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With his hands shoved into the pockets of his black slacks, in a casual but somewhat arrogant stance, black shirt buttoned down to mid-chest and clinging to his biceps, he reminded me of a mafia boss, which seemed fitting at the moment. “It’s not every day you piss off the heavensandHell. I figured it’s better to be prepared for war.” The worry on my face must’ve been a marquis with flashing lights, the way his brows came together in concern. “What is it?”
“You think they’ll come for us? Here?”
“I am preparing for any possibility.” He rounded his desk, slowing to a stop before me, and leaned back against the polished wood behind him. The feel of his warm palm against my cheek was a balm to my growing fears. Eyes riveted on my lips, he stroked a finger over them, perhaps wanting to kiss me, and God, I wanted him to. I wanted him to lift me up into his arms, set me down on that desk, and fuck me with the same reckless passion as when we’d started the night before.
Before my head had effectively ruined everything.
“You make it hard not to love you, you know that?” I asked.
“As do you.”
In spite of his words, a sadness filled the space between us. An emptiness that I wanted to cleave through with a chainsaw. “Well, I should probably get back to staying completely separate. It seems everyone is keeping their distance.”
“What does that mean?”
“Earlier, I went outside to see the dogs. They went berserk. Tried to attack.”
Brows pinching to a tight frown, he lowered his hand from my face. “Cerberus tried to attack you?”
“Yes. I don’t know what I did. He acted like he didn’t recognize me, at all.”
“You carry my sigil. He would essentially be going againstme, if he were to attack you.” He shook his head, running his hand over his jaw. “I’ve never seen disloyalty out of him in all the time I’ve had him.”
“Well, I’m not putting his loyalty toward you to the test. I’m already tied to an ex-convict, who I’m not convinced won’t try to cut his losses.”
“I’ll see what’s going on with Cerberus. And I’ll not begin the search for your father for a couple days, so you might feel more comfortable with Vespyr and Vaszhago.” He returned to his chair and eased back into it, looking casually lethal and utterly delectable, as usual.
Again, I found myself mourning the times I could take what I wanted, as he’d encouraged me to do, without the look of suspicion in his eye, like I was some kind of criminal breaking the law.
Everything was different, and I hated that even the dogs–the first to lower their vicious guard around me when I’d arrived in Nightshade, now looked at me as an enemy. “To be honest, it bothered me. Cerberus and I had such a great connection. More so than Camael, even.”
“You did. It doesn’t make sense that he, in particular, would behave that way toward you. I’ll command they stay away from you. If necessary, I can have the dogs penned during the day so you can get outside, have some fresh air.”
Waving my hand in dismissal, I shook my head. “No. I’m not going to have you pen them because of me. That would be wrong. This has been their home longer than mine. I’ll be fine. Really. Just makes me sad to have to keep my distance, but I certainly don’t want to be their next meal.” My days at the cathedral were going to look different now that I couldn’t go out and frolic around with the dogs, like I once did. “And don’t worry about sticking around for a couple of days. The sooner you set out, the faster we find my father, and this ridiculous need to separate will be over.”
“Come here.” Leaning back in his chair, he patted his knee, and though I wanted to be incredibly stubborn and deny him, I did as he asked, taking a seat on his muscled thigh. Hands threading through my hair, he pulled me in for a kiss, for which I closed my eyes and savored, relishing the smoky, hot cinnamon flavor of his drink on my tongue, before he broke free. “Do not make the mistake of thinking I enjoy having to keep my hands off you. There is no greater torment.”
“I know it has to be this way. I know it’s not your fault.”
“When my wings are restored, and the baby is born, I intend to claim you.”
At that, I drew back, frowning. “Claimme? The sexual slavery thing you were telling me about?”
His lips twitched for a smile he seemed to resist. “No. It’s a different kind of bonding ritual. It’s calledcon’jeszis. Essentially, making you my mate, so that no one else can lay claim to you. Not even an overlord.” A lock of my hair slipped between his fingers as he toyed with it. “It’s forbidden with a mortal, which is why I abstained before, as phenomenal as it would’ve felt. Your body becomes immortal in the process. It would’ve damned your soul.” Grief flickered in his gaze as he draped the lock of hair over my shoulder. “But you beat me to the punch on that front.”
His mate? While I’d never really dreamed much about a wedding and marriage as a child, certainly notmatinga man, it wouldn’t exactly be torture to be bound to Jericho. Unless, of course, we remained separate for eternity.
“Will this keep me from becoming cambion?”
“No. It’ll mean that if anyone dares to penetrate you, he will suffer intense pain. And I will have the legal and recognized right to destroy him. Including an overlord.”
I caught the tic of his jaw when he said that. If that was the demon equivalent of a wedding proposal just then, it certainly wasn’t the most romantic, but so what. My heart had already decided on Jericho. Anyone after him would’ve just been horribly sloppy seconds with mold on top. “Then, yes. I say we do it. How does it work?”
Huffing, he turned away from me. “That’s the part you might not like so much.”
I shifted on his lap and let out a nervous chuckle. “What do you mean?”
“In order to be recognized, the ritual must take place before the council.”
