Page 60 of Midwinter Night's Prince

“I ordered necessities to be delivered shortly. Velvet pisses out of doors, eats ribeye steak, and seems quite content to use just about any flat surface as a bed, but if you’d like us to pick up his things, by all means.”

She was delaying the inevitable, and they both knew it. Seth wasn’t about to rush her though.

"What if…" He could tell when she changed her mind, deciding to say something else entirely. “What if we texted Cat? Better than to disturb them uninvited. She can bring the supplies at her own leisure.”

He paused on his doorstep, pulled out his phone, and sent her message. “Done. Now maybe you can tell me what you were thinking about first, before chickening out of it.”

He was so in tune with her, understanding each of her expressions, now. He finally had all the pieces of the puzzle. The last one had come to him just moments ago when she’d said those few, simple words.I trust you. She did—she trusted him with far more than her hair, and Seth, who trusted no one, not even his own kin, realized he trusted her right back. Suddenly, everything that ever occurred between them made sense. The way she’d blasted past his defenses, though his shields should have held against any mortal witch, the way she’d stood out to him when no one else ever did. Even the reason why when he was about to lose everything, himself included, he’d thought of her—and been able to send part of himself where he’d known it would be safe, cared for. The distance hadn’t mattered.

Because Blair was his.

It had taken him long enough to realize it; he could give her time to come to her own conclusion. For now. Maybe. He wasn'texactlyknown for his unending patience.

“I was thinking, we don’t know what Aphrodite did to me. Maybe you’re not thinking—just following her twisted agenda. You know, like how she made Paris lose his mind and steal the Atreidae queen.”

“A fan of classic literature, are you?”

“It’s possible.”

“The Iliadis fiction, Blair.”

“It’s mythology,” she countered. “If you think that way, your dad is fiction.”

Seth ran his hand through his hair, brushing it back with a sigh. “All right. How about checking for yourself?” he offered. “Read my mind.”

She shifted uncomfortably.

“Scared?” he challenged.

“Of course not,” she shot back quickly—too quickly. “I just don’t want to invade your privacy.”

She was terrified. Scared to get hurt, scared of rejection, scared of letting herself descend this slippery slope and losing control.

Letting go of her hand, Seth brought both of her wrists along either side of his face. “No invasion necessary. You’re welcome in here.” As she didn’t call to her magic, he grinned and whispered, “I dare you.”

She wasn’t one to renege a dare. Blair opened her mind to see into his, and he let her—mostly—only keeping his most recent discovery beyond walls she could have pushed through if she wanted to. He knew she wouldn’t.

Seth purposely brought forth his first glimpse of her, then thought of the dream she’d invaded, intriguing him, luring him in. He’d answered his sister’s call because he cared for Cat, of course, but he’d also been curious to meet her, and she hadn’t disappointed. He remembered each time he watched her, wanting to get closer, unsure how to go past her defenses.

Lying in wait like the predator he was, silently waiting for a weakness, a sign. Anything. The only thing Olympus had changed was her.

She let go of her hold on him and lifted stunned eyes to him. She was so dumbfounded it could have been funny. Seth was too irritated to let amusement seep to the surface. Her mother really had trampled all over her self-esteem, making her feel like she couldn’t possibly be enough, although Seth hadn’t even seen anyone until her. She couldn’t see it, so he spelled it out for her. “You’re everything,mia strega.”

Then he kissed her again, letting all of his desire fuel him, his hands roaming over her maddening curves. She leaped to his hips—Seth caught her midair and kept her flush against him, hands on her perfect thighs.

More.

Walking backward, he kicked the front door open. She chuckled when it hit the adjacent wall hard enough to leave a dent.

He had her caged in, her back to his bed, in the next second.

“Meow?”

“Fuck!”

Who thought it was a good idea to have a freaking cat?

Blair laughed again.

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