Page 75 of Bitten By Bloodmoon
I don’t tell Lumi this. There is nothing she can do anyway but try to sleep off the effects of the wine. It takes her a long time to fall asleep; she tosses and turns relentlessly, her heartbeat speeding the entire time, before her soft snores finally fill the room. She needs the rest before we face whatever tomorrow brings.
I lie on my side staring at her, my hands aching from where the gashes were sliced open and still not healing. It’s strange to have a wound like this still hurting me when usually my body would heal much quicker. This pain is a never-ending annoyance, but nothing more.
Lumi is heartbreakingly beautiful when she sleeps. Her long hair spills across the pillow in silver strands that look like streaks of moonlight. A soft flush warms her cheeks, pinked by the warmth of the comforter. Her lips are parted slightly, as if ready for the long-awaited kiss I promised.
I should have kissed her. I’m going to regret not kissing her until my dying breath. Ever since she kissed me last, all I’ve been able to think about is her kiss and how it would feel to let loose and really kiss her, not being held back by the idea that she was only doing it to save my life. But there’s a feeling that’s haunting me, telling me I might never get the chance to kiss her again. So I should have taken it, even if it wasn’t the perfect time or under ideal circumstances.
Suddenly, Lumi jolts awake, sitting up frantically in the bed, sweat dripping from her brow. She’s staring straight ahead as if she’s still seeing something or someone, but there is no one in the room except me.
“Lumi? Are you okay? What’s happening?”
She doesn’t answer. She’s still locked into whatever it is that she’s seeing, not fully present in the room with me yet.
I wait, watching her closely for any signs that the witches have put a spell on her. Any sign that I need to intervene. But her breathing is steady, as is her pulse. She’s just lost in a vision.
She blinks, and the room seems to come into focus for her. She turns to me, not surprised to see that I’m already awake.
“They could be false,” she says.
“What could be?”
“The prophecies. Some are false. And even the seers don’t know if what they are saying is true or not. They could simply be false,” she says it with hope in her voice. Hope that she can choose for herself whether Ambrose is her mate or not. Hope that she can get her wolf back.
I frown. “How do we know when they are false or not?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Fucking gods. I hope they find this amusing.”
“I’m sure they do, the assholes. If I ever meet one, I’d like to give them a piece of my mind.”
“Same.”
Our eyes meet again, and it’s as if we both recall my words from the night before at the exact moment. Words that promised a kiss as soon as she wasn’t intoxicated anymore.
I suck in a deep breath, not smelling a hint of alcohol on her breath anymore. Her eyes are no longer red-rimmed.
“I’m not drunk anymore,” she says.
I gulp as I’m propped up on one arm next to her in bed. “Do you know what you’re asking of me?”
She smiles seductively. “I’m asking you to kiss me, not marry me. Just kiss me. It doesn’t mean anything. It doesn’t mean we are mates even if we enjoy it. I just want you to kiss me.”
“But what if it feels like more? What if it locks in our bond? Deepens it? Makes it harder for you to tell if Ambrose is your mate or if I am? What if it’s just the gods playing more games with us?”
“Then you better damn well make sure the kiss is worth any heartbreak we’ll have to endure.”
There’s no arguing with her there. I lick my lip, her eyes hone in on my tongue, and the heat returns to her gaze. There is no denying that this is exactly what she wants. And my body hardening at even the thought of getting to kiss her again is enough for me to know the same. I need to fucking kiss her.
I grab the back of her neck with my bandaged hand, stroking her lower lip with my thumb, teasing her with the promise of what my kiss will bring. I move closer, inch by inch, like I know she’s going to back out and say she doesn’t really want me to kiss her at any moment.
But she doesn’t. If anything, her eyes deepen and darken with a heat that makes my breath catch. Heat diffuses over her skin, and the pull of desire radiates in thick waves—her scent overwhelms me with its unmistakable plea for how badly she wants me.Fuck, I want her too.
I lean forward to kiss her and then…
“Ah!” I cry out as the jolt shoots from my hands up my arms.
“Nyx? What’s happening?”
