Page 27 of Consume Me
“When I’m not hunting, yes.”
She looks like she wants to argue that. Instead, she asks, “Isn’t that lonely?”
I huff a short laugh. “I’d rather be alone than spend a single second in a room full of empty-headed strangers.”
She laughs then, the sound catching me off guard and hitting somewhere I didn’t know I was vulnerable. Somewhere empty that suddenly feels full. “You sound like my sister, Tori.”
“You have a sister.”
“She lives in Tartarus with her mate, Legion. Who, by the way, is best friends with that wolf shifter we saw at the party, so I’m sure I’ll get a call from one of them soon enough.”
“Does he want to mate with you?”
“Klyn?” She looks a little horrified. “No. Of course not. He’s like… an uncle or something.”
I force myself to relax.
“But he’ll likely tell my sister he saw me. And then I’ll have to explain more than I want.” She shakes her head with a small smile. “Tonight reminds me strangely of their story.”
“Because we’re mates from two different realms?” I ask.
“No,” she says, smirking faintly. “Because they tried to kill each other when they first met, too.”
I lean forward just enough that she can’t mistake the weight of my words.
“I have not lifted a finger to harm you since the moment I laid eyes on you, Kendall. And I never will.”
Her expression flickers—something uncertain threading through it. “I saw you kill me,” she admits quietly.
My chest tightens. “Explain.”
“My mother was a nymph. I think I get my connection to nature from her. Among other gifts. My father was dark fae. From his bloodline, I inherited future sight. Specifically, death sight.”
“You can see how someone will die.”
She nods. “For two years, I’ve had a single vision of my own death. A white-star wolf, its fur coated in my blood, my life force draining away until it’s gone.”
I search her face, hating the fear I see there. Fear for me. For my wolf. Who would do anything for her. “Visions can always change.”
She nods slowly. “I know. I saw two futures for Tori once—different outcomes based on her choices. But I’ve only ever seen one outcome for myself. No matter what choices I’ve made, that vision has never changed. I’ve lived in fear of your wolf for a long time, Noctan.”
“And now?” I ask, my thumb brushing the back of her hand. “Are you still afraid of me?”
She looks down at our joined hands, a long pause stretching between us.
“Not in the way that you think,” she says at last.
The fire in her eye is a spark to dry tinder.
I’ve waited long enough.
I close the last inches between us.
Her lashes flutter, her mouth parting just enough for my breath to brush hers. That tiny opening is all the invitation I need. I tilt my head and capture her lips with mine.
The first taste of her is like nothing I’ve ever known. Whiskey and warmth and pure defiance. Heat and challenge. She doesn’t melt, not at first. No, Kendall meets me head-on, lips moving with mine in a dance that’s equal parts battle and surrender.
I waste no time pulling her into my lap, reveling in the sounds she makes as I settle her core over my cock.
