Page 43 of Blood Magic (Ariel Kimber 3)

His eyes lowered to my lips before flickering back up to my eyes.

Shit.

He was thinking about kissing me.

Did I want him to kiss me? I think I did. But not on Dash’s couch with Dash upstairs and he could come down and walk in on us at any second.

Thoughts of Dash made me uncomfortable.

“My dad,” I blurted. And wanted to slap my hand across my mouth. When a guy wants to kiss you, but you aren’t sure it’s a good thing, what do you do? Start talking about your father, that’s what. It’ll certainly put a damper on the mood.

Julian’s smile faded, and he frowned up at me. “Say again,” he demanded in a soft, edgy voice.

I understood his confusion. As far as most of the guys knew, I had no information about my dad at all.

I gave him honesty. “I found a box in Vivian’s closet. It was hidden back behind a bunch of things, like she hadn’t wanted anyone to find it. It’s full of letters and pictures from a man who claims to be my biological father. He also claims to be Vivian’s brother.”

I paused to take a breath and watched in fascination as his eyes squinted dangerously and his lips pinched in an angry line.

“No wonder you didn’t say shit about Dash’s family dynamic when you found out about it earlier,” he growled. His fingers pressed into my waist as his nostrils flared angrily. “Shit, honey. I’m so sorry. I won’t talk shit about your mother anymore. This doesn’t mean I’ll care that she’s dead because I don’t think I ever will, but I won’t talk shit about her in front of you.”

My lips parted in shock and my eyes bugged out when I realized what he thought I was saying.

I shook my head frantically from side to side.

“No. No. No.” I said in a rush. “It’s not like that. They didn’t… They weren’tthat.”

“I don’t understand,” he muttered.

That made two of us, but I went for it anyways. I usually did. There was simply no stopping this train wreck once it got started.

“According to the letters, Vivian was never my mother, but my Aunt instead. Her brother is my bio dad and Vivian kidnapped me, she stole me away from him. My bio mother is dead. But my dad never stopped looking for me. I think he’s still looking for me. He was never able to find me because Vivian had some sort of magical block or spell or something placed on the two of us.”

I had to stop to swallow past the lump in my throat at the reminder of Vivian’s treachery.

“She was a witch after all?” Julian whispered in surprise. I watched in fascination as his eyes rounded, filling up with dread. “The Council can never know,” he whispered frantically. “Not ever. You mustn’t ever tell them.”

I sat up further, straddling him, and placed my hands, palms flat onto his chest.

Clearly, I was going about this all wrong.

I splayed my fingers wide on his chest and leaned forward until my face hovered directly above his. My hair hung down around us like a soft curtain.

“She wasn’t a witch,” I assured him in a firm but quiet voice. “Just a bitch. A jealous bitch who couldn’t handle the fact I was born with magic when she wasn’t.”

He blinked slowly, in surprise.

Ha! I’d surprised him. And this would be the beginning because my story just kept getting better and better as it went on. Though, I had a feeling Julian wouldn’t give two shits or blink an eye in surprise at Rain Kimber’s violent, homicidal side.

I wasn’t disappointed.

I sat astride his body with my groin pressed into him just above his pubic bone. My forehead was close to being pressed to his but I had to stay pulled back a bit so I could continue to keep eye contact with him while I talked.

I spilled my guts about everything I read about in the letters. I even went on to tell him about the pictures, going so far as to explain them all in detail to him.

Julian laid under me, all the while running his hands up and down my back in a soothing gesture. He listened to me talk with an open, kind expression on his face and his hands never stopped moving.

By the time I had poured it all out to him, I was emotionally exhausted, so much so, it was starting to drain away my physical energy. And I had had so very much of it to start out with.

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