And if it’s too much, we’ll just leave. Everyone will understand.”

“I know, babe,” I replied, feeling something in my chest unclench at his words. Just like I had since the day I met him, I trusted him completely. I couldn’t believe I had ever entertained any notions that I could spend even a day without him. Because with each passing moment at his side, I became more and more convinced that I would love him forever.

I’ll love you forever, too. Tobias replied flashing me a tender smile, catching the thought easily from my mind.

Don’t make me put my walls back up, I threatened, not really meaning it. I hadn’t felt the need to shut him out of my head in months.

Any time you need to, babe, he assured me, flashing me a wide smile, and I could feel his easy amusement. I’m in this thing for the long-haul. So, if you need a little privacy now and then, I don’t mind.

I smiled back, feeling a swelling of gratitude well up in my chest. How on earth had I gotten so lucky? I still wasn’t sure I deserved this kind of happiness, but I felt better about it now that we were spending pretty much every day we had setting what little right in the world that we could. And I knew that we’d keep on doing that for a very, very long time, with or without the hunters.

Tobias gave me a look that was filled with such tenderness and devotion that it made my heart ache. We’ll keep doing this for as long as you want, I promise. We’ve got an eternity, after all.

Good, I told him happily. Then forever it is.

THE END