Page 80 of As Darkness Fall
We steadied ourselves, and he shot me a thankful glance. I smiled back at him. He winked at me, and despite the carnage around us, my heart fluttered at the sheer sexual power of that one move. Not for long, but just a little.
It was good to see him a little more like his old self.
“I’m fine,” I said, in answer to his question as Vir grumped by on my left. “But it’s clear that a living mortal doesn’t belong here.”
“It is rare for your kind to be here,” Aaron said, glancing down at our still-joined hands, his eyebrows momentarily furrowing.
I licked my lips and dropped the grip. I didn’t want to make it awkward for him.
He pulled his hand back somewhat abruptly and then gestured with his chin. “We should keep up.”
“Yeah,” I said and went first, following Vir’s steps, catching up with the others quickly.
“You okay?” Vir rumbled as we came to a slight clearing of bodies. Fred had paused, letting us all catch up now that we were on dry land. It was time to figure out what direction to head in next.
“Feeling my mortality,” I said, shimmying closer to him for some reason. “I’m in the Realm of the Dead, standing next to the immortal god who is my Soulmate. It’s, um, a little much to handle.”
Vir’s hand found mine–the opposite hand than Aaron had held–and he squeezed it.
“You’ve been doing a remarkable job so far,” he said, speaking low, the words intended just for me, though I’m sure the others could hear. The utter silence around us, combined with the close quarters and supernatural hearing of everyone in our party, made it inevitable.
“Thanks,” I muttered. “How areyouhandling being forcefully mated to a mortal?”
There was a lot of silence. Then, slowly, the wolf face blurred back into his human visage, the fur giving way to those long locks of black hair that pooled on his shoulders, the fiery blue eyes dimming into a pair of regal orbs the same color.
Pale pink lips twisted upward in a wry smile. “I’ve never been mated to anyone before,” he answered. “So, I’m not sure how I’m doing.”
“Nothing to compare it to, then,” I said, finding myself smiling slightly as well.
“Exactly,” Vir said and pointed at his stomach. “But there’s this feeling…here. It’s kind of weird. It’s like–”
“Butterflies?” I suggested. “Trying to escape?”
“Yes,” Vir said, nodding excitedly. “That’s exactly it. Butterflies trying to escape. I get that feeling a lot when I look at you.”
I blushed, completely unprepared for the absolute boyish cluelessness and childlike honesty of his response. He didn’t even think about the effect his words would have on me. He was just so excited to say them, and damn if it wasn’t freaking adorable.
If only he could have said thatanywherebut surrounded by a bunch of dead bodies.
“Then, there are other times,” Vir continued, oblivious to my reaction. “When I think that I have a mate, that it gets all cold and tight.”
“That’s fear,” I said, ignoring Aaron’s awkward shuffling to put some distance between us. “You’re feeling fear.”
“I don’t like that,” he said. “I’ve never felt it before. I shouldn’t be afraid. I am Vir. Champion of Amunlea.”
“And yet, here you are,” I said, putting a hand on his shoulder and giving him a wink. “Times are changing, Vir.”
“Yeah,” he said quietly. “Stay close. I’ll protect you as best I can here.”
I smiled up at him and then leaned forward, resting my forehead on his shoulder for just a moment's worth of support.
I felt his lips brush the top of my head, and electricity rode its way down every nerve ending of my body from there.
“It’ll be okay,” he added. “Just keep it up. You’re doing great.”
“Thanks,” I said, taking a deep breath and sliding past Vir to get the attention of the others, to figure out what way forward we were going to take.
Instead of looking around, giving Vir and me what little privacy they could, I found both of them staring right at us.
