“If I need you?”
His arms tighten by a fraction.Only a fraction.“Then I will be there.”
I believe him.God help me.I believe him, and that should scare me.
His gaze drops to my mouth, and mine drops to his.The air turns hot and tight when I think about kissing him.Not because of fate.Not because of panic.Because his mouth is close and his hand is warm on my back, and I want to know what wanting feels like when I am the one reaching for it.
His voice is barely a sound.“Briana.”
I know what he is asking, and I also know my answer.
“Not tonight,” I whisper.
His eyes close briefly, and when they open, there’s no disappointment.Only hunger leashed by something stronger.
“Okay.”Just okay.No pressure, no hurt pride, no punishment for the no.
Something inside me softens so abruptly it almost hurts.I rise onto my toes and press my lips to his jaw.A small kiss that causes his whole body to shudder.
I pull back before my courage burns too hot.“Tonight, there’s that,” I say.
His voice is wrecked.“Tonight, that’s everything.”
I smile.A real one.The first real smile I could remember in a long time.Then the moment shatters under a knock at the door.
Ari calls, “I am not interrupting anything naked, am I?”
I close my eyes.“I’m going to kill her.”
Knox’s chest vibrates beneath my cheek.“Get in line.”
Akasha says from the hallway, “The decoy collar is ready.”
Just like that, the world returns.The Marrow House, Lucius, the fucking blood-ring, and the collar I will wear tomorrow night.
Knox feels the change in me and immediately loosens his arms.I hate that he has to, but I love that he does.
I step back, but this time I take his hand.His fingers close carefully around mine, and my pulse jumps.I open the door with Knox at my back and his hand in mine.
Ari looks down at our joined fingers, and her eyes go wide, then soft, then smug.
“Not a word,” I say.
She lifts both hands.“I would never.”
“Liar,” Akasha and Knox say together.
For the first time since the vampires took me, laughter rises in my throat without cutting on the way up.It doesn’t last long because the fear is still there, and the war is still waiting.But Knox’s hand is warm around mine, and when the bond hums softly beneath my skin, I don’t shove it away.I listen.
Not because it owns me, but because I chose the monster on the other end.
And tonight, choosing is enough.
