Page 113 of Love Bites

We did need to talk, despite my fear.

He stepped into his boxer-briefs, then captured my hand and towed my reluctant ass to the bed. Rather than sitting in our usual places, he took a seat on the edge of the mattress, and pulled me onto his lap.

His hands caught my hips, and mine landed on his shoulders. “Alright, little siren. What do we need to discuss about us?”

I hesitated.

He stroked my hips lightly, despite the fabric separating him from my skin. The man was clearly not in any kind of a hurry.

I wrestled with my thoughts for another minute before I finally said, “It feels like you think of us as real mates when I drink from you.”

He blinked, his hands going still for a moment.

“I’m not saying that’s a bad thing,” I added hastily. “We just haven’t talked about what it means. And I know you might not have realized what you’re feeling, because sometimes sirens find emotions that are buried so deep, but?—”

“I’ve never thought of us as anything other than real mates, little siren.” He finally resumed stroking my hips, his steady gaze meeting mine.

“Oh,” I said, my heart beating hard.

“Oh,” he agreed, his lips curving upward. “Do you want to tell me how you think of us?”

“Not particularly.”

His lips curved further. “Can I finally tell you how I feel about you, then?”

“Yes.”

He released my hips and cupped my face lightly. Gently. Carefully. “I love you, Blair. Deeply. Intensely. In ways I never expected I could when you kissed me in that nightclub. I wasn’t looking for a mate—but now that I have you, I would do anything and everything to keep you.”

“Even build a massive pool and piss off all of your vampires by refusing to build a golf course?”

His lips stretched in a grin. “Even that.”

“I found a better place for the mini-golf course. I’ve been texting our assistants about it. The roof will be perfect for it.”

He pulled me closer to his chest. “I don’t give a damn about the mini-golf course. Build it if you want. Don’t if you don’t want to. But right now, we’re talking about us.”

I nodded, emotion flooding my throat. “I didn’t want to fall in love with you.”

“I’m aware.”

“Love is dangerous,” I added, my voice growing softer. “I’ve seen the way it hurt the people I loved most. My mom warned me not to let myself fall for anyone, over, and over.”

Damian nodded.

He knew that, too.

“But loving you doesn’t feel like putting myself in danger. It feels… safe. Somehow, in all the fighting and craziness of being bonded to you, you’ve managed to make me trust you with my heart. I don’t know how, or why. And most of me is absolutely terrified—but I do. I trust you. I want you. I love you.”

Emotion burned in those gorgeous blue eyes, and he kissed me.

Something about the position brought me back to that night in the club.

The way he’d made me feel at ease.

The way he’d solved my hunger without pressuring me for more.

And for the first time since I’d met him in the Manor, I let myself admit the truth:

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