Page 47 of Monster's Delight

“You didn’t let me finish! She lived longerifshe had children to take care of! I think the women are stronger-willed than the men, not weaker soul-bound. And I think the only reason your grandmother lived as long as she did was because she had your father to look after, and because Grandfather kept coming to see her!”

“He did what?” Aiden stared at me.

“He even went to your manor, according to the librarian,” I informed him. “However, compared to other women, your grandmother diedreallyyoung. I don’t understand it.”

“Well, according to myfamily—”

“Do youreallythink that my grandfather would drain someone of their magic?” I stopped walking and pushed him against one of the stacks in the archive. “Honestly? Whatever you might have heard about him, he would never drain magic fromanyone.”

“Then how do you know about it?” he retorted triumphantly.

“Mister Brecken told me,obviously.” I frowned. “That was the first time I’d ever heard about such a thing happening. It’s a despicable act.”

Aiden slumped. “I’ve been told my whole life to watch out for witches, especially the Doyles. It might take me some time to get over that indoctrination.”

I softened and cupped his cheek in one hand. “Do you trust me?”

He turned his head and pressed a kiss to my palm. “Yes. Beyond anything. I can feel your emotions pulsing through our bond.”

“Then trust me.” I shivered at the brush of his lips on my skin, wanting them elsewhere. “Besides, of the two of us, only one took advantage of not knowing who the other was.”

Aiden’s eyes darkened. “You enjoyed that.”

“Never said I didn’t,” I whispered against his lips. His mouth chased mine as I pulled away. “Come on, not much further.”

His response was a growl, which made me laugh.

“Besides, we have a riddle to solve.” I led him the last few steps to the hidden passageway.

Aiden wrapped his arms around my waist, fiddling with the closure of my jeans and pressing kisses to my shoulders through the open holes of my sweater. “We’ll have fresher minds if we’re not as horny.”

“Did you seriously go from not trusting me to wanting to fuck me in the span of five seconds?” I asked, spotting the button and opening the door at last. He was incredibly distracting.

“Hey, nice makeout spot,” Aiden teased.

“Wait until you see the study room,” I replied playfully. “There’s a huge mahogany desk—”

“Why are we standing out here talking about it?” he interrupted, grabbing my hand and pulling me into the dark corridor.

I let him pull me along, and although most of my mind was focused on the riddle and solving the strangeness of his grandmother’s death, my body seemed to be on the same track as Aiden’s. “Wait! Stop!”

He stopped so fast that I crashed into his back. “What’s wrong? Am I pressuring you?”

“No, it’s not that. We just passed the entrance.” I backtracked two steps and found the entry button, easily this time, as Aiden was surprisingly keeping his hands to himself. Pulling the door open, I let him walk in first.

“Nice,” he said, taking it in. “Now get your cute butt in here and sit on this desk.”

“Oh ho! Your young man is dominant in the bedroom!” Darragh said, startling Aiden. “Or study, I suppose, in this case.”

“When you said the portrait of your ancestor could talk, you were serious!” Aiden exclaimed, examining the painting. “How—”

“I’ll explain the method later,” I said, irritated with myself for getting distracted from the mystery. I spun the grimoire, still open, around to show Aiden. “He said that our grandparents wrote their notes in here, but that there wasn’t a page number he could give me.”

“Intriguing.” Aiden flipped a couple pages back. “This is detailed. My family doesn’t have anything like this.”

“This has been in my family for generations. I’ve had to translate a few of the spells from old Gaelic. Thank goodness I’m taking Ancient Languages this semester!”

“That’s fortunate, and supremely hot.” Aiden pushed the grimoire up against the wall, under the portrait. “So sorry, old man, but we’re going to have to ask you to leave.”

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