Page 22 of Witch of My Heart

His bed was piled with blankets and throws of every size and color. I wondered how many times he had crawled into bed naked on top of that nest of fabric and had to swallow hard before I tried to speak again.

“It smells like magic. Just like you do,” I said, hoping it was neutral enough not to scare him off again.

“Oh. The bed,” he said, his blush deepening as he spoke.

“The bed,” I nodded, trying not to sound as sultry as it felt.

“Before bed stuff,” Cord said, his voice cracking as he spoke.

He paused and his adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed hard too.

“We’re like a couple of fucking kids, huh?” I laughed, hoping to break the tension curling around my mate’s muscles. “Condoms?”

“Err… Do they work with true-mates?” Cord asked, tightening his grip on my hand.

“They work better than nothing,” I said.

“I’m not on birth control. This has been a crazy time in my life, and I didn’t plan on romping with anyone.”

“We don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do,” I said. “We can just find a pen and warm up your boxes.”

“Why does that sound seductive when you say it?” he said and exhaled hard through his nose.

“Maybe I’m just that good, but it’s probably due to the true-mate response,” I grinned.

“What’s the craziest thing you believe that couldn’t possibly happen?” Cord asked, plopping down on the edge of his bed.

“Hmmmm… Like as a kid?” I asked.

“As a kid or now or whenever,” he shrugged.

“I don’t know that I believe anything is impossible.”

“Who was the monster under your bed or in your closet as a kid?” he asked.

“Are you afraid of mating?” I asked, choosing my words very carefully.

“Not exactly. Will you humor me, Alpha?” he asked, all big eyes and running his fingers through the hair that matched his cat’s fur.

“I don’t know that I ever believed there was a monster under my bed as a kid,” I admitted. “I went through a phase in kindergarten where I believed I was a wizard and kept stealing all the brooms to be my staves, but that’s not that farfetched. There was a period of time where Travis – that’s my older brother, had me convinced crows would steal my ears in the winter if I didn’t cover them up.”

Cord let out a chuckle and some of the tension left his shoulders. I moved to stand in front of him. He swallowed hard as he met my gaze. My wolf bumped his head against my ribs, but the furry guy would have to wait. I needed to know what scared Cord so much. I couldn’t protect him against a threat I didn’t know about.

“What’s wrong, mate?” I cupped his chin so he couldn’t look away from my gaze. “Why’d you run?”

“It was something I was thinking about right before you guys showed up at the meeting hall,” Cord confessed.

“And that was?” I asked.

“It’s complicated.”

“I’ve got time. You listened to my life story about hunting down some missing vampyric magic that I can’t even prove is missing,” I said.

“I’ll tell you, but you have to promise not to laugh at me. It’s sort of a stupid fear. Well, maybe not stupid. It’s just impossible, but well, it is what it is.”

“I’d never laugh at you. Duke is afraid of toads. Never figured out why. He’s always been that way. He’s better about acting tough now, but as a kid he’d shriek if any of the other kids ran up to him with a toad. I mean we laughed then, but I’d punch Travis or one of them for doing it to him now.”

“Can you punch a ghost?” Cord asked me.

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