Page 46 of Shut Up and Bite Me

“I'm glad you’re so excited about my pain.” I laugh. “I know you’re thrilled about whatever is happening right now but what does it mean for us?” I ask genuinely because I have no idea what this means for my future orourfuture.

She looks between us with a smile that’s taking over her entire face. “It means I was right about you two. And it’s not abad thing, unless you view great power and being granted the gift of finding your soulmate negatively.”

My body warms at her mention of soulmates, and I want to ask a thousand questions, but I can’t even get a word out. I don’t know where to begin.

“You said you were reading about it?” Vivian asks Autumn, and I can see the wheels turning behind her eyes. “What else did you find out?”

We hang on to every word she says, “For starters, every time you feed on him, you grow stronger. In ways that no other vampire can. If you’re not already, your power will begin to mutate, you’ll grow stronger and faster. I imagine it will impact your abilities as well. We just won’t know exactly how they’re affected until it happens.”

“You said we’re soulmates?” The question is barely audible as it finally pushes past my lips, my heart stuck in my throat.

Vivian’s gaze flicks my way, her stare soft, delicate, and vulnerable. “Do you know what the termlamia et fatis sanguismeans?”

I shake my head.

“It’s Latin, translating tovampires and the blood of fate.” Her cheeks flush, and it makes me want to grab her face and kiss her senseless.

My nerves are standing on edge as she holds my gaze with her burning stare.

She releases my hand, and I throw my arm over her shoulders, pulling her into my side, right where she belongs.

Autumn’s phone chimes, cutting through the tension in the room as she checks the message. “Crap, I have to get going. I have to go to the shop, but keep me updated if anything weird happens. I’ll call you after I’m done.”

“Sounds good,” Vivian says before Autumn rushes out of the door, not even bothering to close it. But a second later, as if alarge gust of wind blows through the foyer, the door slams shut seemingly of its own accord.

Silence stretches between Vivian and me as we wait for the other to speak first.

Reaching out with both hands, I tuck her hair back behind her ears, positioning myself toe to toe with her. “What does this mean? For…us?”

She wets her lips, a twinkle gleaming in her stare. “What do you want it to mean?”

Huffing, I bite down on my bottom lip. That was the last thing I was expecting. For her to offer me the control. She likes being in charge, and I don’t mind it one bit. But I like knowing she wants my opinion, that she cares for my desires as much as her own.

She’s the most selfless and kind person I’ve ever met. She locked herself away from the world for so long I can’t believe that we found each other.

Does she want my reassurance?

Was my confession in the car the other night not enough to show her how badly I want to be with her?

“We’re destined for one another, right? Already intertwined together in unimaginable ways?” I murmur, tilting her chin up and forcing her light golden stare to meet mine. I want to be lost in those beautiful eyes when I remind her exactly what I want.

She nods, her gaze searches my face, and she holds her breath as we teeter on the edge of dreamed potential and spoken confessions.

I stroke my thumbs over her cheeks, my fingers sliding into her loosely curled hair.

I want her to answer one question for me before I bare my soul to her, to lead her to the edge of the cliff with me before I dive headfirst, past the point of no return. “Do you want meto leave tomorrow? When we wake and our agreement officially ends, do you want me to go?”

She freezes beneath my touch, taken aback by my question, looking more fragile than I’ve ever seen her. Like the armor around her is finally cracking apart, and my vulnerable girl steps through.

The second I feel her head shake from left to right in my hands, everything inside of me snaps, like her slightest confession rips the iron bars off my heart, once and for all.

My gaze falls to her lips as fireworks erupt in my chest. I wish I could feel her emotions the way she can feel mine.Does she crave my touch as much as I crave hers? Is she falling for me as hard as I am for her?

Her breathing shallows out, and I don’t have to have her gift to know how nervous she is right now. I can see the quickness of her breaths and the quiver of her bottom lip.

“Good. Because I don’t ever want to leave.” Tilting her head back, I crush my lips to hers, savoring her taste, and the moment my tongue swipes against her velvet lips, she snaps, kissing me back feverishly, like my kiss is what she needs to feed on to survive.

My hands fall to her waist, pulling her into me as I give my heart over with every single kiss and touch.

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