Page 70 of Claiming the Dhampir

“Hindsight is always twenty-twenty,” Nathan said. “It’s easy to see it now especially after our confrontation with the queens. You couldn’t have known at the time.”

Kenrid shrugged.

“Don’t sweat it, Kenny.” Elliott nudged Kenrid, then looked over at Damon. “They want you to find any vampires who might be trying to create new dhampir?”

“Yes.” Damon rose from his seat and crossed the space to stand beside me. “But we have to be very careful. No one can know that the Underworld is protecting the dhampir. They’re stable and appear to be happy.” He slid his arm around my waist but didn’t take his eyes from Elliott. “I wouldn’t have thought the fae queens were stupid enough to take on Lucifer’s army, but their recent interactions have made me doubt their intelligence.”

“Yeah.” Elliott glanced at Kenrid then Nathan. “I don’t want to seem selfish, but I’d like to get a taste of the magic you shared to create that shield. If the fae don’t back down after Lucifer’s threat, it might be a good idea to see how strong we can be.” Elliott looked up at me with a tentative smile. “Together, I mean.”

I had to force myself not to read into his words. That wasn’t an apprehensive look on his face, right? Or was it anticipation? No, I wouldn’t try to guess. I’d follow Damon’s advice. If they weren’t complaining, I shouldn’t worry.

“Do we want to test it now?” Damon asked.

I looked up at him, but he wasn’t looking at me. I followed his gaze to Nathan. My vampire’s eyes swirled from blue to red, penetrating right through all my resolve. I thought I knew what that look meant.

“If everyone is in agreement,” Nathan said, not taking his eyes from mine, “we have about an hour before sunrise.”

Did I want to do this now? Would waiting ease my anxiety? Because now that they’d mentioned it, all I could think about was the possibility of officially claiming Nathan. Mir had suggested it before we left to go to the Underworld, but my brain wasn’t capable of thinking about it then. Would Nathan agree?

I nodded. Kenrid stood, and Elliott joined him.

“Let’s take this to the training room.” Nathan rose to his feet.

“Change into something more comfortable.” Damon gave me a quick side hug, then headed for his bedroom.

Kenrid started toward me, and I met him halfway. He wrapped his arms and his magic around me. “Preferably something you don’t mind getting messy,” he whispered.

I smiled and kissed his neck. As soon as he stepped away, Elliott was there cupping my face in his large hands. “I heard what Kenny said. Maybe not too messy.”

He winked at me, and I once again forced myself not to read into his words. His kiss distracted me, even if it ended too soon.

Elliott left me alone with Nathan. Not really alone. All the guys had a bedroom in the tower, either in Nathan’s wing or Damon’s. There was no one else standing between me and the master vampire, though. This might’ve been the first time we’d actually been in the same room alone since I ambushed him in his office at the Fanged Prince.

I tugged at the end of my shirt, feeling extremely awkward.

“Are you sure you want to do this today?” Nathan asked, closing the space between us.

“It’s a good idea.” I clamped my hands together to keep them from reaching out to him. I needed him to make the first move. It was easy to tell myself to stop second-guessing, but everything seemed harder with Nathan.

“Is it what you want, though?”

He stopped right in front of me. I found the ivory button on his shirt extremely interesting.

“Lorna?”

I sighed. “Yes, I want to do this today. I want to find out how our connection works. I need to know how volatile it is.” I looked up into his deep blue eyes. Not a hint of red stared back at me. “I don’t know if I can be around you if I can’t have you. All of you.”

He searched my face for several seconds before settling his gaze on my lips. “I need all of you. I’m willing to do whatever it takes to stabilize the magic between us so I can keep you.” The edge of his mouth quirked up. “Even if that means I have to convince Elliott to share.”

A halfhearted laugh escaped me. “He’s working on it. I’m impressed that he’s done this well.”

“He loves you,” Nathan said. “He’ll make it work. We all will.”

“I don’t deserve you all,” I mumbled.

“Yes, you do.” He leaned forward and brushed his lips over mine. I wanted more from that kiss, but he pulled away. “Be ready in five minutes.”

I rushed to my room as soon as Nathan left, biting my bottom lip to stop myself from smiling. The anticipation of what could happen next had me blushing. Even if all we did was share the surge of magic created by me and Nathan, that would be enough. It’d felt amazing the first time, but it was overshadowed by the stress of our situation.

---