Page 14 of A Bloodline Redeemed

“River.”

He stooped talking and gave me a sheepish look.“Sorry.I went off on a tangent.I know people hate that.”

I huffed a laugh and patted his knee.“I don’t mind your tangents.It’s cute.But I think this time I’d rather stay on topic.”

He blinked at me with firelight dancing in his big, sparkly citrine eyes.“Cute?”

Speaking of things I hadn’t meant to say out loud...I shrugged.“Sure.You’re excited about knowledge.And the things that you’re interested in tell me a lot about you.But, I think you’re deflecting here.”I smirked.

He ran a hand through his long black hair and sat taller.“Maybe.”

I nudged my shoulder against his.“I’m sorry you feel left out.It must be lonely, being the only single person in a house full of sex-crazed weirdos.”

He tilted his head, watching my face as he spoke.“I don’t think you’re sex crazed.That is something else entirely.You all seem to have a healthy libido, sure.But you clearly love each other.Why would you try to diminish that?”

My face heated up as I did my best to take his literal interpretation of what I’d said in stride.“I didn’t mean it,” I said with a grimace.“Iwas deflecting that time.With humor and flippant words.It’s a thing I do.”

He shook his head.“Ah.I’m being weird again.”

And that was sad.So fucking sad that people had made him feel bad for how he thought or who he was.Because he was awesome.And I got the feeling people had been shitty to him a lot in the past.

“You’re not weird,” I said firmly.“You’re just perfect.Thank you for everything you did for us tonight.For everything you did for me.You risked going back to Magea to make this perfect for us.You insisted on helping, even though I was being stubborn and trying to lock up all my feelings and wallow in guilt.”I sighed.“And, fuck, you’re the whole damned reason I’m even alive right now.So… thank you.”

“And stop being mean to yourself,” I added, maybe still a bit drunker than I realized, the way the words just spewed out.“And if you want to fuck one of them, just speak up.They’re a bit dense sometimes, so they might need you to be blunt and make the first move.But Iknowmost of them think you’re hot.”

I expected some sort of blushing or stammering denial in response to my unfiltered bluntness.But I had forgotten that I was speaking to a shifter.From what I’d heard over the years, and from how River acted, I got the impression they didn’t have a lot of hangups about sex.“Well, the thought had occurred to me,” he said with a lopsided smile.“But like I said, you’re all so emotionally bonded.I wasn’t sure there was room for a meaningless bit of fun.”

I just stared at him.I was way too buzzed and emotionally scrambled right now to formulate a nice, logical response to that.“Who says it has to be meaningless?”I managed.

His eyes met mine, and his teasing expression sobered, softening into something more tender.Something vulnerable and real.“Doesn’t it?”

I licked my lips, my heart suddenly pounding so hard I thought it might leap right out of my chest.What was happening right now?“I don’t think so,” I murmured.“I don’t think any of us do ‘meaningless’ anymore.”

His glittering gaze dropped to my lips, then back up again.“So, if I kissed you right now…”

It was getting hard to breathe for some reason.But my mouth moved anyway.“It wouldn’t be meaningless to me.”

“Oh.”He breathed the word, barely a whisper, a second before his soft lips met mine and his hand slid into my hair to cup the back of my head, holding me close.

I sank into the kiss, magic and excitement flaring through me like an electric current.Then I tilted my head, inviting him in, deepening the kiss.Goddess, I had been trying not to notice how much I wanted this guy—how much Ilikedhim—for so long now.The tongue that met mine didn’t feel human.A bit longer than I expected, and… textured.I groaned at the thought of what it might feel like to be lickedeverywhereby that tongue.

River’s free hand came to my waist, and he started to pull me closer, but then he stopped and pulled away.His eyes were glowing faintly as he gazed at me like he wanted to eat me.Like he was the cat and I was the mouse.Or… he was theleopardwho could take down much bigger prey…

I shuddered and he pulled away even more.“Fuck.”

I frowned at him.“What?Do I have bad breath or something?That whiskeywasa bit much.”

But he just smiled and shook his head at me.“No.It’s not that.I’m pretty sure I could never get enough of kissing you, Oleander.But you’re intoxicated.And I although I have never fully understood why some cultures find it taboo to commit intimate acts when under the influence of substances, I know witches are one of those cultures.I think it’s perfectly natural to ease your way though fraught emotional times by indulging in sex and other sensual pleasures.I don’t see it as takingadvantage, the way some insist.It’s simply sharing mutual pleasure.In fact, some studies show that—”

I put my hand over his mouth.“River.”

He closed his eyes and stopped babbling.When I removed my hand from his mouth, he sighed.“I’m sorry.I did it again.But what I was trying to say was—”

“I know,” I said grudgingly.“It might not be the best idea to plow the witch while she’s drunk and grieving.”

He touched my cheek, his handsome face apologetic.“I would like nothing more than to play with you.But as I believe you recently turned down your pretty, murderous jinn for similar reasons, I should probably respect the social norms.”

I rolled my eyes, but sure enough, when I glanced over toward the fire, I found Aahil watching us with a murderous expression on his face, his arms crossed over his lean chest and the promise of revenge in his eyes.

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