Page 38 of Midwinter Night's Prince

Seth stared at Blair like she’d grown a second head. Why hadn’t he thought of that?

He breathed out. A few words shouldn't have appeased him, but they'd worked. He trusted her. With the possibility of an out in the near future, keeping himself under control was somewhat easier.

He must have spoken that thought aloud because she replied. “When we focus hard on a problem for a long time, it’s easy to overlook the obvious. I run shit by my friends all the time when I feel overwhelmed, and it always works.”

“I don’t have friends,” Seth shot back, indifferent.

He had slayers and contacts. Some, he enjoyed the company of for a few rounds of drink, a game of poker, or a fuck every now and then, but that was about it. Other than his two sisters, there wasn’t anyone he was close to.

“We’re friends,” Blair stated.

“We aren’t even close to friends, witch.”

Blair brought her hands to her heart and pouted. “I’m so hurt.”

She shouldn’t be allowed to ever use her lips like that.

“I’ve found you interesting from the get-go, and let you know. You avoided me,” he reminded her. “Do you avoid your friends, Blair?”

She ignored him, focusing on petting her kitten.

“Go on, do tell. Why did you do your best to stay away from me for so long? Are you that afraid of me?”

She tipped her chin up and met his gaze. “You’re not that scary, Stormhale.”

He just laughed. He terrified her, and they both knew it. She might not have understood why before, but now, after their trip to Olympus, she knew what he was. Whose son he was. He hailed from a blowhard renowned for taking what he wanted, regardless of the wishes of the object of his attention. A selfish, terrible creature who’d fathered heroes, monsters, and everything in between.

“Come closer for a second, let me try something.”

He was sitting on the side of his bed before she could blink, and Blair didn’t seem to mind. Vampire speed could freak mortals out sometimes. Not her. Though Velvet didn’t seem happy with the disturbance, hissing his feelings on the matter.

She shifted to her knees, bringing both of her hands to either side of his head, brows furrowed in concentration.

“Are you doing something?” She was. He could feel magic flow through him. “Or was that just an excuse to get me in bed with you?”

Flirting was second nature to him, especially when she was around.

“Shut up, and drop your shields while you’re at it.”

“I’m a tit for tat kind of guy. I’ll drop mine if you drop yours.”

She was cute when she was mad.

Cute.

Blair Lawson was cute as hell. Another piece to add to the puzzle. He hadn’t noticed it at first, because she hid behind her sass and leather boots, but she was a sweetheart.

Seth didn’t go for sweethearts, or cute women. Yet this one…

Come to me now!

Fuck.

“I felt that. She called you just now, didn’t she?”

Seth’s eyes returned to Blair. “There’s a lot more than meets the eye under all the hair dye and attitude, isn’t there?”

He’d always known that. How much more, he was only beginning to glimpse.

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