Page 30 of The Fang Arrangement (Celestial Witches #2)

I pull out of Warin’s memories with a jolt. My eyes are even more watery than before when I look at him.

A blood mate? That’s what I am to him?

My first reaction is joy. Being a mate to someone is a gift.

I’ve seen it firsthand with Silas and Violet.

It’s like I finally found the missing puzzle piece under the couch and everything makes sense.

There’s a reason why I couldn’t feel anything with another man.

They weren’t him; they weren’t my destined person.

I’m also met with fear and anxiety over the whole situation.

Maybe part of me thought that no matter what I was feeling, Warin was just a bump in the road of my stupid decisions.

That eventually he would get bored and send me on my way and I’d just have to go on with my life.

But if he’s my mate, this is forever. Nothing will ever compare, and with that comes a lot of other problems to solve.

He lives forever and I don’t.

My coven won’t accept him, and if the vampire council is anything to go by, they won’t accept me either.

“What do you need?” he says, a hand on my back and I lurch off the bed. His touch is making my critical thinking skills go out the window, though maybe they’ve been long gone.

I stand, facing him with my arms crossed over my chest. He’s beautiful again. His face completely healed because of my blood, because I’m his blood mate.

It all makes so much sense now, why I find him so handsome, why I couldn’t help but fall for his charms even when he’s scheming. He’s fated to me, and I can’t help but to find it so ridiculously romantic and also hate myself for it at the same time.

“When?” I question him and he tilts his head.

“When what?”

“When did you know what I was to you?” I ask.

This question has him shifting in his seat, he’s uncomfortable, but nods, knowing he has to give me an answer.

“Your twenty-first birthday. You came to my bar looking fucking innocent and perfect. The only person I ever told about having a blood mate was Samantha. I’m not sure why I told her.

Maybe I thought the witch was full of shit and that it wasn’t going to actually happen.

But Samantha, she believed it, so when she saw a pretty, na?ve witch in line at a vampire bar, she brought you to my office.

I was suspicious that Aster sent you, or that you wanted some of my blood.

But in reality, I think you were seeking me out, something deep in you knew you were fated to me. ”

“And why don’t I remember that?” I ask him. I already know the answer, but I need him to say it.

“I compelled you to forget. You told me your name, and I tasted your blood. I knew what you were to me, but I also knew that, to keep you safe, I had to keep you far away from me.”

“Why?” I croak as I look down at my finger that’s tingled so many times I’ve been around him.

Warin stands, his speed human-like as he approaches me as if I might run away as he cups my face, his hands cool and comforting.

“Oz would have killed you, and I knew you’d be fine without me. It was more important that you were safe than for me to have the thing I wanted most in the world.”

“But you indulged,” I reply. “You watched me from afar. You kept tabs on me.”

“I did. The bat in your shutters?—”

“You can turn into a fucking bat?” I say a little too loudly and Warin smirks, shaking his head.

“No. My familiar, Betty, she kept tabs on you. When I could, I would watch you, make sure you weren’t getting into trouble.”

“Why didn’t you come and find me once Oz was dead? You waited until the Slayer attacked.”

His thumbs stroke my cheeks. “Don’t ever doubt that I haven’t wanted you every single moment in the last century.

The moment I found out I had a blood mate waiting for me, I never touched another.

The second I tasted your blood, I never drank directly from a human again.

My devotion is only to you, Ember Hallow, and everything I’ve done has always been because I thought it was in your best interest. The only reason we’re here right now is because I’m inherently selfish.

I thought I could stay away, that I could do what was best for you, that I could protect you from me. ”

He leans forward, his lips nearly touching my forehead.

“I told myself that I’d ruin you, that you were far too kind to be tethered to a wicked creature like myself.

Then Baptiste was murdered, and I saw an opening.

Oz was dead. You were in danger and I took the opportunity in the only way I knew how, manipulating you into an arrangement where you needed to spend time with me, hoping you felt something too.

I watched you for years, but being around you?

Fuck, Ember. I’m greedy, and self-serving, but I couldn’t let you go. ”

I swallow thickly, looking up at him, feeling nothing but true honesty falling out of his mouth.

“You feel it too, just a little bit?” he asks, seeming the most insecure I’ve ever seen him.

I grab his wrist, squeezing tightly.

Despite myself, despite what would be easier, I also feel this connection. I nod and place my head against his chest. His hand cradles the back of my head and I sigh.

How is it that a vampire’s arms are the ones that make me feel safest, and why is it such a relief knowing that something isn’t wrong with me? All these years I’ve been fascinated with the beings of the night, and now I finally find out why.

It was fate, not something wrong with me.

Warin is gentle as he pets my hair, a complete juxtaposition to the man I watched stake a vampire for talking poorly about me. He holds me close, a comfort I haven’t had in a long time, and I just lean into his strength.

“I never meant to deceive you. All I ever wanted since I learned about your existence is you,” he whispers in my ear.

I want to be mad about the time lost, the time we could have had together, but then I realize how long Warin waited for me.

“There was really no one since you found out?”

“No. Never,” he promises.

I rest my ear on his chest, which is eerily silent. I let out a sigh as I play with the lapel of his jacket.

“This doesn’t magically solve our problems, either. This is going to take work. There’s so much to figure out. I-I want to make this work, but that’s going to be a big ask. I won’t leave my coven. I’ll always be a witch,” I say.

Warin doesn’t stop his petting, which he’s truly great at.

“I know. I don’t want to change you.”

It’s open-ended, like he’s worried that I want to change him.

“I don’t want to change you either, but if we’re going to do this, we’ll need to make some adjustments. No more secrets, no more scheming without me.”

He pulls back. “You’d like to scheme with me, little witch?”

“I mean, yeah, I think that some will be involved if we’re going to make this work.”

His hands are back on my face, and my hands slide up and down against the expanse of his solid chest.

“If I knew honesty would work this well, perhaps I should have gone with this approach sooner.”

I narrow my eyes at him, because haven’t I been saying that from the beginning?

“Tonight is the full moon. I need to be with my coven,” I say sternly.

“No fucking way,” he snaps back, taking our progress and little honesty session a few steps back.

“Achille has Conner locked up. The Slayer has been MIA. You and the council will spend the night hunting him and will stay away from coven land. I need to see my friends. I need some time to figure out what to do next. Also I need to stop at my cabin so I can stop my fucking period so I know I’m thinking straight,” I huff out, straightening my dress.

There’s a slight flashback of him sticking his fingers down my panties and how I’d really like to do a hell of a lot more right now. But there can’t be any more of that until we figure some things out.

I might be slightly delusional, but I need some assurances. I need Violet and Iris in my corner. I need to know that I won’t lose them.

Warin’s jaw is tense. “Betty will come with you. If anything is wrong, she’ll alert me immediately.”

“Okay,” I say, not pushing back. “My entire coven will be there too, ya know.”

“Yes, but you’re my witch,” he says, his thumbs stroking my jaw.

His.

Someone to call my own. Someone who wants me so deeply he’d wait a century for me, stalk me for years until the time was right. My mind is probably warped that I find this all endlessly romantic. But at this point, I’m pretty sure I’m over societal norms.

“What does being your witch mean to you?” I say in a sultry voice. This endless need is still thrumming in my veins. All I want to do is to succumb to this sensation and give into him.

He presses closer, a hand at the base of my skull and another cradling my chin.

“It means that I’ll always protect you, that I’ll cherish you, care for you. You’ll want for nothing, Ember. My life is yours.”

My heart stutters in my chest and no matter how stupid it is, I lift on my tiptoes and crash my lips against his.

He kisses me like a man starved, like everything in his life has led to this kiss. His hold on me is firm, yet gentle, as he deepens the kiss, his tongue sliding into my mouth as I moan.

There’s a lingering taste of blood on his tongue, and I find that I don’t hate it. If anything, I’m more turned on thinking about what we did earlier, the way his teeth sunk into my throat and how easily I fell apart at his touch.

I feel wholly woman in his arms and I know this feeling could never be recreated with anyone else. As scary and unknown as this all is, he’s my fate.

This complicated vampire is what the universe has chosen for me, and I’m not mad about it.

I lightly tug on his bottom lip as our lips part. I’m nearly out of breath and he’s in shock still, staring at me like I’m the reason the earth rotates.

“I still don’t like it,” he says, not letting go of me.

It’s like now that he’s been given access to touch, he never wants to let go, and I find it precious.

“You’ll use any magic necessary to protect yourself. If you need me, call on Betty and I’ll be there in a moment.”

“Okay,” I whisper.

“Begging and obedience in the same day. Sunshine, don’t make me make a fucking mess of myself again,” he says, his forehead resting against mine.

I glance down at his crotch, loving that I have the same power over him as he does over me, and bite my lip.

I’m not sure if I’ll always feel sexually charged or if it’s a matter of having his blood in my system, but something tells me it’s the former.

“I need to go,” I tell him, tugging away.

“Have Samantha take you home. Be safe.”

He kisses me on the forehead. I’m careful with the door as I open it, making sure none of the sun slips through, as I walk over to the SUV.

When I hop into the backseat, Samantha arches her brow at me in the mirror.

“You know everything?” she asks.

“Just about. At least I hope. I need you to take me home though.”

“For good?” she says, her concern for her sire written on her face.

I shake my head. “No, just for tonight.”

“Thank god, he’d be insufferable if you left,” she says, but deep down, I think her snark is actually relief that I’m not leaving Warin.

In fact, it’s quite the opposite. I have to find a way to make this work when his life is endless, and mine is not.