Thunder Moon (Nightcreature 8)

“Sorry.”

“I kissed you. I thought we were dead, Grace.”

“You and me both.”

“What changed? The first time you said the spell nothing happened.”

I was uncertain if I should tell him what I knew. That he was my soul mate, my future, my everything. I wasn’t certain I could survive if he left me, too. Not after this.

“I remembered my great-grandmother, how she’d protected me, and—” I stopped, uncertain.

“You did the same.”

I shrugged. “Yeah.”

“You took care of not only yourself but me, too.”

“That’s my job.”

“Was it?” he asked. “Just your job?”

I hesitated, still afraid to reveal my heart, afraid to have it broken again, this time for good. His job was dangerous; it was only a matter of time until something evil ended him. I wasn’t sure I could survive that.

“We should get back.” I refused to meet his eyes. “Claire’s probably called the Marines by now.”

Woof.

Great. The messenger wolf was back.

“What is it?” Ian asked.

I wasn’t sure. The witch was dead; what else did Grandmother have to tell me?

She threw back her head and howled, long, loud, lonely, and I understood her as clearly as if she’d spoken. Better to have some time with Ian than none at all. No matter what happened, at least we’d have love. We’d both nearly lost our lives tonight, and we needed to—

“Seize the day,” I said.

“Excuse me?”

“I love you.”

“I love you back. What brought that on?”

I glanced at the wolf, but she was gone. I must be headed down the right path.

“Hard to say.”

He lifted a brow, but he didn’t press for more of an answer than that.

“Carpe diem, huh?” Ian brushed loose hair out of my face. “Seize the day?” I nodded, and he ran his thumb over my lips. “How about we carpe noctem, too?”

I grabbed the tip of his thumb between my teeth, then suckled it until his brown eyes flickered topaz. “Would that be ‘seize the night’?”

“Yes.” He began to unbutton my uniform. “Just be careful of the lip.”

Chapter 37

I was right about Claire calling the Marines.