Page 116 of Catastrophe

“We’ll see you soon,” Zaide whispered and kissed her before rising and pulling me along. Everything inside me revolted as we walked away from her. I didn’t trust her words, but I hoped she would come.

Charlie followed us to the stairs to whisper, “I’m not sure what’s going on with her, but I’ll stay here and see if I can get anything out of her.”

“If my mother has shown her a vision, she may not tell us,” I told him.

He shrugged. “Dralie is acting funny too, so maybe it’s something to do with our bond? I don’t know. Go nap. I’ll drag her down as soon as I can.”

The building felt much calmer since it wasn’t full of traumatized witches and Isaac guided us to a room which had two mattresses on the floor and our bags piled in the corner. “It’s the biggest room. We thought you’d all like to stay together.”

We thanked him with a nod and when the door closed behind us, I kicked off my shoes and l lay on the mattress, covering my eyes with my arm. They were sore from being in the sun for so long.

“Are you all right?” Zaide asked, and I felt the mattress move as he joined me.

“Tired. Hungry,” I muttered without thinking.

When he repeated, “Hungry,” I cursed.

I slowly uncovered my eyes to meet his gaze. “I won’t bite you.”

He was silent for a moment, but when he spoke, what he said shocked me. “Maybe you should.”

“I … should?”

He huffed and his jaw tensed. “I will not fight my fear without actively trying to get over it.”

“You needn’t get over your fear. Fear keeps you safe,” I told him.

“It keeps me from you.” He whispered, edging closer to me until his large golden hand lay heavy against my chest and his purple eyes were all I could see. “If I learned anything yesterday, it is that I want to be closer. Had I died by the hunter’s hand, I would have regretted holding you at a distance.”

I shuddered at the thought of his death. I saw where he was kept. I saw and smelled the blood saturating that room. He could have died if he’d been a weaker being.

“There’s not been time for us, and …”

He shook his head and interrupted. “I know. Our relationship has been different. You were an unexpected surprise, and I had reservations about you. But you are mine, just as she is, and I want to feel like that. Even our bond isn’t as strong.” His hand cupped my jaw and his thumb swiped over my lips in a tantalizing brush. “Let me do this for you.”

“Are you sure? You’re tired,” I whispered.

“We are about to nap. And Clawdia tells me your bite is … pleasurable.”

I held his hand, stroking over the purple glowing scars on his knuckles and fingers. I brought it to my lips and kissed the old wounds. “You don’t need to do anything you don’t want to.”

“I want to.”

“If you didn’t. It wouldn’t change anything for me. We will build a unique relationship. I’ll take only what you offer.”

“I’m offering this.”

His thumb brushed my fang, and he shuddered and tensed, but I only sucked lightly at the skin before I pressed a kiss to his palm. “I’ll never hurt you again.”

“That wasn’t you.” He assured me. When I continued to press kisses to his hand, he whispered, “I trust you. You protect me.”

“Always.” My bite on his thumb made him gasp, but he didn’t pull away. No, his eyes dilated, his body relaxed into pleasure and his breathing turned deep. I swirled my tongue around the wound and he whimpered and when I sucked I watched as his body jolted and a blush turned his cheeks a dark rose gold.

I gently pulled his finger from my mouth and kissed his knuckles again while he trembled. The blood I received wasn’t enough to truly feed me, but I couldn’t take more. He needed to be handled with care around this topic, especially after what he suffered from the hunters. He needed to know he wasn’t food, nor an experiment. He was important. Mine.

A dragon roared in the distance, destroying the precious moment and shaking the building. We exchanged looks of horror before racing back to the roof.

CHAPTER 29

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