Page 37 of Curses & Cold Brew
Please, I thought.I need you to be here, where you’re safe and far, far away from whatever mess is happening with my other marks.
“Are you kidding me?” She turned to leave, and my stomach dropped. “I think I’m going to be sick.”
“Iris!” I called, stalling her. The sigil on Iris’s collarbone was putting her in danger, and I wasn’t about to let her out of my sight. “I would never sleep with Wyatt. Wolf boys are really not my type.”
You’re my type, I wanted to say, as if that weren’t obvious.
“Then why was he half dressed and running out of your house?”
“It was Esme.”
Her face was skeptical. “She’s sleeping with Wyatt?”
“No. No one is sleeping with Wyatt.”That I know of.I stalked down the path from my house. “Esme is out there hunting my marks. Which is why I need you to come inside and stay there until I’ve dealt with her.” I closed the distance, brushing my fingertips to theVof her neckline and tracing over the raised brand on her skin.
“Why?” Iris asked breathlessly.
My eyes filled with heat as they met hers. “Because you’re mine.”
Even as she shuddered at my touch, she stepped away, shaking her head. She was stronger than I was in that regard. When it came to Iris, I knew I could lure her in but questionedwhether I could keep her hooked. A flare of a challenge rose in me.
“I’ll just keep the door locked at the apothecary,” she said, clearing her throat.
I shook my head. “That welcome sign is invitation enough for a vampire. Who’s to say she wasn’t invited into the building long before you were even born.”
“And she’s never entered your house?”
“Never.”
She stubbornly stuck out her lip. “I’ll go stay with my family then.”
“No.”
“No?” she echoed in a mocking huff. “You don’t get a say in what I do.”
My pulse ratcheted up, the fear of her heading into danger so great that I panicked. I had to keep her here, by whatever means necessary.
She managed three more steps before I grabbed her by the elbow and spun her around. My hand bracketed her jaw as I pulled her lips to mine and kissed her. She let out a little surprised sound that was so damn satisfying, but she didn’t budge when my lips enveloped hers. Or when my tongue swept across her bottom lip, urging her to open for me.
“Stay here with me,” I pleaded against her lips. “I promise to keep you deliciously occupied.”
When she pulled away, there were tears in her eyes. “Pretending that you want me just to keep me here is low, even for you. Manipulating my feelings just so you don’t lose another deal to your old rival—” She shook her head and staggered back a step.
Was that what she thought? Panic flared anew.
“That’s not?—”
What? What was I going to say? What was I willing toadmitto her in that moment?
Nothing.
Nothing came out of my mouth.
I could promise her nothing. She and I had been doomed before we’d even begun. I wasn’t made for someone as perfectly world changing as she was. And I certainly wasn’t worthy of the way she looked at me. I was impossible to love, and I couldn’t bear to see the moment when Iris realized that.
So instead of giving her a reason to stay, I just rocked back on my heels and watched as she whipped around and stormed into the night.
As soon as she trailed out of sight, I took out my phone to call in a favor from Naphula. Someone needed to guard the witch while I was hunting Esme. The phone rang and rang, neither going to voicemail nor picking up.
