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I take it slow… but Josie is less hesitant than I am.
The kiss deepens, a spark of passion igniting as our lips move in a sweet and exploratory dance. The pool’s gentle ripples mirror the waves of emotion passing between the two of us, and a sense of peace washes over me with the realization that I have found something special—someone to cherish.
A smile graces Josie’s lips as she eases back, breaking the kiss to brush her fingers against my cheek. Our eyes lock in a wordless exchange of emotion and it feels as though we just unlocked a door to a world of possibilities. Our connection grows stronger with each passing heartbeat.
The rush of affection that surges from Josie into me is breathtaking. “You know… I always hated tests in school, but I could definitely get used to that kind of test.”
“Yeah?” I bring her in for one last chaste kiss, both of us smiling into each other’s mouths.
“If I had to choose right now, it would be you.”
Her words make my breath hitch, my undead heart fluttering. “That is very kind of you to say.” I offer her a sad smile and move the wet strands of hair sticking to her face. “If there is a choice, it will not be for either of us to make.”
“There has to be a choice. I can’t be tied to all three of you. What are we supposed to do? Set up some kind of schedule?”
“I don’t know what will happen. If ye’ll remain bound to all three of us, or if only one bond will take hold fully.”
She swallows and blinks up at me, searching my expression. “What if you feed from me?”
I don’t need my powers as an empath to know how much that thought frightens her. “No.”
“Aren’t you eager to become a daywalker?”
I take her hand in mine and hold it to my chest. “Of course, but I want ye to have a say in this as well. I don’t want something as intimate as a feeding to stem from ye being afraid. I want it to be about the two of us.”
“Your brothers don’t share your beliefs.”
I tip my head from side to side. “No. Perhaps they don’t. Sebastian, at least, will not offer you the same compassion that I do. He will take what he wants without thought for yer well-being or consent.”
“Then why bother at all?”
“Because yer first time should be on yer terms.”
Josie shakes her head, her expression softening.
“What?”
“I don’t fully understand why you care so much, but I genuinely believe you do. And, honestly, you’re the first person to put my wishes first in a very long time.”
“I’ll not defend Claudette for casting a spell to control ye all these years, but I sympathize with her motives. She loved ye and had already lost her daughter. Sometimes love can make ye do the wrong thing for the right reasons.”
She leans in close and places a gentle kiss on my lips. “And that, right there, is why I want it to be you. I want you to be my first… I want you to bite me.”
Everything in me wants to accept, but I fight the urge to do so blindly. I can’t help the fact that my incisors have elongated at the prospect. Even so, I hold back. “Are ye sure?”
She places her hand on my thigh, fingers dangerously close to where I really want them. “If Mother Gaia is bonding me to a vampire, I want it to be you. Let’s give this whole unity bond a test run, shall we?”
I test her emotions and study her convictions. It’s clear Josie wants this, though there’s no way her hunger comes anywhere close to mine.
Slowly, I bend my head and cradle her closer. Her breath catches, her body shuddering when my sharp fangs graze the sensitive skin of her neck, right over the pulse point.
She stiffens under my touch, and the fear emanating from her makes me pause and pull away.
“I don’t have to feed from yer neck, lass.” I grab her wrist and guide it to my lips, pressing a kiss to the vein there. “I can just as easily drink from here.”
Josie blinks at me like she doesn’t understand.
“Would that make ye more comfortable?”
