Page 65 of Till Death

The aristocratic face, the sharp handsome features, the keen gray eyes…once I’d had a hard time resisting him and I’d blamed it on our blood bond. I’d blamed a lot on it, because it was easier than trying to figure out what inside of me was drawn to him.

My heartbeat began to gallop the longer he looked at me. “Jade, come now. You have to know I did all of this for you. And not only because of the help you gave me during our meeting in Michigan.”

Okay, I had to step very carefully now, or I’d end up neck-deep in a huge mess.

“Why do you want to talk about this now?” I asked softly.

My panties definitely weren’t ready to fly off of me.

He chuckled and I drew my mental walls up higher. It was way better to prepare yourself against the guy you couldn’t resist. Er, couldn’t resistonce. I damn well planned to do it now. But he’d been helping us, greatly, so I at least needed to hear him out.

“There has always been a tie between us. I don’t care that you’re an angel,” he said.

“Spoken by a dead man.”

Andre laughed harder at the retort. The man missed nothing. Stepping forward, he grabbed me by the waist and pulled me in, his lips hesitating half an inch above mine.

“What are you doing?” I tried to shove against him and found Andre immovable.

“I’m reminding you of the chemistry between us,” he whispered. Knowing the last time we’d been in a similar position, my knees had weakened and any hesitation flew right out the damn window.

I’d had a craving for the vampire I didn’t understand. A craving I’d given in to without hesitation, and one I now realized was gone. I felt nothing.

Andre’s lips claimed mine quickly as he tried to sweep his tongue through my mouth.

It took all my strength to shove him off and I watched in satisfaction as he stumbled dangerously close to the demon trap. A low growl sounded in the background followed by a snap of teeth.

Cole.

“I’m not sure you understand, Andre. I mean what I say. And I said no. I don’t want to kiss you.”

There was no spell. No daze keeping my mind in a fog of desire for him.

He said nothing for the longest time. Finally, his brows drew down and he shot a glare toward Cole.

“I don’t believe it.”

“It’s nothing personal. We had our moment and now it’s done. I appreciate everything you’ve done for me, for us,” I said.

“Your little boyfriend is about to become one ofthem. And you’re still clinging to him. Clinging like you can personally save him and every other lost soul in the world. He’slost, Jade.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Stop it.”

“He’s lost, and he’ll kill you the second he’s out of that trap.”

I forgot about our temporary plan to hunker down at Divine Magic and call everyone back for a recon session. I forgot about everything I’d done to escape my original deal with Monnie. I forgot about what happened between Andre and I, under the weight of the anger at his words.

I should have expected he’d find a way to corner me and try this garbage.

“What part of this don’t you understand?” I finally said. “I’m not yours, Andre. I’ve never been yours. If this is some kind of last-ditch effort to get me to be your mate, then I’m trying to tell you to stop. I don’t want to hear any more about Cole or what’s happening with him. I don’t want to kiss you. And I don’t want you to try to win me. I’m not a prize. Trust me.” I huffed out what was probably an inappropriate laugh.

But it was a relief to finally find a way to put my feelings into words.

“What we had between us was amazing. It’s also over now. I’ll cherish the memories but I’m not in the market for a repeat.”

“All because of him?” Andre jerked a hand toward the still growling Cole, who crept ever closer to the glowing edges of the trap.

“Because of me,” I corrected.

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