Page 97 of Witchbane

He gave me an intense glare.

I shoved him back on the bed. “You know how many lovers I’ve had. One is dead. The other is you. You’re it for me, Ulrich.”

He grinned, sprawled beneath me, looking sexy and sweet all at once. Those eyes, intense but kind, and that tiny smirk that said he knew how much I wanted him. I groaned as my cock slid against his. He could flip me over and ride me hard, and I’d be good with that.

“Is that what you need?”

What I needed was to memorize all the changes. To know every inch of him again.

“Okay,” Liam agreed a little breathlessly. “Whatever you need.”

“If I ask will you tell me?” About all the scars and changes? I couldn’t say the last bit because it hurt a lot to know I hadn’t been there.

“You’re already in my head. No need to ask.”

My hand hovered over the one on his stomach, and I caught a glimpse of the memory. A battle between Kiran and Liam over baby Ari. There were some things they agreed on since Kiran’s power was kitsune power, and he could teach Ari the magic side of things. Other parts, things more based in morality and humanity, those Liam insisted on being in charge of. Our baby might be crazy powerful, but they wouldn’t be some sort of supervillain.

“I’d never let that happen,” Liam said. “Sometimes Nick would fall into bitterness and anger. Which I understood, but it meant he was barred from Ari then. I wanted our baby to find love and joy, not hate for a past that couldn’t be changed.”

I sighed, running my hands down Liam’s chest. The picture was an elaborate display of kitsune play. I recognized Liam’s kitsune, the color and more wolfen face obvious. The other was mine, had to be, since it was redder than anything else. The face, my face in kitsune form, over his heart, looking happy. And nestled, ready to play was a baby fox, not a kitsune. The tails of both kitsunes wrapped around Liam, decorating his arms and vanishing onto his back, which I couldn’t see without flipping him over. There was cake and tea, and even sweet bread folded in delicate layers of insanely detailed art. “This must have taken forever.”

“A while,” Liam admitted, smiling as my fingers traced the lines over his skin. “If we’d been there much longer, I would have had to start adding the pack.” It was our family. I frowned, wondering where Korissa was. “She’s on my back. Even Minion is there. Family first.”

I reached up to cup his face between my hands and kiss him soundly. He was so fucking beautiful, even covered in ink and cake.

“You do have a few kinks,” Liam smiled into my lips, eyes bright and twinkling.

“Just you,” I agreed.

There were a thousand more questions but his skin was warm and inviting. I tugged the blanket away and straddled his hips, rubbing the two of us together. The feeling was so good and only teasing the edge of what I needed.

“I hate the thought of you without me,” I grumbled.

“Stay with me.”

“That’s the plan,” I agreed. As soon as I got the fucking fae to stop messing with me and mine. Liam’s hand caressed down my back, cupping my ass, which fit in his hands perfectly. Our cocks were a slick mingling of precome, sliding together, slow and clumsily, but it was amazing.

Liam took hold of my braid, near the base of my scalp, and used it to drag me in for an insanely deep kiss. I could barely breathe, and would have happily died being devoured by his skilled tongue. He pulled away to kiss my nose. “No dying. Being a single dad sucks.”

I groaned. Not ready to be a dad at all. I glanced nervously at the door. What if Ari came bounding back in? My erection wilted a little.

“Uh-uh,” Liam said taking a hold of my cock and squeezing. “You and me. Focus.”

“I’m focused on you,” I said.

“Not Ari. Just me.” His hand slid down the length of me, pausing for a moment to put us together and stroke. The sensation was amazing and brought me back to full mast. But it wasn’t what I really wanted. “What do you want?” Liam asked between kisses.

“You.”

“Already have me.”

I tried to sort through my fried brain and all I could think about was being claimed again, even with the bond around us tight. And then there was the memory of his knot. So hot and thick, almost too much as he’d been locked inside me. Which led me down a rabbit hole of more questions. Had that been part of Ari’s creation? Or could it be a regular thing?

Liam growled, pulling away and making me protest, but he dug a container of lube out of the bedside table. “Your brain…”

“Sorry,” I grumbled. It never shut off. One thousand percent was standard thinking mode.

“I can short-circuit it,” Liam promised.