Gypsy Moon (All The Pretty Monsters #4)(62)

I scream as Arion darts to the side, still holding me, and I hear a whimper and whine that has me looking over once again.

Still clinging to the vampire, who is seizing the opportunity to run his hands over my bare ass—

Oh, dear lord have mercy on my fractured mind. I forgot I lost my panties as well, thanks to…one of them…during that really heated moment.

Someone call the psych ward. I’m overdue.

My mental tangent cuts out when I gasp, seeing Blue fully lit up by the bright flashlight, as Vance scratches the dog’s head like it’s a pet.

Arion kissing along the side of my neck only mildly distracts me from the really, truly, disturbing dog in front of me.

It looks like a Bloodhound and a Doberman had a baby. Then that baby got with a Rottweiler/Greyhound mix, and those two had a baby with some patchy fur, horribly yellow-eyed thing with massive teeth and enough height to keep Vance from having to bend over, as he scratches the dog’s chin.

“Holy massive scary dog,” I say on a gasp.

That dog isn’t far from being eye-level with me. At five-feet-nine-freaking-inches. And that’s with all four paws on the ground.

“It’s a horse. Not a dog,” I hiss.

“Very much canine,” Vance assures me. “Gets mean when he’s spooked. This is Bobo’s dog.”

“The dog is immortal?” I ask in disbelief.

“Freaky things happen when gypsy magic fuses with blood magic,” Vance says with a shrug, just as Arion’s touch grows more aggressive.

Mostly naked and only covered in the coat he bought me as I cling to him is sending all the wrong signals, and I feel like a bitch for that. It’d be easier if I feared him like I should. Being only slightly hesitant around him isn’t working as effectively as it once did.

“Let me stay with you tonight,” he whispers, causing Damien and Vance to both glance our way for the first time since the pet’s emergence.

Blue walks into Vance when Vance stops petting him, bumping him hard enough to prompt a new petting session. I guess it’s starved for attention after this long being up here all alone.

“I’ll let you lead. I won’t push too fast. You’re mostly naked and I’m mostly behaving,” Arion goes on, grinning near my ear. “Just let me stay tonight, and you can ask whatever you want. I’ll answer.”

He had to go and make it really damn tempting. I have so many questions only he can answer, and the longer he touches me, the more complicated it makes spending a night alone with him, even if he is as good as he promises to be.

“I’m the sexual deviant, Violet. Not Arion,” Damien mutters like he’s annoyed to have to say something encouraging.

I feel Arion’s grin growing.

“No feeding from her without supervision,” Vance says very pointedly to Arion.

“Yes, father,” Arion says, smirking as he leans back, feeling really relaxed against me.

“I mean it, Arion, don’t—”

We’re gone before Vance’s sentence can be finished, and I screw my eyes shut, as the vampire takes me away from all my safety nets, in a country I’ve never visited, to a place we never discussed.

This is why giving a little is always giving too much with Arion.

The problem is, I never actually agreed to this.

They just decided it for me.





CHAPTER 18





DAMIEN


“He’s not answering his phone,” I growl as I shove my phone in my pocket. “Violet’s phone was ruined in the plane wreckage.”

Vance picks up a piece of threading from Violet’s clothing.

“He’s not looping. He’s heading straight into town,” he says as he opens his eyes, exhaling in premature relief.

“He could be smart enough to make you think all’s well, knowing you’ll only hunt them if he’s doing any suspicious looping,” I reasonably argue.

“You’re the one who talked her into agreeing. I don’t even know if she actually fucking agreed, or if we just agreed for her—now that I think about it,” Vance gripes, as he huffs and runs a hand through his hair.

I pause, running the scene back through my mind, and let my head fall back as my lips tense.

“She didn’t ever agree,” I say on a long groan. “Why is it impossible for us to stop fucking up the first good thing to happen to us in bloody ages?” I ask very seriously.

“He’s not hiding, and her mind is still open to letting me find her, so she’s okay. She’d be hiding herself from me if she wasn’t,” Vance states like an absolute imbecile.

“You’re off your rocker. Where the hell is she? If she’s opening her mind, it must already be bad. What the fuck have we done?”

“Calm down, you drama queen,” Vance states as he exhales harshly. “Violet leaves her mind open now, letting me find her. But when she was jumping from the castle and yelling for Arion, I reached, and the connection was severed.”

“What?” I ask, confused.

“When she’s scared and thinks danger is lurking, she cuts me out to protect me.”

“She thinks you weak?” I ask, wondering if it’s a holiday or something, given the two-for-one bonus with Emit being considered feminine.