Page 63 of Obsidian and Frost
“He came to me the other day to ask about you in relation to her.”
I shoved up into a sitting position. “What?”
“He knows there’s something between you, and he was concerned you were dangerous for her. Well, that was his surface reason.” He gave me a pointed look. “His repressed reason, the only one he could allow himself to admit to.”
“He was jealous?”
“I’d say more upset than merely jealous.”
“Huh. And you?”
“You know already that I’m interested in her.”
“The note gave you away.”
“I’m aware.”
“You wanted it to,” I realized.
“I can help you with her.” He lifted a shoulder. “If you want.”
“I’m not gonna launch some campaign to manipulate her into being with me—or us.”
“That’s not what I’m suggesting. It’s just clear that your approach when she pulls away isn’t the optimal one. I’m aware of how long it took for you to finagle past her first withdrawal from you. After what I witnessed last night, it’s safe to say that you don’t want things to play out the same way again.”
“How can you help? Dirty-talk her into not being afraid of herself and hurting those she draws close to?”
He chuckled. “You know, you don’t get enough credit for your biting humor.”
“Was that a wolfandvampire dig all at once?”
“A little.”
“Cocksucker.”
“Don’t tempt me.” He snatched the covers and looked underneath. And then he frowned. “Why are you naked? I told you to keep my cum on you. The pants were helping with that, seeing as though you apparently don’t go the underwear route.”
“It’s still there. I can feel it. And I can’t help it… with the pants, I mean. If I go to sleep wearing clothes, I pull them off in the middle of the night without realizing it. It’s my wolf-vamp hybrid body—one moment I’m blistering hot, the next I’m freezing cold. And at night I can’t regulate it at all, so stripping like that has become a subconscious thing I do. Mostly, I just sleep naked to begin with.”
“That sounds incredibly uncomfortable.”
“I’ve learned to live with it. It’s not life or death.”
“That’s not really the yardstick you should judge something by when deciding whether to simply accept it.” He shifted closer to me. “Some of the work I do… it could assist with this sort of issue. I can look into it. I’d need a sample of your blood, though.”
“That would be… thank you. That’s a really considerate offer.”
“That’s me.”
I eyed him.
“Well, once you get to know me.”
“Speaking of issues with our makeup, what was going on with you last night? Having to call Kai Hunter in? Is something up with you?”
“I’m having issues with my magic. It’s something I’m looking into.”
“What kind of issues?”
