Page 40 of Pike

It was enough to melt her insides into a puddle of goo. “You sure do know all the right moves.”

“After the mistakes I made with you? I like to think I learned a thing or two along the way. Oh, my love. You look peaked. I think you need mouth-to-mouth.”

Lavinia swallowed, her body shaking with the effort it took to stand next to him. Warmth surged beneath her heart. “You don’t say.”

“Hold on tight.” Pike leaned forward and drew her lips up to meet his.

She held her index and middle fingers up between them, stilling the movement. “Wait. What about my mom?”

He sighed. “What about her?”

“You can’t just expect me to ride off into the sunset with you and forget about her. I have responsibilities. People who need me. I’m all for a good romantic fairy-tale ending, but I need to think about the facts. She can’t be left on her own and I refuse to put her in a home.”

Ah, love.” His laugh rumbled in his chest. “I wouldn’t dream of whisking you away without her. Have I mentioned I’m independently wealthy?”

Her smile was wry. “Of course you are. Beyond the little mishap with the rat shifters?”

“Semantics.” His arm curled around her waist. “You’ll still need to practice your techniques. There are many creatures in this world. You’re not prepared for all of them.”

“Just please tell me there will be no more succubuses in our future.”

“Succubi.”

“What?”

“The plural of succubus is succubi.”

“Whatever. No other women period,” she insisted. “Got it?”

“You’re the only woman I plan on having in my bed. For the rest of eternity.”

“Good.”

This time, she didn’t stop him when he stooped low for a kiss.

She felt his lips brush across her mouth, and she knew. No vision, just a knowing that went as deep as her soul.

Life would never be the same.

THE END

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