Page 61 of Bitten By Bloodmoon
“I know.”
“So this was all a bluff? You weren’t ever really going to offer yourself to them? You have a lot of faith in me, especially since I haven’t actually saved your ass yet.”
“I saved your ass, though.”
She’s right. She did. The attacks have stopped. Slowly, I rise from my hunched-over position, but I’m careful to keep my body between Lumi and the vampires.
Orson looks at me expectantly, as if I’m about to hand her over to him.Not going to happen.
I snap my teeth and growl at him, which only makes him laugh. But he looks to Lumi.
“You have to make this right. You kissed another male. You almost started a war between our species. Almost got your supposed mate killed. You either let us take you or figure out another way so that we can all leave here peacefully,” he says to her.
“Do you have any ideas on how to get us all out of here?”
“I’m working on it,”I reply.
I can feel her roll her eyes at me in her head.“Looks like I’ll be saving your ass again, then.”
“Then take me. I offered myself up to stop you from killing my mate, and I stand by that offer. Take me, but you’ll be taking away your only chance at breaking the curse. I’m the snow wolfthat all the seers talk about breaking the curse. Whether he’s my mate or not, it doesn’t matter. If you kill me, you kill your chance at breaking the curse, and you’ll be starting an all-out war. Because if you take me, there is nothing this man won’t do to get me back or avenge my death.”
“Except we don’t believe that. If he were your mate, he wouldn’t let you go around kissing other males.”
She glares at him. “Nyx doesn’t let me do or not do anything. I’m my own person. I make my own decisions. But you didn’t give me a chance to let everything play out before you attacked Nyx.”
“And what were you about to do?”
“This.” She starts to walk out from behind my protection. I grab her wrist.
“What are you doing?”
“Trust me.”
“I’m not going to let them take you. I’ll kill them all first and start an all-out war.”
She stares at me intently, like she’s realizing something for the first time. But doesn’t say anything else in my head. She starts moving again, and I hold onto her for as long as I can before I’m forced to make a decision. Hold onto her or let her go and trust her.
I hold on with every fiber until I’m forced to let her go. She keeps her eyes on Orson as she struts with all the confidence that has been bubbling inside her. I think she’s going to walk straight for Orson, straight into his arms. I almost lose it and snatch her back before she makes a hard left and turns toward Kael and the others.
What is she doing?
She walks right up to Kael, and my stomach knots. If she gives him any warning about what she’s going to do, it’s unnoticeable. Raising her hand, she slaps him hard across thecheek. “Don’t kiss me, don’t touch me without my permission. You’ll be lucky if Nyx doesn’t immediately kick you out of the pack. And if he chooses to, I won’t stop him. I don’t care that you’re my childhood friend. I don’t care how drunk you are, I’m not fuckingyoursto play with. Do you understand?”
Kael nods solemnly.
She spins on her heels and marches right back to me like she doesn’t have an audience ready to kill her if she makes one misstep. She beelines it back to me, and then, without a word of warning, she rises on her tiptoes, reaching her hand up for a moment. I think I’m about to get slapped, too, but instead, she reaches around the back of my neck and pulls down.
I don’t fully grasp what’s happening until her lips crash into mine. The moment they touch, it’s like a spark igniting dry tinder—sudden, wild, consuming. There’s no hesitation, no gentle testing of boundaries. She kisses me with a fierce certainty, like she’s done this a thousand times before. Like she’s claiming what’s already hers.
Her tongue doesn’t ask—it demands, slipping past the seam of my lips with bold intent. Mine meets hers instantly, a hungry sweep in answer. She tastes like ice, like snow melting on my tongue, shockingly cold even against my already chilled skin—and I’m addicted. The way her fingers tighten around my neck, the way her tongue commands mine with ruthless precision—I could unravel from this alone.
She releases me far too soon, but it’s probably for the best. She looks up at me with heat in her eyes.
“Take me to bed,” she purrs.
Chapter 17
Lumi
