“How much longer?” she asked.
“Almost there.” With the gentlest touch I could manage, I finished cleaning out the bite wound, then pressed a gauze pad to her neck, taping it around the edges. She wouldn’t let me near the knuckles she’d split clocking me in the face, though—pretty sure she wanted to keep that particular injury as a souvenir.
Couldn’t exactly blame her.
I ran my finger along the tape to secure it, and she shivered, then swatted my hand away and yanked her hair forward, covering up the evidence.
“Sorry,” I said, completely out of my depth.
“For what, exactly?”
I gestured vaguely. It was a lot to encompass.
Fuck.
Half a decade of radio silence, no explanation, a broken heart she damn sure didn’t deserve, andthatwas all I could say to her? Sorry for… whatever?
Jax was right. I was seriously fucked in the head.
Arms wrapped tight around her chest, one leg crossed over the other, booted foot bouncing, Haley shook her head and let out a bitter laugh, probably reconsidering the whole letting-me-keep-my-cock thing.
Five years. Five fucking years of fantasizing about the woman, and now I was ready to bash my own brains in as punishment for all the weak-ass memories it’d served up. They werenothingcompared to the real thing, and she’d only gotten more stunning with time.
I sighed, the sound of it laced with regret. “Haley, I didn’t—”
“Save it. I’m not here for the overdue explanation.” She glared at me with the gorgeous green eyes that still haunted my dreams, but they were different now. Harder. Edged with a deep, dark anger trying real damn hard to mask the pain.
Then whyareyou here, sparrow?I wanted to ask.Come to turn my life upside down? Congratulations, woman. Mission fucking accomplished.
But I said nothing. Just nodded and waited her out. She’d get to it when she was damn good and ready, just like she always had.
Jax didn’t know the story either. All he’d said before the vamp attack was that a green-eyed witch had shown up at the bar asking for me by a name I’d left behind years ago, and she was packing weapons, an attitude, and a portal spell to Midnight.
I knew right away it had to be her. Knew right away she had to be in some deep shit, too.
“Where’s the hot demon?” she asked, hopping to her feet.
I tried to pretend the question didn’t send a bolt of jealousy straight through my gut. “Cemetery out back.”
“Smoke break?”
“The only thing smoking will be the vampires who touched you, but I’m afraid you’ll have to wait until sunrise if you want to seethatshow live and uncut.”
Her eyes widened a fraction, the faintest flicker of a smile touching her lips, but she turned her back on me before I could really enjoy it.
That’s right, little sparrow. Don’t say I never did anything nice for you.
She paced my office, checking out all the shit I’d collected in here, none of it particularly meaningful. Aside from the private bar set up behind my desk, it was mostly just dusty tomes and relics left from the original church. Still, she examined each shelf with interest, as if an old bible or wine-stained chalice might give her a clue about why I’d done what I’d done.
She’d known me as fae, but I was half-vampire now, my senses picking up more than she probably realized. The rapid-fire beat of her heart. The familiar strawberries-and-cream sweetness wafting from her skin, mingling with the intoxicating scent of her blood and—even more impossible to ignore—the scent of her arousal.
The woman might’ve hated my guts, but old habits died hard.
And if I didn’t stop staring at her ass in that tight lace dress, I was going to die hard too.
Damn it, Haley. You should’ve stayedfarthe fuck away from me…
I sat in my leather chair and steepled my hands on the desk, my gaze everywhere but on her. A blur of dark hair here, a flash of those boots there, a quick glimpse of black lace stockings… Bits and pieces. It was all I dared to take from her now, and eventhatfelt selfish.
