Page 37 of Lifeblood

Hi.How stupid a reply was that?

Gareth was dressed in suit pants and dark shoes, with a deep-red button-up partially undone. He’d tucked the shirt in, but the cuffs along his forearms were unbuttoned, the sleeves rolled up to reveal his muscular arms. “Can I help you?”

Fuck. In so many ways.

Curse this immediate reaction to Gareth.To all of them, but him most of all.

Was it because we’d already kissed before? Was that why the mate bond demanded more even now? I’d kissed Mordred, too, and that’d been just as intense. But right here, right now with Gareth, it was nearly undeniable. A gravity was pulling me toward him, one that had warmth pooling between my legs at just his smoky scent and the very sight of him. The feel of his raw, dark demonic magic.

Speak, my mind commanded.Before he thinks you dumb.

Maybe I was. Coming here, knowing what we had to do. Knowing how much more we’d already done. Knowing Mordred’s warnings to the men to not claim me yet, to not follow the mate bond into abandon before we’d even begun planning on how to deal with Morgan le Fay.

Submit.

How was I supposed to think clearly with the mate bond screaming at me like this?

“That was nice,” I said, my voice more shaky than I wanted it to ever be, let alone in a demon king’s presence. “What you did for me with Maria and her family. I really appreciate it.”

Gareth nodded, his face an unreadable, neutral mask. Which I supposed was better than the angry visage he normally wore. “I thought it best we find a way to start over.”

Well, that was thoughtful. And now I felt foolish for not trying to find a way myself. “That’s a good idea.”

“Hmm.” He stepped aside to let me in. “I know it’s early, but I’ve just opened a bottle of merlot if you’d care to join me.”

Something to ease my nerves and general foolishness seemed perfect right now. “I’d love to.”

Gareth ushered me inside and gestured to a table near a set of stained-glass windows that overlooked the ocean. I followed and took a seat.

“You look beautiful, by the way,” he said.

I glanced down. I’d gotten dressed quickly after Maria had been taken away, intent only on getting here to thank Gareth. So intent that I hadn’t realized I’d subconsciously picked a deep-red, shorter dress with a deep cut in the front. My cheeks flushed with warmth. “Thank you.”

Gareth grabbed a wineglass from a nearby hutch and filled it with wine for me. I couldn’t help but watch his hands as he placed it in front of me. It seemed as though I was perpetually remembering the way they’d felt on my body the night I’d tried stealing from him. Before either of us had known the extent of the truth that now bound us by fate.

I took the glass from him and greedily took a sip. He watched me with a raised brow but said nothing about it. When I was done, I set the glass back to the table and said, “I’ve been told our true forms make us mortal enemies. I didn’t know that when we first met.” I hadn’t known what my true form would be at all. All those who would’ve known had been killed long ago.

Gareth chuckled darkly. “Dragons and unicorns… Yes, that certainly doesn’t help things.”

It’d explain the way he’d chased me into the park not like a man charging after a thief, but a predator seeking prey. The way he’d barely been able to control himself that night. The way everything with him went straight to raw, primal feelings and reactions.

“What would help?” I asked. “Aside from starting over. Thank you again, by the way. For Maria. And this wine.” It was already starting to leave a low, warm buzz in its wake.

Gareth lifted his gaze to me. Immediately, it felt as though my whole body were on fire. Not painfully, but deliciously under his burning attention. “I want to know how you got through the protection runes on my hotel room.”

I grinned. “Oh, that? That was easier than cracking your safe’s lock, actually.”

Gareth inhaled sharply, seething. When he exhaled, small wisps of smoke billowed out.

I couldn’t help but laugh. “That was a joke. Calm down. I’ve been a thief for decades. It was experience.”

“Experience,” he echoed, clearly still unhappy.

I leaned in over the table. Maybe it was “starting over” giving me confidence again, or simply the liquid courage. “Simple protection runes aren’t a problem for me, and thoseweresimple. I’m guessing the hotel set them up and not someone from the Demon Courts. That was the first mistake. You really should have had runes more like the ones around the throne room in the Shard. I could’ve cracked those too, but it would’ve taken longer—and thus been riskier.”

Gareth’s expression hadn’t changed. “Noted.” Oh, but his tone was curt. He really hated that I had bested him that night.

“You really need to chill out,” I dared to say, though I did so while grinning. “I know what’s going on is a lot, but you’re wound up tighter than—”

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