Page 81 of The Royal Street Witch
“I think I love it, too.” My finger strokes his ear, my head tilted to the side, just taking in his beauty. Everything I thought my life had to be, all the rules put in place before I was even born, and now I can choose to break free from it. I don’t have to make a potion I felt was unethical anymore. I can love whom I choose and let them come after me. I’m strong and together we are stronger.
“We can have a baby,” he says and I pull back, swallowing hard. “Yeah, you can get a donor, but we can raise her. If you still want your bloodline to continue, you have that option and I will love her, love her like she is my own.”
There’s a quiver in my chin and I can’t formulate words. I shake my head, my first instinct to protest, but why protest? Why protest when it’s an option? Do I still need to have a baby if I’m leaving my entire world behind? Am I still bound to a legacy if I no longer am a part of its coven? I don’t know. So I just lay my head against his chest and revel in my absence of words.
“Let’s go home,” he whispers and I look up to him, close my eyes, and nod.
The hotel is two minutes from my house, and I can’t unlock my door fast enough. He unbuttons his shirt as I jog up the stairs. It’s been so long, too long, and I pull off my boots and he picks me up and takes my mouth, gently placing me on the bed.
“I knew the moment I looked into your eyes, that you were my future. I swear, I knew.”
“How did you?” I whisper. “How did you break down a life that has been all barriers and boundaries? How the fuck did you do that?” I breathe out the words as his thumb strokes my cheek.
“You did it, my girl. We are meant to be.”
I kiss him, kiss him so hard because he’s my future and there are no more barriers. We are one and we are meant to be. “I want you. I want you forever,” I sigh.
He groans, grabbing the back of my neck, fangs sliding out, and I trust him wholly and completely. His breath tickles my skin, the warm, moist air setting my body aflame. His eyes meet mine, his tongue peeking out from between his fangs, and presses so gently along the base of my neck, up, up, and my legs cling to his waist, my hips grinding against him while his tongue reaches my jaw, my chin, my lips, and that’s when I take it in my mouth and unbuckle his pants. We undress until we’re naked, bodies grinding with anticipation.
“Be gentle with me, it’s been a while,” he teases in my ear. I smile because this is what my forever will be and I guide him into me so gently, gasping because I could never forget what he feels like, but it’s just so consuming every time.
He is my shrine. An altar before me, and I open myself to him and only him and I worship like I’ve worshipped no other. This is my church, the holiest thing I’ve ever known, the purest love to exist. Because it wants nothing from me but to be loved in return, and I don’t know this kind of selflessness but I bow to it. I fucking bow.
After, I lie in the crook of his arm, his fingers caressing my hair, the blood pumping through his body to the sweetest rhythm, the rhythm of us.
“Have you ever lived with anyone before?” he asks, eyes on the ceiling.
“Is that what we are? Living together?”
“Don’t you think so?”
I rest my chin on his chest, looking at him, his beauty. “I guess. No, I’ve never lived with anyone but my mother and grandmother.”
“I’m going to show you the world, Aster. I’m going to give you the world you deserve.”
I climb on top of him, and he pushes my hair behind my shoulder and stares at me as if I’m not covered in flaws, as if I’m perfection. “You just name the place, you name the place and we’re there. Your happiness is what matters most to me, from now on. Do you understand that?”
There’s an intensity in his words, in his voice, and I crack a smile.
“Take it easy,” I laugh, but his hands squeeze my waist, my naked body sitting on his.
“I’ve waited for you, for this—this freedom. You gave it to us. I’m going to spend the rest of your life repaying you for what you’ve done for us.”
I’ve never meant so much to anyone before and I want to trivialize it, I want to make it a small deal, but it’s a big deal. My own mother left me as soon as she could, didn’t want to make me happy or see my potential, and I know I’ve been searching for that. I’m not sure getting it from Bastian is the right way to make up for my mother’s neglect, but I will take it. For now, at least.
“That baby thing. Were you serious?”
“I never say things I’m not serious about. It can be done.”
“It’s not something I want to discuss now because there’s just too much going on. But I would like to discuss it later. If that’s okay?”
“The offer will permanently stand.”
I don't know what the future holds with my coven, but I know I won't single handedly end my bloodline because I fell in love with a vampire. I know that one day I would like a child, when the time is right, on my own terms. And having a child with Bastian by my side sounds so much sweeter than having a child with a random man I will never see again. It’s so much to think about, to consider, but it’s an option.
Bastian’s phone rings and he stares at it, sobriety taking over. “Cassius,” he says and then quickly answers it. He speaks to him in a clipped conversation then tells Cassius he loves him, yet sounds exasperated.
“What?” I ask when he hangs up, pulling his hand down his face.
