Page 55 of V for Vilified (Hunter V #4)

It was pretty impressive he’d gotten one over on her. Grams was the cleverest person I’d ever met. Even Phillip and Cash weren’t a match for her. But maybe getting the Organization taken down quickly and without a big, long fight made her miss it.

“Oh, she wasn’t taken for a fool at all. That perceptive Hunter saw through everything. I doubt anything has ever gotten past her. Quite impressive, but she is your grandmother. I’d expect nothing less.” He patted his lap and locked eyes with me.

“Then why—”

“Perhaps it was her way of showing gratitude? Who can really say? That Hunter is impossible to read. Her mind is ironclad. Still, I’m not one to look a gift horse in the mouth, so I didn’t question it.

” He waited, expecting me to come sit on his lap like I did with Phillip earlier.

It’d bothered him to see me so willing with everyone else.

He wanted me to choose him too, even if it was only his lap in the end.

The weirdest part about all of it was I wanted to.

I yearned to be close to him, to feel his skin on mine.

It was all I could think about since he appeared at my doorstep.

Worse, I couldn’t blame the Season for it.

He’d chosen to stay, and it’d been air in my lungs, a weight off my shoulders, a longing satisfied.

I didn’t want to lose Aram.

I was happy he decided to stay.

Staring at him, I weighed how much power to give the god who’d started out as my enemy.

He waited anxiously, his thoughts swirling with complicated emotion he couldn’t put to rest. He’d do whatever it took, but a large part of him was afraid I’d never come to him on my own.

He was desperate to have me, but he refused to force me to do anything again.

So, when I stood, his chest expanded with a surprised breath. Licking my lips, I evaded the coffee table and went to him. My eyes locked on his and I dropped. My arms went around his shoulders and I settled onto his lap, saying nothing.

Then the visiting god smiled.

He slid his huge hand into my hair and dragged me down to his mouth, his relief a resounding echo inside my head. The kiss was far too gentle for a powerful Fae like him, but also absolutely fucking perfect.

It didn’t take long for me to kiss him back. He’d retracted his fangs so it was easier to slip my tongue into his mouth and give him a taste of what I wanted him to do to me.

I expected him to do more, take it to the next level, but he didn’t. He kept it to gentle swipes and affectionate brushes. He didn’t try to rip my clothes off. He held me close and let me control the pace, returning only what I gave first.

After nearly ten minutes, he pulled away and grabbed something nearby. My head jerked to the left as the television clicked on, and I cocked an eyebrow at him in question.

It was confusing for him to stop. Wasn’t the whole point of asking for alone time to have sex? His fantasies hadn’t calmed. I was naked in his head as we spoke.

“Netflix and Chill?” the overgrown child asked with a wink.

“Isn’t that what we were doing? I mean, we don’t really need the TV on to do it…”

He scoffed. “How does one Netflix and Chill without the TV on? Come now, little mate. You’re not making any sense.”

I opened and closed my mouth, but he’d already selected a show. “You do know what that means?”

His eyebrows knitted together. “Obviously. It’s a bonding ritual your human counterparts do here. I’m not daft. I’ve spent plenty of time researching this world to know that much.”

Nope, he had no idea. He genuinely thought it meant watching movies together. Oh god, this was too good.

“Yeah, you know what? It is. You’re so right. Bonding 101. Oh, and I think you should totally ask Phillip to join you next time. He loves to Netflix and Chill. It’s the perfect bonding activity for you to get closer to him,” I said, keeping all emotion from my face.

Aram hummed and nodded. “If you think it will help…”

“Oh, it will.” My lips twitched as I leaned back and let the massive Fae god hold me exactly the way he wanted to. “But make sure I’m there just in case. I wouldn’t want anything to get lost in translation.”

Aram beamed a cute smile at me that didn’t fit his whole big and bad vibe. “That’s very kind of you, little mate.”

Don’t laugh. Don’t laugh.

“It’s really not,” I said, choking on a giggle.

Our conversation naturally flowed after that.

I didn’t expect it at all. Aram was a fascinating character, and what he knew about my world still caught me off guard.

Turned out, he was rather obsessed with the human way of living.

The idea of assimilating to this life was actually a point of excitement for him.

He’d never lived outside of his realm. He’d never been just another person in the crowd, and he looked forward to it.

Guess he and I had that in common. I’d pined for a normal life, and this was the first real taste I’d had of it since finding out I was a genetic monster. Just a movie sesh and a big dude with pretty eyes and kissable lips.

Funniest part was that Aram was right. Our night together did change everything between us.

Eight hours and a series binge of Wednesday later, who he argued was an absolute genius in all matters of love and revenge—I couldn’t tell him that she was a bona fide psychopath—I saw him differently.

Aram proved he wanted more than my body; he wanted my time and companionship.

I didn’t hate him. Might even like him. And maybe I wasn’t against having him around.

Maybe, just maybe, we could make this bond thing work.