Page 28 of All's Fair in Love and Magic

“Won’t people try to use me to get to you after we’re bonded?”

“Probably.”

“Then you shouldn’t be trying to jump into the mate bond either.”

“Clove, if they kill you, it doesn’t matter what happens to me. The resortwillfall. You saw the state of the wards. We only had a few weeks left when you got here. Losing you isn’t an option, and a sealed mate bond is the best way to prevent that.”

He didn’t want to lose me. Not because I was his mate, but because I was a blood witch.

That kind of sucked.

But at the same time, it wasn’t surprising. He hadn’t ever pretended to want me for anything but my magic.

The media told some big-ass lies about romance. I still hadn’t seen a single flower or chocolate, or heard a heart-shattering monologue about how much Liam burned for me.

And I still barely liked the guy, so… yeah.

Romance was bullshit.

But I did need to repair the wards, or we were both going to be toast. Maybe Liam didn’t burn for me, but the Supernatural Resort would if I didn’t fix it.

Liam set me down on the bed in the house’s single bedroom. It was a large bed, the same size as the one in his room in the tower. The bedding was white and soft, looking more expensive and modern than the rest of the coastal-style décor.

“Tomorrow, I want you to put your own wards on the bungalow. I need a place where I know you’ll be safe when we’re apart,” he said.

“Nice to know you think I can protect myself,” I drawled.

“It has nothing to do with your power level. I already told you that you’re my weakness now.”

He sure as hell hadn’t put it like that before.

Guessyou’re my weaknesswas going to be our version ofI burn for you.

Yay.

“I can rune it in the morning. Until I have a spellbook, I probably won’t be able to fix any of the other spells anyway. Unless you have your mom’s grimoire laying around here somewhere.”

He grimaced. “No, she told me on her deathbed to burn it. She thought my magic could keep the wards alive and healthy indefinitely.”

Considering his magic could heal him physically, assuming he could keep magic stable and running didn’t seem like a stretch.

It didn’t work that way, though.

“I’m going to order food while you shower,” Liam said, stepping out of the bedroom. He closed the door behind himself, leaving me alone.

I must’ve smelled truly horrible, because he didn’t make the shower sound optional. A quick sniff of my pits nearly made me gag.

IDefinitelysmelled horrible.

I didn’t waste any time before peeling my clothes off and going into the bathroom. When I saw the gigantic bathtub, I basically dived into it.

Leaning back against the tub, I sighed.

The water I was filling it with wasn’t hot at all, and the chill of it helped ease the heat I radiated.

I relaxed for a while, dozing on and off in the tub.

I wasn’t sure how long I’d been asleep when someone tried the doorknob. My body was much hotter by then, and I was having dream-flashbacks to what happened in bed the night before. Heat’s effects always seemed to get worse when I slept.

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