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I watch, silent and admittedly impatient, as Scarlet is introduced to Elfde. It isn’t a long or complicated process. Aaron makes the first greeting, then moves Scarlet’s willingly outstretched hand in front of Elfde’s nose and issues a simple command. Scarlet holds still while he steps back and Elfde’s whiskers tickle her palm, a task I learn is difficult only through our ever-growing bond, and finally the leopard headbutts Scarlet’s palm with a low rumble.
Scarlet spends two whole minutes scratching the feline’s ears and running her fingers through the leopard’s fur. She’s still giddy about it when we retire to the bedroom that is no longer simply mine, but doesn’t yet feel truly like hers.
“Why are you stripping me?” she finally asks as I reach around to unhook her bra.
I lower my head to kiss her shoulder. “Because I want you naked.”
She lifts her hands to work them beneath my shirt. “Kyson…” I know why she’s conflicted. But there is no shame in her need for rest, and it’s important she knows I understand that.
I rub my hands over her skin, nuzzle my face into her neck, and urge reassurance through our bond. “It’s okay, Red,” I murmur against her ear. “I just want to hold you, and feel you with me.” After so many years of yearning for this woman, I will never be able to tolerate a night separate from her. Not again.
Scarlet pushes my shirt off my shoulders and lets her fingers trail over my skin, tracing my tattoos, before tilting her head up and catching my mouth in a kiss. The kiss is sweet, literally, and ignites things I need to be letting simmer, but I allow her to maintain control. I don’t fight when she eases back seconds later, and she rewards me. “If I have to be naked, so do you.”
“Whatever you say, Red.”
Scarlet falls asleep minutes later with her body pressed to mine and my arm draped over her waist. The comforter is up to her shoulders, the windows properly darkened, and for the first time in my memory, peace fills my chest. The soft sound of her breathing, the smoothness of her skin, the shock of color from her hair—all of it settles me in a way I could not truly have imagined before.
I let myself fall into day sleep with that at the forefront of my mind, refusing to think about the war I must plan tomorrow.
There is a reason Aziel tasked me with our coven’s security, and it isn’t simply because I am both demanding and detail-oriented. It is because, when I lived, I lived in a time and place of great strife. The world has changed. My nature, and the nature of my enemy, have changed. My need to keep those I call family safe, by any means necessary, has not.
I have more to lose now than I ever have in the past, but Scarlet was right before. If I want to protect her, I must do my job. I keep this in mind when I leave her with a kiss and a chest full of longing to take part in a meeting with Aziel and Mateo. Protecting this coven is more important than ever.
I’m not surprised our new arrivals are also present when I step into Aziel’s office again. I can’t yet manage a warm greeting for them, but I offer them a nod and refrain from glaring.
“Are you ready to get started, Kyson?” Aziel asks.
I incline my head. “Yes.” I turn my gaze to Mateo. “What have you learned?”
Chapter Seventeen
Scarlet
The Monster in the Dark
New, vivid, frightening dreams assault me.
I am no longer filled with arousal and lust. No, those emotions have been replaced with fear. The cold tendrils of dread wrapping around my body and squeezing me until I feel like I can’t draw any air into my lungs.
A man with dark mocha skin and vivid green eyes glares down at me.
“Please,” I beg, trying to move away from him. “Why are you doing this?”
“It’s the only way to get to him. If I take what he loves, he will come to me.” The man’s voice is deep and rough.
He lifts his left hand above his head, a tattoo with three arrows visible on his skin, a sharp blade glinting in the moonlight.
****
I jolt awake, my heart thumping in my chest painfully. Kyson has already left our bedroom and I’m grateful as a tear makes its way across my cheek. I know this will upset him. Breathing deeply, I do my best to bring myself under control before he storms into our room.
I only have a few moments before the door swings open.
“What’s wrong?” he demands, kneeling beside our bed, holding my face in his hands.
“Just a bad dream,” I whisper, glad that he is here even though it isn’t necessary.
“Red, you don’t just have dreams. You have visions.”
