Page 2 of White Raven
BELLS WILL BE RINGING
Cold winter light illuminated the apartment through the gap in the curtains, and her eyes peeled open to the gray of Christmas morning as the chiming of Boston’s clock tower rang in the holiday. It was almost haunting to hear it. Everything was still and silent—even Poe, who couldn’t be bothered as he nestled himself into a ball of silky black feathers. Athan’s steady heartbeat nearly matched the melodic singing of the clock as her cheek rested on his bare chest. Sarah St. James stared quietly out the window as snow continued to fall as it had throughout the night. She smoothed her palm across her mate’s tattooed skin, pausing and staring at the gaping blood ruby on her ring finger.
She was engaged to Athan Kane.
After all they’d been through in the short span of a couple months, it was almost too ludicrous to believe. As she stared at it, and her hazel eyes caught random spots of dried blood on his body, every event from those months started rippling through her mind. Maybe it wasn’t so crazy to believe. There were definitely other things that were more insane than his proposal. Maybe things such as…the fact that the dried blood on his skin—and hers—had been a result of a night spent drinking it from each other while they went to war over which one could be made to scream the loudest…or cry out to a God that surely had to have turned his face away in disgust by now.
“Hope you’re not having second thoughts about that return policy you mentioned last night,” Athan said, his voice heavy with sleep. “I might have to cook for you to change your mind.”
“Oh, God help us,” Sarah snorted. He chuckled softly beneath her and trailed his fingers up her spine. She flattened her palm on the rippled plane of his hard stomach. “How long have you had this?” Her eyes continued to fix on the ring she still couldn’t believe she was wearing.
“A couple hundred years.”
That wasn’t the answer she was expecting. Sarah raised her head off his chest and looked up at him. “What?”
His mouth curled up, blood still staining it from the night before. He looked like the most sinful creature of bloodshed—especially in this light. He raised his fingertips to her equally bloody mouth. “It was my mother’s. I did have it reset and the diamonds added, though. That was a few weeks back.”
“A few weeks back when I had told you never to come near me again?”
“Correct.”
The taste of shame coated the back of her throat. She kissed his fingers. “Why would you do that for me if I’d pushed you away?” Athan tucked her hair behind her ear.
“Call it desperately blind hope.”
Sarah sighed, shaking her head. “And you thought you were undeserving.”
“Yeah, I still think that.” His smile was sated and lazy. Sarah eased her leg over him and raised herself to straddle his lap. His hands rested on her hips.
“Santa sure was good to me this year…being on the naughty list and all.”
Athan lowered his brows and shot a glare around the apartment. “Where? I’ll blow his fucking head off.” Sarah’s head threw back and she cackled.
“Oh, God! There he is…I thought I’d lost you in all the mush—” His grin caught her mouth, and he flipped her over,laying her on her back and settling between her legs. His kiss was just as devastating as it was the night before.
“You wanna show me all the things you did to end up on that list?” He breathed against her lips, sheathing himself inside her. Her breath caught in her throat, and she smiled devilishly.
“Damn, I love Christmas.”
After a solid hour of holiday cheer, they finally showered, and Sarah stepped out of the bathroom into a haze of foul-smelling smoke. She squinted her eyes and waved her hand in front of her, shaking her head as she turned the corner to see Athan frustratingly scraping a pan at the stove. Her grin widened at every muffled curse under his breath. She stepped up behind him and looked over his shoulder at the—well…she wasn’t sure exactly what they used to be.
“Don’t say a word,” he growled, tossing the charred remnants around with a spatula. She snickered and kissed the back of his neck. He shivered. “Fine. Twist my arm.”
“I was just gonna ask…was it not enough to kill Dahlia? Are we also having her for breakfast? I’m not complaining, I just…”
Athan howled. That laugh was rare, and she couldn’t help but squeeze her arms around him when she heard it. “Damn, that was dark.Shemight have even liked that one.”
“What, pray tell, was in that pan before you incinerated it?” Sarah giggled.
“Umm…your last four eggs.”
“I’d say that I’d accomplished an impossible feat…domesticating a broody, two-century-old vampire, but…sadly, I don’t think there’s any hope for you, Athan Kane.” He turned to his right and tossed the pan into the sink. It sizzled on drops of water.
“I don’t know why you’re surprised. Naughty girls get lumps of coal.” His smile was wicked as he turned around,those black sweatpants hanging loosely around his hips. Sarah lowered her brows and whistled.
“Oooo…that was a decent burn, detective.”
He closed the space between them and pressed himself against her, hovering over her mouth with rogue strands of his hair tumbling over his brow. “Just giving you what you want,Baby…”
