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When we’d first met, each time I got near him the taste of lime filled my mouth. It was meant to be a signal, letting us know we’d found our soul-bonded mate. After I’d completed my mate bond with Lucas, and he and I had been married in a werewolf ceremony, the flavors had vanished. Every day without the taste of Desmond had been a harsh reminder of what I’d lost.
But coming back from the fairy reality, it had all changed. I could taste the lime again. I hadn’t spent any time with Lucas since realizing it, so I wasn’t sure if his cinnamon taste would be there. I also didn’t know what it meant in terms of my mate bond with the king, or our lupine marriage. I was sure the consequences would spread out a lot further than just the taste, but for the time being it was the only thing that mattered to me.
It was like losing a limb and having it magically restored to you. I’d known I missed the taste of him but hadn’t realized how much until the flavor was back.
I leaned forward and kissed him gently, his lips tangy and sweet, and rested my forehead against his, breathing in the comfort and familiarity of his scent. I wanted so badly to bring him with me, but there was no way I could go on vampire business with my werewolf boyfriend in tow.
“Don’t think you can kiss me and I’ll forget what you said,” he teased, some of the darkness leaving his voice.
“What if I kiss you a lot?”
“It would take a solid decade of making out for me to overlook you blowing up a building. ”
“To be fair, I didn’t actually blow it up. It just sort of…blew up around me. ”
I sat back and watched his expression change from amused to concerned. His gaze shifted, looking over every part of me he could see while I was sitting, before meeting my eyes again.
“You’re okay?”
“Of course I’m okay. ”
“But Sig is sending you away. ”
“He says it’s not safe anymore. Not just for me, but for everyone. He thinks Peyton is gaining support from other rogues, and if that’s the case, there’s nowhere for me to hide in this city. If they can’t come at me directly, they’ll come at me through the people I love. ”
“And you think they won’t still try that if you’re gone?”
“Not if we make it known I’m leaving. On official council business of course. ”
Desmond pulled his hands free of mine and balled them into fists in his lap like he wanted to hit something but had no obvious target.
“I want to go with you. ”
“You can’t. ”
“Secret…”
“You can’t. I know you want to be with me, and I know you want to protect me, but if you come, you’ll only put me at greater risk. I can’t explain to the West Coast Tribunal why I have a werewolf with me. They won’t overlook it the way Sig does. ”
“Why should it matter who you have with you?”
“Desmond, please. When I was in New Orleans with Lucas, Holden showed up. He was there all of five seconds before Lucas freaked out and made me get rid of him. And he was just bringing me clothes. How do you think the vampire council will react when I show up as a half-vampire and say, Oh, by the way, this is my werewolf boyfriend?”
His silence said he understood, but the hurt expression on his face worried me more. Touching his arm, I added, “I wish you could come, but I have to play this one by the book. ”
“So you do know how to abide by the rules sometimes, then. How long are you going to be gone?”
“I don’t know. ”
“And is he going with you?”
I wasn’t sure what he wanted me to say. I wouldn’t lie, but I wanted the truth to be as painless as possible. “Yes. ”
“In what capacity?”
“Des…”
“In what capacity?”
