Page 85 of Waltzing With Witches

“Abe,” I murmur. “I’m going to knock that coffee out of your hands and attack you if you keep sucking on my finger like that.”

“Healing you,” he says with a smirk. “Vampire saliva has healing properties we can elect to deposit or not.”

Well, that is fucking fascinating. The scientific side of my brain begins to sort and pick through the questions I have about that. I wonder immediately about the practical applications of such a thing in the human world.

“I lost you,” he says with a laugh. “What are you thinking about?”

“Fixing sick kids with your magical healing saliva,” I admit.

His smirk becomes a soft smile. “It doesn’t work at scale, unfortunately. It must be done with intent. Although maybe one day monsters will feel safe enough to make ourselves known. We’d be happy to help.”

I sigh. “It’s difficult to imagine that ever working, isn’t it?”

He nods. “Yeah. Especially having lived in Seattle for so long. Monsters would become science experiments. The government would see us as a threat.” He drops his hold on my hand and strokes my hair, pulling it over my shoulder to fall at my back. “I’ll be in meetings with Arkan and the protector team all day. Plus, I’ll be needed for help with Leighton’s life ceremony. You’ll be alright by yourself today?”

“Yeah.” I turn to the coffee machine and start mine. Glancing up at him, I smile. “Me and the girls are meeting Hana to talk about black magic.” My smile falls. “I still haven’t given up on the idea that I can help with this.” I place my palm on his broad chest, his warmth a comfort.

He moves his hand to cover mine, his expression turning neutral. “I don’t want to discourage you, but I don’t want you to be devastated if it doesn’t work, either. I feel fine, truly.”

“I can’t give up,” I whisper.

“I’ll never ask you to,” he promises. “And I’ll do everything I can to help.”

I lean forward and kiss his chest. “Fight alongside me, Abe. Don’t accept it, okay?”

He sets his coffee down and wraps both arms around me. “Okay.”

For a long moment we stand in silence. “I have a habit of succeeding where others have failed,” I say with a snicker.

“And a tendency to rely on humor in dark situations,” he jokes.

“True.” I lift my head from his chest, fingering the neckline of his black tee. “You’re not wearing a turtleneck, I see.”

He wraps his fingers through my hair and pulls my head back. There’s a slight pinch, his grip is so tight. He buries his nose in my neck and growls. “Someone convinced me not to hide the tattoos. So, this is me, not hiding.” He sucks in a deep, ragged breath that has my panties wet. “You win, witch.”

“I love winning,” I say with a laugh. “And you folded like a house of cards, sir.”

He lets go of my hair, bringing a fingertip under my chin when I look up at him. “Morgan, you mentioned a grovel under your breath once, and I don’t know how to do that. Have I…done it?”

I hold back a laugh because he seems serious about the question. “Are you familiar with the concept of a grovel?”

His dark eyes flash. “Not really. It seems purely emotional, and it’s difficult for me to operate from that place.”

Reaching up, I run my fingers down his throat, admiring the black-and-red swirls that mark his heritage. “A grovel is typically a grand move made after you’ve done something wrong. Most typically you see this in romantic relationships. One person acts out and then does something extreme to make up for it, a grand gesture of sorts.”

His brows furrow. “What might this grand gesture look like?”

Sudden visions of Abe dropping to his knees in the middle of town assault me. I don’t want him to have to do something like that.

I give him an earnest look. “You’ve expressed your love for me over and over, Abe. I was mad in the beginning; you already know that. But I don’t need a grovel at this point. I’m happy without it.”

“Hmm,” he says. “I’ll ask Ohken if he’s heard about this. Of the males I’m close to, he seems to have a good handle on relationship matters.”

“If you must,” I say with a laugh, grabbing my coffee.

Once we’re done with breakfast, Abe drives me into town and drops me off at Higher Grounds. I kiss him hard before hopping out of the truck. My sisters and Lou sit on a bench in front of the coffee shop. Hana stands next to them, her palm splayed flat on the wood beside the front door.

Thea, Lou, and Wren turn as one to watch Abe drive away, his big truck rumbling backward to Sycamore before he turns and heads toward Shifter Hollow.

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