A Meet of Tribes (A Shade of Vampire #45)(55)

Some time passed before either of us said anything. I watched her quietly as she collected more herbs from various pots in the greenhouse.

“Why have you been avoiding me?” I asked, determined to address the elephant in the room.

She stilled and looked at me, eyes wide and genuinely surprised.

“I…I haven’t been avoiding you,” she stuttered. “I’ve been…I’ve been busy.”

“Yeah, busy avoiding me.”

I took several steps toward her, closing the distance between us. I wasn’t sure where my courage came from. She tilted her head back to look me in the eyes. I could hear her heart beating faster, echoing in my ears.

“No, I… Not everything I do revolves around you, wolf-boy,” she replied, looking away and blinking fast.

Gold and emerald flakes flickered in her eyes, and I could see her skin lighten just a little. She was starting to blush and, judging by the way she pursed her lips, she was having some trouble controlling her reaction to my proximity. The thought encouraged me to take another step closer to sense the heat emanating from her beautiful body. Whatever I was feeling for her was mutual, I just needed to get her to react and reveal it.

“It doesn’t take a genius to see what’s going on here,” I said, assuming a confident tone.

I felt I had the upper hand in this conversation, and I wanted to see what it would lead to. I could sense her pulse racing, blood swishing through her veins like a raging myriad of rivers after a storm. I lowered my head, leaving only a couple of inches of space between our faces. Her lips parted. My heart skipped a beat.

“You clearly have trouble controlling yourself around me, Anjani. Why don’t you just give into whatever it is you’re feeling?” My tone was low, and our eyes were locked.

“Don’t try your charms on me, Jovi, or I’ll stop holding my succubus nature in and unleash it on you. Believe me when I say you don’t want to play with fire. You will regret ever setting your sights on me,” she hissed.

“Why don’t you try it?” I dared to say.

“You wouldn’t be able to handle it,” she muttered and walked past me, toward the mansion entrance.

“You seem to think very little of me, and frankly it’s disappointing,” I replied, looking over my shoulder.

I didn’t mean the last part, but she had this way of riling me up. It was worth it, though. It stopped her in her tracks. She clenched her fists and turned to face me. Her eyes projected death in my direction, and I held my breath for a moment.

I may have just kicked the hornet’s nest.

She huffed and came right at me with large, calculated steps. I rooted my right foot into the ground and felt my muscles tense as my body prepared to defend itself against a physical attack.

But she kissed me.

My senses shattered.

Her lips pressed against mine.

I opened my mouth to taste the sweetness. My core incandesced, and my breath stuck in my lungs. I caught her face in my hands and deepened the kiss. She was soft and hungry, and I wanted everything she had to give.

The moment stretched long and hot.

She pushed me away, her lips tender and slightly swollen. Her skin glowed beautifully as she worked hard to catch her breath. I bit into my lower lip and relished in the feeling that washed over me as I looked at her, my eyes fixated on her mouth. Every fiber in my body vibrated, and I felt lightheaded. It dawned on me then that I was euphoric, and it might have had something to do with her succubus nature.

If that’s what Anjani in her full form felt like, I wanted more. I was instantly addicted and struggled with a growing tension in both my chest and lower body.

She put on a satisfied smirk, wiping her lips with the back of her hand. Her breathing was uneven, the only sign left to indicate that she was just as aroused as I was, despite her nonchalant attitude designed to make a point.

“See? This is what I meant. Weak.” She chuckled and left.

It took me forever to blink again. As I gradually returned to my senses, my feelings emerged with even greater clarity. I was head over heels with this marvelous creature, and I needed her to tell me she felt the same way, because I knew, deep down, that she did.

But I didn’t want to be the one chasing her around, like a lovesick puppy, and I wanted her out of her comfort zone, taking the leap along with me. I decided then to let her come to me.





Serena





Two days had passed since Bijarki had gone through the passage stone to see Hansa. Two very long days that I spent as far away from Draven as possible. He made it easy, though, keeping mostly to himself in his hellish study. I passed the day in the library, reading the many encyclopedias on incubi, Lamias, Dearghs, and many other fascinating creatures of Eritopia, including the extinct storm hounds. The more I learned about the latter, the sorrier I felt that I’d never get the chance to see one.

It was late afternoon when I got out of the library and went looking for Vita. I found her outside in the garden beneath one of the magnolia trees on the front lawn. Tall blades of grass waved in the cool breeze, while the sun set in deep shades of pink and purple.

I sat down next to her. She’d been spending a lot of her time outside, either practicing her fae abilities or tapping into visions of the future. She looked tired, but she wasn’t one to give up easily.

“How’s it coming along today?” I asked, plucking a small daisy from the ground.