Total pages in book: 27
Estimated words: 25186 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 126(@200wpm)___ 101(@250wpm)___ 84(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 25186 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 126(@200wpm)___ 101(@250wpm)___ 84(@300wpm)
Celeste giggled and turned to face me before snuggling in closer. “Are you always going to be this possessive?”
“Yup.” I let the P pop on the end and winked at her.
“Good,” she whispered.
I grinned, but it quickly faded when I saw her furrowed brow and realized something was off in her tone. “What’s wrong, love?”
“It’s just…Arthur.”
I raised my head and frowned down at her. “Forget about him, baby. He won’t even want you anymore.”
5
CELESTE
“Iwish it were that simple.” Rubbing my cheek against his broad chest, I heaved a deep sigh. “Sleeping with you will diminish my value in the eyes of the coven, including Arthur. He won’t get the added boost from taking my virginity, but my magic is still a good match for his. I don’t see him letting go of what being paired with me could mean to him. Not without a fight.”
Ren’s hold on me tightened. “Then that’s what he’ll get because I’m never letting you go.”
He said it so simply, with no hesitation in his voice at all. As though it was no big deal that he was willing to go up against my coven when we’d only met like an hour or two ago. My own parents had never even fought for me, so I wasn’t sure how to react. “It won’t just be Arthur and my parents who try to cause problems for us.”
“I assumed,” he murmured, brushing a kiss against the top of my head.
The part of me waiting for him to rethink our situation and decide I wasn’t worth the trouble eased up a little. “You don’t sound worried.”
He rolled me onto my back, and when our gazes met, there was no missing the determination gleaming from his bright blue eyes. “There’s no reason to be. The Bancrofts have faced off against bigger threats than your coven and come out unscathed.”
“My coven isn’t huge, but we still have too many witches for just the two of us to take on by ourselves,” I warned. “No matter how powerful I might be or whatever kind of vampiric magic you have up your sleeve.”
“Except we will not be on our own, love.” He stroked his thumb across my cheekbone. “My family will have our back, and there’s a lot of us. Between my parents, aunt and uncle, brothers, cousins, and their consorts, the Bancrofts are a formidable force that most people are smart enough to back down from.”
I shook my head with a laugh that held no humor. “I’m not sure that description will fit my parents, fiancé, or coven. Their egos won’t let them believe they can be defeated by a family of daywalkers.”
“Former fiancé,” he growled, lowering his head to claim my mouth in a deep kiss that left me breathless.
His jealousy wasn’t anything I had ever experienced before. Before Ren, I would’ve thought I would be irritated by a guy being so possessive of me. The thought of Arthur acting the same way made me shiver—and not in a sexy way. But the man who I’d been destined for was completely different from the one my parents had tried to pair me off with.
Knowing how much Ren hated even the slightest mention of Arthur gave me a feminine thrill. “Very much former, as far as I’m concerned. Unfortunately, neither he nor our families would agree with me about that.”
“Mine will.” He grinned at me, his eyes twinkling. “They will be thrilled that I finally found my consort after more than five hundred years.”
I had grown up around magic, but knowing that Ren had been alive for so long blew my mind. A witch’s lifespan was longer than a mundane, but nothing like a daywalker. “Hearing stuff like that will take some getting used to.”
“Just wait until you get up in years like me.”
I tilted my head to the side as I stared up at him. “What do you mean?”
“Damn, I guess I forgot for a minute that just because you’re a witch doesn’t mean you know everything about daywalkers.” Stacking the pillows against the headboard, he leaned his back against them before pulling me into his side. Once we were settled, he explained, “When we perform the ritual to complete our bond, you will be changed into one of us. Your body will transition to immortal, and you’ll get fangs similar to mine. And the bond between us will strengthen to the point where we’ll be able to feel each other’s emotions and communicate telepathically.”
My eyes widened as I breathed, “Holy moly. Really?”
“I would not joke with you about something like this, love,” he confirmed with a nod. “Although, I should probably also mention that the process can be painful for the consort. But I promise to make it as enjoyable as possible by making you come as often as you like.”