Page 24 of Which Witch is Willing?
“Take it back,” she demanded. “I don’t want to be immortal.”
“Well, I sure as fuck do,” Aerin said. “How do I sign up for this.”
“You’ll have to consult Julian,” Killian said.
“You can bet your ass, we’ll be having a conversation,” Aerin murmured.
“Wait,” Claire said, a frown creasing her brow. “Does that meanImight be immortal as Dru and I pledged our souls to each other? How do we make sure?”
“Other than takin’ a pitchfork to the chest?” Moira asked, sarcastically. “Sure would have been easier on my ticker if you’d given us a heads up. Seein’ Tierra skewered like a shish-kabob took years off my life.”
The thought of living forever further exhausted her. “I don’t want this. I want to die like a normal human being.”
“Even if that meant you would have died tonight?” A stiff note entered Killian’s voice. “It wouldn’t have been only you who would have died, but our child, too.” His eyes hardened to chips of coal.
She was grateful she’d survived and that her baby still thrived inside her, but she couldn’t comprehend the idea of living forever. Hell, she freakingrecycled, and now she was basically a nondegradable plastic bottle, everything she abhorred.
“I need a shower.” Killian’s eyes flared with desire at her words. “Alone,” she added in a tone that didn’t leave room for debate.
“Shit on a shingle, I need a drink,” Moira said.
“It’ll take more than one to erase the image of her pitchforked. Several, actually, to help swallow the knowledge that I might be immortal, too,” Claire said.
“We also need a battle plan. Lucy is top on my hit list. That bitch needs to be eradicated.” Aerin followed Moira and Claire the door, leaving Tierra alone with Killian.
“Let me help you.” Killian scooped her into his arms again and carried her into the bathroom. Carefully, he set her on her feet. “Hold onto the counter. You might be wobbly after your ordeal.”
Ordeal was right, but which was worse, being stabbed by Satan or finding out she was now immortal?
Killian turned on the shower and adjusted the heat and then faced her. He started stripping off what remained of her torn and bloodied clothes.
“I’m taking a shower alone,” she stressed.
“As you said,” he murmured, his eyes raking in her nakedness as he unveiled her.
“I’m serious.”
“I can hear that.”
“That means you need to leave,” she stated, making her position clear.
“That is where you are wrong.” His eyes hardened. “I will not leave you in your weakened state.” He covered her mouth with his finger when she went to object again. “Save your breath.”
Blasted, stubborn man.
When she didn’t try to speak, he traced her lips with his fingertip, his pupils dilating until his eyes were pure black. She knew he wanted to lean down and kiss her, silence her objections with the desire he could so easily coax from her with the barest of touches. Instead, he surprised her and returned to undressing her.
Her thoughts continued to swirl like fallen leaves before a winter gale with questions she should have demanded the answers to when he’d first spoken of them being bonded. “What else does this bonding thing do?
He stiffened and looked away
“Oh, no you don’t. If you want any kind of relationship with me, or me to love you, then that means you need to start telling the truth.”
“As you wish.” Though he looked as though he’d rather have his feathers plucked than have this conversation. “There is nowhere you can run that I can’t find you,” he admitted. “It’s the same for you, which is how you were able to locate me in Hell when no one else could.”
Okay, that could be handy when she got into a scrap—which seemed to be happening too often of late—but what if she wanted to be lost, hidden from him? Be freaking alone? “Can you eavesdrop on my thoughts like Dru does with Claire?” That was sobering. Her thoughts were her own. And they needed to remain that way. There were just some thingsno oneneeded to know.
“Maybe in time, if you open that door. It’s been a millennium since a human has become immortal, therefore the benefits are uncertain.” He released the tie on her skirt and it pooled at her feet. He dragged in a deep breath, taking her in. She only wore a strap of thin white silk covering her nether region. He hooked his fingers in the elastic and slowly knelt, drawing them down her thighs. He held her hips as she stepped out of them. Instead of rising, he gazed up at her, letting her see the passion and love reflected in his eyes and the reedy hold he had on his control.
