“Forget about Jonathan. I’ll take care of him,” Kieran vowed, a muscle jumping in his jaw. He gripped my chin and tilted my head back, crashing his mouth down over mine. My lips parted on a gasp, and he slipped his tongue inside. My fingers clenched the soft fabric of his shirt as I lost myself in his kiss. When he started to pull back, I let out a whimper of protest and pulled him close. A small chuckle bubbled up his chest, but I didn’t mind because he kept kissing me until we were both breathless. “Trust me, Thana. I’ll take care of you from now on.”
I released his shirt and smoothed the wrinkled material while I considered what he was offering to do for me. “Are you sure? That seems like a lot to ask of you since we just met.”
“I’ve never been more certain of anything in my life,” he vowed, flattening one of my palms against his chest while lifting the other hand to brush a kiss against my knuckles.
I peered into his eyes, searching for any sign that he wasn’t being serious but didn’t find anything. My heart told me to go for it and agree, but my mind wasn’t on board yet. “This is all so sudden...and after my mad dash from next door, I don’t know that I’m in the right frame of mind to make any life-altering decisions. I might have already thrown what little relationship I had with my aunt out the window tonight for no good reason.”
Staring into my eyes, he completely freaked me out when he said, “Stop second-guessing your decision to run tonight. It saved your life.”4KieranThana’s pretty, blue eyes were swimming with uncertainty, but it didn’t hide her hope. Even if she hadn’t been my consort, I would have helped any young woman in trouble. However, since she was mine, my wrath at the people who had hurt her was vicious. I wasn’t sure how I would handle her aunt yet, but there was no question that Jonathan was a dead man.
“Saved my life?” Thana repeated.
I nodded. “Jonathan is a very dangerous man—not to me”—I clarified when she looked like she was about to jump in—“but he wouldn’t have hesitated to hurt someone smaller and lacking the same strength as him.” I paused while I debated how much truth to lay at her feet right then.
I hadn’t been aware that Jonathan had been turned, and it pissed me the fuck off that I’d been so careless. If Thana hadn’t run straight to me, she could have been lost to me before I ever found her.
That thought settled the argument in my head. Thana needed to be aware of her destiny so I could claim her. I needed to make sure evil bastards like Jonathan couldn’t prey on her while she was still human.
“Do you believe in fairy tales, Thana?”
She giggled, but her face sobered when she saw my expression held no humor. “I suppose some of them could be true. It’s nice to pretend a handsome prince will come and sweep me away from my aunt.”
“What about the villain?”
Her brow furrowed as she considered my question. “What about the villain?”
“What if the handsome villain wasn’t so bad, and he wanted to sweep you off your feet?”
Thana cocked her head to the side as she looked up at me, the corners of her mouth lifted into a tiny smile. “I like a good anti-hero from time to time.”
I chuckled and cupped her face in one palm, nearly groaning when she closed her eyes and pressed her cheek deeper into my hand. I wanted her whole body pressed against me like that. To see that blissful expression on her face after as she snuggled into me, freshly fucked and satisfied.
“I need you to listen to what I have to tell you and be open-minded, alright?” Her eyes popped open, and she frowned worriedly. I stroked her cheek, and some of the tension in her muscles eased. “We haven’t known each other long, but in your heart, you know you can trust me.”
Thana blushed—it was so damn sexy when she did that, and I was dying to know if the pink color would spread over her whole body when she came—and nodded. “I don’t understand what me trusting you has to do with fairy tales and villains.”
“You will, baby,” I assured her with a quick kiss on her forehead. I would never use compulsion on my consort, but I did send some waves of calm through her to help her deal with what I said next. “Vampires, shifters, witches, these are not just fairy tales. We are very real, but we keep the knowledge of our existence a secret because we cannot trust how humans would react.”
“We?” Thana squeaked.
“I am a vampire, Thana.” I clasped her face with both hands this time and kept our eyes locked. “But like all species, there’s good and evil. My kind are not like the ones in stories.”