Page 55 of Luna Rising

Interestingly, there actually were things. A stack of books, a few board games, piles of folded sweatpants, a bunch of pillows, some blankets.

“We can play checkers.” I waved a hand toward the games.

“No.” That was it. No elaboration or explanation.

I swallowed my irritation and reminded myself that he was hurting. “Would you like me to read to you?”

“No.”

“I could sing a song, I guess.”

“No.”

“How about a dance?” I tried, aware that it was only a matter of time before I pushed him to his breaking point.

“Zara—”

“Okay, a blowjob?”

He finally looked at me, gold and crimson battling for dominance in his irises. The heat of his stare warmed my blood more than the fire. His nostrils flared as he breathed me in.

“Do I still smell like you?” I took a step closer to my very volatile mate, tempting a potentially bad fate.

“Don’t do—”

“I bet I do. I bet I taste like you, too.” Yes, I knew what I was doing. Sort of. I was operating solely on instinct, asking myself what would Zosia do? My words called to his wolf side more so than the vampire side.

He grabbed the backs of my thighs and squeezed, a lusty plea in his gaze. “I’m not in control.”

“I know.” Tentatively, I ran my hands through his dark hair. “That’s why I’m here. Tell me what you need, Ewan. Tell me how I can help you.” Despite my best efforts, my voice cracked with emotion.

His eyes glistened, and then he pulled me closer and pressed his cheek against my stomach. “You already have.” He dragged me down onto his lap and wrapped me in his arms, burying his face in my windblown hair. “Thank you,” he whispered.

“Always.”

We stayed like that, him holding me as the flames of his little fire flickered. I didn’t press him to talk, assuming correctly that he would open up when he was ready. It took longer than I anticipated for Ewan broke the silence.

“It was my aunt’s mate. Kiernan’s father. He seemed to believe without me in the way, he would become alpha. You met him briefly. He bought some vampire poison from an underground potions dealer and got the kid to tamper with the bottles. He didn’t care which one of us drank them.”

I leaned my back against his chest and rested my head on his shoulder, swallowing the urge to rip his aunt’s mate to shreds. It was bad enough for any pack member to attack their alpha and his mate, but a relative? And in such a cowardly way. Well, that was unfathomable to me. No one dared speak against my father, let alone try to hurt him or my mom.

“I’m sorry your aunt married an asshole.”

His laughter shook my entire body. “Me too.” He tightened his arms around my waist. “I’m sorry I let that asshole hurt you. I welcomed their family into our fucking house and he hurt you.”

I sat up and wiggled until he loosed his arms, angling my body so I looked directly at him and cupped his cheeks. “Stop. You didn’t let anything happen, okay? I’m fine. And Charlie seems to have recovered.”

Ewan rolled his eyes and sighed. “Yeah, he’s more than fine. I have a feeling that I will be hearing about just how fine for the rest of his life.”

I dropped my hands to his chest and tweaked his nipple, hard. “Is that why you asked Winter to erase his memory?”

He had the good grace to hang his head, and I felt a rush of shame through the bond. “She wasn’t supposed to tell you.”

“Did you really expect that she wouldn’t?” I raised my eyebrows. “She and I are bonded.”

He brushed his mouth across my shoulder. “Yes, and she’s lucky she’s a girl. I hate the idea of you bonded to anyone else, in any way, shape, or form.”

“A woman,” I corrected him as his lips trailed biting kisses toward that sensitive spot where my neck and shoulder connected. “And it’s different. You know that.”

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