Page 81 of Tempting the Fae Lord
Quiet descends.
The laceration at his throat I’ve been gnawing on no longer bleeds, but I can’t tear my mouth off him. He tastes too good. Smells too good.
The chill of winter nips at my exposed ears, but it doesn’t matter. The cold doesn’t bother me. I like it.
Fresh air ruffles my hair and livens my senses.
When I open my eyes for the second time, it isn’t too bright anymore. Silver moonlight illuminates the forest as Ezra carries me deep into the woods. Away from everyone. Just us. Alone.
I dig my fingers into his cloak and squeeze with more force than I’ve ever possessed. “You’ve done it to me, haven’t you?”
I’m like him now. I feel it in my bones. In the power running through my veins. In the buzz of nerves tickling my skin like a thousand tiny pin pricks at once. Alive. Thriving. Eager.
I need to run and chase and leap and fuck.
Especially that.
I squirm in Ezra’s hold, and he lets me go. The second my feet touch ground, I break into a sprint.
“Gale!” The alarm in his voice freezes me midstride. “Don’t leave.”
I grin, my lips peeled back over new teeth. Fangs. A rush of glee flows through me. “I’m not leaving. We’re running. Come on.”
I don’t wait to see if he’ll follow. I know he will. My feet fly like never before. Long strides. Sweeping steps. I dodge over roots and around branches through underbrush. Elation. The wind in my hair like a thunderstorm. I let out a triumphant cheer and laugh.
Not human anymore. Not fragile. Not breakable. Not at risk.
Vampire now. Strong, fast, deadly, immortal.
Like him.
I whirl around and open my arms. “You’ve done it to me!”
He takes my hands, but not the embrace I’m offering. He blinks, his expression wary. His lower lip is trembling. “You must forgive me.”
I shake my head and laugh some more. I can’t help it. “Does it look like I’m angry?”
After a pause in which I can barely stand to hold still, he says, “No.”
“Then don’t apologize. It is I who must thank you. For this gift. We are equals now, you and I. Made for each other. Don’t you feel it?”
He visibly struggles with this information. Which I must put a stop to so we can celebrate.
I squeeze his hands. “It’s what I wanted.”
“But—”
“You’d never have done it if I’d asked, and I was going to ask. It would have been like the gate.No, Mooncalf, I can’t. Too dangerous. Not possible. Not for you.Forever and ever until I’dgrown old and gray and weak and died. This is better. I didn’t have to ask. And you didn’t have to deny me.”
His stunned expression is so endearing I have to kiss him. His mouth, his cheeks, his jaw, and a nip to his throat where he’d opened a vein for me to live.
Finally, he steps into my embrace. Holds me as I hold him, chest to chest, hips to hips, toe to toe.
“You really wanted this?”
“Yes. So much.” I draw back enough to look at him. “I was working up my courage to tell you. To ask for it while I’m still young. To launch my campaign.”
A long, slow breath shudders out of Ezra, and an even slower smile spreads across his lips. “You’re right. I would have said no.”
