“Itreallyis me, Aisling,” he said, as if he could read my mind. But if he could, he would be protecting his nuts, and he wasn’t. “I can’t kiss anyone because the kiss of a canagh demon enslaves their lover.”
I couldn’t figure out if he was lying or not, but the stark look in his eyes tugged at my heart, and I found myself relaxing.
“It’s true,” he murmured.
When his eyes fell to my mouth and he ran his finger over my lips, the hunger in his gaze stole my breath. Maybe he was lying, but he couldn’t fake the yearning he exuded.
“Before I knew what I was becoming and what my kiss could do to another, I accidentally enslaved a woman.”
An unexpected bolt of jealousy tore through me, and my nails dug into my palms as I tried to control it. The last time I was jealous of anyone was Mary Lou Driscoll in second grade. The only thing on my Christmas list that year was a golden retriever puppy, but when I ran downstairs Christmas morning, there was no puppy beneath my tree.
There was one under Mary Lou’s though.
When she came to school with pictures of her adorable puppy, I justknewSanta got the wrong address. Mary Lou was a brat; she lived three doors down from us, and when our parents got together, she would break my toys, pull my hair, and boss me around. My parents said to ignore her, but it was impossible to ignore someone who kept trying to stick your Barbie in your Easy-Bake Oven.
She knew Barbie wasn’t edible.
Santamusthave made a mistake. Mary Lou didn’t deserve a puppy, butIdid. When I went home and told my parents about Santa’s mix-up, I demanded they write and tell him. And when they finished letting Santa know about his mistake, they had to take me to Mary Lou’s house so I could getmypresent.
Unable to calm me and unable to convince me that I couldn’t take Mary Lou’s puppy, my parents finally told me there was no Santa. They hadn’t given me a puppy because they couldn’t afford one right now. I didn’t know if I was more devastated over the news of Santa, or that there hadn’t been a mix-up and Mary Lou didn’t havemydog.
Now, looking back, I realized I’d been acting like a bigger brat than Mary Lou, but she really was a bitch. The war hadn’t changed that about her. I hadn’t seen her in years, but the last time I ran into her was right before I came to the wall. At the time, she was sticking her tongue down the throat of my best friend’s boyfriend. It was the first time I slapped her before kicking him in the shin, and it feltamazing.
Mary Lou always wanted what everyone else had or desired; hence, why she asked her parents for a golden retriever. She knew how much I wanted that puppy. And Mary Lou always got what she wanted.
I didn’t know what became of her after I left home. I hoped she found some happiness in this messed-up world because I now realized how unhappy she was. She’d seemed to have it all, but something inside her was missing.
Pulling myself from the past, I focused on Hawk again. “What happened to the woman you enslaved?”
“She died but not before she went… well, a little over the top. She started to stalk me.” Anguish filled his eyes before he closed them. “Sarah had no control over herself and no concern for her life. I considered her a freak until I learned I was the one who made her like that. Then I felt sorry for her and hated myself. What happened between us was the kiss of death for the woman she’d been before me.”
I couldn’t stop myself from running my hands over his chest to soothe him. “I’m sorry.”
He shrugged, but I sensed his lingering tension when his head turned toward me. “I won’t make that mistake again. So, when I say it’s not you, it’s me, I am telling the truth.” He cupped my cheek in his hand as he stared at my mouth. “Because I would very much like to know what your mouth tastes like.”
How this man could have me contemplating maiming him one minute and longing to snuggle into his arms the next was a mystery to me, but he did it with ease. He might drive me crazy before he walked out of my life, but I couldn’t deny the ride to Insanityville tempted me.
I hesitated before replying, “Okay.”
Not being able to kiss him was disappointing, but no matter how good he made me feel, I preferred not to spend eternity chasing Hawk around like some lovesick schoolgirl. Death was a far preferable option.
“So, back to these fangs.” I pointed at my mouth as I recalled what started this whole conversation. “Why do I suddenly have them?”
“I’d assumed you knew, but if you weren’t raised as a demon, you wouldn’t,” he murmured more to himself than to me. “You have fangs now because you aremyChosen, and we have claimed each other as such.”
The ground lurched out from under me.
Chapter Thirteen
Hawk
I’d never expected my Chosen to look like she was going to throw up after bonding with me, but that was exactly how Aisling looked. Her face paled, and her hand went to her mouth as she stared at me. In the shadows of the room, her eyes were nearly black, but the moonlight seeping around the curtains illuminated the pretty, paler flecks of brown in them.
She was beautiful, and she was mine, despite that she still looked ready to vomit. I cupped her cheek and ran my thumb across the delicate curve of her jaw before brushing my thumb over her lips. I would give almost anything to taste her and learn the stroke of her tongue, but I could never risk doing to Aisling what I did to Sarah.
I moved my thumb away.
“But… but how is that possible?” she whispered.
