Page 81 of Love Bites Hard

“I don’t think that’s?—”

He pulled me out of the water and set me on his lap, then kissed me, lightly.

Gently.

Sweetly.

And pulled away long before I was ready for him to. His forehead rested against mine, my eyes closing as our breaths mingled.

“Let me surrender, Izzy.”

“No,” I whispered, though the last thing I wanted to do was reject him.

There was a reason for my grudge.

I couldn’t let it go that easily.

“Why not?” he asked, his lips brushing mine lightly with the question.

“You still have all of the control.”

“Tell me how to give it to you, then.”

“Let me feed from you whenever I want, instead of according to your schedule.”

“Done.”

The ease with which he gave in surprised me. I’d never seen him go back on his word, so I didn’t have any reason to believe he would do that—but I still couldn’t believe he’d give me what I wanted that easily.

“Let me come to Vamp Manor whenever I want to. Don’t hold me captive anymore.”

He hesitated for a moment with that one.

I could tell he was thinking about it—and probably trying to figure out a way to tell me no.

But he surprised me again by saying, “Alright. But you need to let me know before you leave, and let me come with you.”

“That’s… fair.”

I couldn’t imagine Hale letting Blair come to our land without him, so it seemed like a reasonable request for a mated man.

“Warn me, before you claim me in public in any way,” I added.

He chuckled roughly. “I learned my lesson about that.”

“And don’t keep secrets from me, about wolves or about anything else. Mates are supposed to be a team.”

“I agree.” He lifted his hands to cup my face. “Is there anything else, or can I kiss you now?”

“I want to be able to touch myself without your threat hanging over my head.”

“Done. But not without asking if I want to do it myself,” he said.

“Is your answer going to be yes?”

“Always.” He lowered his mouth to mine. “No clit piercings. I don’t want to have to worry about it when I’m rough with you.”

My lower body warmed. “You’re always rough with me.”

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