“The three of us.”
Her answer made me tense up, and she pulled her head back to meet my gaze.
“I think I’m ready,” she whispered.
There was no question what she was talking about. “You want to take our bites?”
She nodded, and Marduk burst through the front door with Hugo in his arms.
“You’re willing to accept our bite?” he exclaimed.
I wasn't surprised he'd heard. We'd been desperate for those words since meeting Bec. He would’ve sensed her intention even if he’d been on the other side of the earth.
Bec startled but then nodded. Marduk took a step further into the condo but then stopped and looked down at Hugo. “Wait, he can't be here for this.”
“Uh, why?” Bec asked, looking apprehensive.
“Because we're probably going to want to get naked and do sexy things,” I explained.
“I could Hugo-sit for you,” Ysabella said from the still-open doorway.
“Where did you come from?” Bec asked.
Ysabella gave her a wry smile. “I live next door, remember? I heard Marduk. I think most of the condo complex heard him.”
Bec's face turned red with embarrassment even as Marduk turned and handed over Hugo. The dog looked as happy to be in Ysabella's arms as he would be with one of us.
“Hello, sweetie,” she said to the Frenchie. “You're going to have a sleepover at my place.”
She turned to leave, then paused and gave us a big smile. “I have a gift for you,” she said.
Shifting Hugo to one arm, Ysabella freed one of her hands. Before any of us could ask, she slapped her palm on the wall next to the door and whispered something. I felt a flash of magic go through the house.
“When the door closes, this place will be perfectly soundproof until you open the door again. Now you'll have privacy for the night.”
With that, she left, Hugo's happy face peering at us from over her shoulder. A rush of wind slammed the door shut behind her. I felt the magic lock in place.
Marduk rushed to us and knelt in front of the couch. He put his hands on the edge of a cushion, as if scared to touch Bec.
“Are you sure? I want this badly. But you have to be sure.”
I nodded, agreeing with Marduk. “He’s right, there’s no going back. We’re willing to wait for as long as you need. I don’t want what happened today to be the reason you decide on taking the bite.”
Her brows furrowed in confusion. “Why would what happened today have anything to do with it?”
“Because we almost died,” Marduk reminded her.
She rolled her eyes. “That might have been big, but that wasn’t the reason. I mean, it helped me decide, but not because we almost died.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“I was sure you’d show up. I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, but I knew you’d find me. That I wasn’t in it alone. Then Danzig showed up and was super smart about dealing with Lomis instead of getting himself killed.”
“Aww, thanks,” I said. “But I wasn’t interested in dying so I’m not sure it was my intelligence so much as the instinct to live!”
She chuckled, but shook her head. “You were smart, delaying Lomis until Marduk and Mason got there. You also gave me time to recover and think up a plan.”
“It was a good plan,” Marduk said.
