“I heard that, too,” he said.
Gingerly I got to my feet, the ache in my balls throbbing. Yeah, that was gonna be a situation.
“Sorry about that,” Gray said, biting her lower lip. “I was really hoping we could see that through.”
“Another time,” I said. “Definitely another time.”
“At least we know my power works, right?” She beamed at me, and I couldn’t help but laugh.
“That’s an understatement.”
“What are you doing the rest of the night?” she asked.
“Cold shower,” I said, limping toward the door. Shit was brutal. Wouldn’t trade it, though. Until I could finally touch her, this was the next best thing—something she’d chosen to share with me and me alone.
“Ronan,” she said, and I turned back to catch her wicked smile.
Seconds later, another image flooded my mind, Gray in the shower with me, suds sliding down between her breasts…
I braced myself against the door, cursing under my breath. “Not helping, Desario. Not fucking helping.”
“You know you love it.”
Hell, she was right.
“Yeah, I do love it. And you. Now please put your new toy away and let me go put this little situation on ice.” I opened the door, grabbed my stiff dick, and hobbled out into the hallway with a smile on my face. Sure, I felt like I’d just gotten kicked in the nuts by a four-hundred-pound gorilla, and Beaumont was out there smirking at me like a total prick, but my girl was alive. She was safe. She was immortal. She had a dirty-as-fuck mind, and she was more than happy to give me a peek.
And the best part? After everything, she still loved me.
For the first time in months, it seemed the universe was finally on our side.
“Wait, Ronan? Serious question this time. I promise.”
I turned back to see her wriggling against her straps.
“When do you think I’ll finally get sprung from here?” she asked.
“Soon. We just need a couple more days to make sure everything’s cool once we stop the hawthorn.”
“Days?” She pressed her lips together, and I knew she was biting back another argument. But ultimately, she relented. We all knew she’d never put the people she loved in danger—particularly her sisters and Liam, who wouldn’t be able to fully defend against her vampire instincts if it came to that.
“Fine,” she finally said. “What happens after I’m cleared for takeoff? We rally the troops and ship out for Blackmoon Bay? The longer we wait on making a move, the—”
“Slow down, Desario. There’s oneveryimportant thing we need to do first,post-haste,” I said for Beaumont’s benefit.
“What thing?” she asked.
I grinned at her, raking my eyes over her body from head to toe and letting out an appreciative sigh. “First day you get your official hall pass? The boys and I are taking our hot new vampire-witch out for a test drive.”
Seven
GRAY
Two nights later, I found myself standing next to Darius in a narrow ditch at the bottom of an icy hill, excitedly bouncing on my toes. He’d run me up and down the steep incline so many times, we’d melted a path through the thick layer of ice and snow clear down to the mud beneath.
And still, I wasn’t even winded. I had energy to burn, and after being on house-arrest for the last few days, I was more than ready to light it all up.
“I think we’ve established that I’m faster than you, D,” I teased. I’d beaten him nine out of the last ten runs, and the ones we’d done before that were all ties.
