Page 17 of The Fang Arrangement (Celestial Witches #2)

I stir in my slumber, which is unusual. My mouth waters as her scent hits me in my dream, making me pull her even closer against my body. Ember, my sweet Ember, in my bed.

What a selfish, delicious thought.

There’s no other reason my sunshine would be in my bed right now, other than some sick manifestation I came up with in my comatose state.

She hates me. She hates that I’m a killer, that I’m not a good man.

She’ll never love me, yet, I’ll never stop trying to convince her.

A good man would walk away and understand that she’s too good for them. Maybe it’s because I’m not a man, in the sense that I’m immortal and tied to the night. Or maybe it’s because my pull to her is so visceral that there’s no other option.

Even if Ember never agrees to be mine, she always will be. I’ll lurk in the shadows, protecting her and coveting every moment she gives me.

I take a deep inhale of her hair, nuzzling close. I wonder if I could taste her in my dreams. If I could sink my teeth into her freckled throat, or her full breasts and taste what I’ve denied myself for nearly a decade.

Even in my sleep, I can’t do it. It must be the hunger talking, but I can’t drink from another. I won’t.

Ember may not realize I’m fully hers, but I am. The idea of drinking from someone else while she sleeps in my home, while I feed her and keep her safe, is abhorrent.

It doesn’t help that no one’s blood will ever compare to hers. Maybe she’ll never grant me access to her sweet nectar. Maybe I’ll die from starvation.

In the dream, my cock can get hard, a true surprise when I haven’t consumed blood in days. It’s a testament to what this witch does to me.

Her body is so warm and soft. Her curves are full, and I just want to knead every inch of her soft flesh.

She’s perfect, my witch, in my dreams and in the waking hours.

Even if she hates me, thinks I’m deplorable. Fuck, I want her sweetness. Her delicate smiles, and tender sweetness. I want to wrap her kindness around me like cotton candy.

“So fucking perfect, witch,” I say, squeezing her breast.

God, her fucking tits are enough to make me start a religion about her. I’d go door to door selling scripture over their beauty and fullness. Then again, maybe I wouldn’t, because then they would be looking at my witch’s chest and I’d have to rip their hearts out.

It would be a religion of one, on which I would get down on my knees and worship daily.

“Warin!” she shouts my name and I shiver. What I wouldn’t give to have her shouting my name as her blunt pink nails trail down my back while my cock and teeth are sunken inside of her.

This dream is the best I’ve ever had. I’m not sure I’ve dreamt in over a century. I don’t hate it.

“Warin. Wake up,” she says, trying to wiggle out of my arms. I only hold her harder. She can’t escape me, not in my subconscious. “Wake the fuck up,” she growls.

I hold her tightly, absently rubbing myself against her as her nails dig into my forearms. Her ass is soft and round against me and I can’t help but to moan in her ear before dragging my teeth against her throat. Her pulse is pounding and the dream feels so real, so perfect.

“Oh Hecate,” she rasps out. “No. We can’t be doing this right now. I need you to wake up.”

“Always so bossy,” I mumble against her hair. She smells more like the sun there. I wish she was making more sense and telling me to fuck her instead of waking up from this heavenly dream.

“Warin, Conner was trying to kidnap me. Wake up. Please wake up.” Her tone is pleading and I groan as I come out of a daze.

It takes me too long to get my faculties. I’m too hungry, I realize, if I wasn’t starving myself I’d wake up more clear-headed. Fuck, I probably would have risen as soon as I heard Conner speak to Ember if I was more aware.

I’m finally rising from my bed and Ember looks at me with wide eyes.

“What did you say?” I ask her. My unexpected rousing has me disoriented.

“Conner…h-he said he was going to take me and sell my blood.”

I see red, but I do my best to not startle Ember. She already thinks I’m a monster, but I don’t need her to know the true extent.

“As soon as I leave this room, you will lock yourself in with magic. Do not come out until I get you. Do you understand?” I tell her as calmly as I can.

As much as I want to find Conner and dismember him, placing his body parts on stakes outside of the property so everyone gets the memo to not betray me, I have to be delicate with Ember.

My darkness scares her, and I have to shield her from it, that’s the only way I stand a chance of ever earning a sliver of her affection.

“Sunshine, do you understand?” I ask her.

She nods quickly, and I’m out of the room in a flash, trusting that she’ll do as she’s told.

“Conner!” I shout the name with such torment and anger that I think the foundation rattles.

It’s not long before Samantha is in the kitchen with me, still ruffled from sleep. I glance around the kitchen and spot Ember’s ring on the floor and I pocket it.

Rage simmers under my skin. He tricked her into taking it off, or physically removed it from her fucking finger so he could manipulate her.

“Conner tried to abduct Ember. I want him brought to me. Alive,” I tell her, my teeth nearly clenched so I don’t shout the words.

Samantha doesn’t question me as we search the house, both of us pausing as we get to the front door that’s slightly ajar.

A sliver of sunlight reflects on the floor, not allowing Samantha or I to pass without the proper gear on. There’s only a half-hour before nightfall.

“Contact everyone. Conner and the Slayer are to be dealt with tonight,” I say, the words dripping with malice as I seek retribution.

“You need to feed,” Samantha interjects, and I look down at her.

She isn’t wrong; I do need to feed. The hungrier I am, the more reckless and bloodthirsty. But I need to be stronger than that. If I want to capture Ember’s heart, then I need to prove my devotion in every way.

“Just do as you’re told,” I tell her, and as her sire, she can’t question me. Her brows pitch in as she goes back to her room to contact everyone in the nest.

Tonight we hunt.

Tonight I kill the beings who dared to put my witch in harm’s way. I’ll rip both of their hearts out and dip them in gold, using them as door knockers so everyone knows that fucking with what’s mine is a one-way ticket to their final resting place.