King Tomb (Forever Evermore, #3)(53)
His head cocked, and his own lips pinched. He started to say something. Stopped. His eyes ran over my face, and he chuckled quietly. “Do you really want the beginnings of trust?”
I felt my eyebrows furrow at his actions and words. “Yes.”
He leaned so that he was resting on his elbow, his feet still on the floor, but the action brought his face closer, down to my level. And his words held me frozen. “Then I’ll tell you the biggest weakness I know about you. You know perfectly well that letting the opposing force know what you know is unsafe, so this is me, opening up to you. Trusting you.” With green eyes so vivid he held me captive, he stated softly, “You’re a hybrid. Half Shifter, half Vampire.”
The world stopped. It did. I knew it must have. That, or I did a mini-faint as I stared, unable to breathe.
“Hush,” he whispered softly as he placed his warm palm on the side of face, again touching me carefully, as if I were made of glass. “I don’t care about it other than the fact it puts you more at risk, right along with how tiny your wolf is. I don’t want our daughter growing up without a mother any more than you do. She deserves to know you. She deserves your love.” He brushed his thumb back and forth over my temple, and I felt the cool surface of his wedding ring as it glided across my skin. “I won’t tell anyone. You have my word.”
Truth to all.
Sucking in a harsh breath as my mind swam, I sputtered, “How?”
His lips curled a bit. “When you told me about bleeding on my favorite t-shirt, I wondered because when I woke up after my mind rape I had blood on the pajama pants I was wearing that wasn’t mine and tasted of wild spice, not Shifter, not Vampire.” His half-smile lifted a bit more. “Then, when we were kissing, and you jumped away when Elder Farrar caught us…” He chuckled quietly, a cocky sound. “Well, before you pulled away from me I bit you and got a drop of your blood.”
I blinked, staring wide-eyed at him. “I didn’t feel it.”
One eyebrow rose, and he didn’t say anything, telling me wordlessly he was that good.
I licked my lips, asking, “You really aren’t…?”
He shook his head slowly. “Not a soul.” He brought his head forward, staring me in the eyes. “I am not a man to mess with, but where Isa’s happiness is concerned, I’m not a cold-blooded bastard.”
“I’ve had my tubes tied,” I stated instantly, feeling I needed to clarify this. “I had actually had them tied before I got pregnant so no one could ever use me to create a Beast, but I think somewhere in the voids of what I can’t remember something happened between us to alter that, and I got pregnant with Isa. But after I delivered her, Bindi tied my tubes.” I paused, brows furrowing. “And you know from the videos that I can do Awakenings, so you know the Elders are wrong about their reasons for killing hybrids.”
He hummed quietly, his head slanting as he watched me, his thumb still gliding over my temple. “You don’t need to prove to me you’re not like the hybrid who started this war. Every individual is not created alike. Anyone who simply knows your name,” both arched eyebrows quirked, “the badass wolf bitch, Queen Ruckler, would be a fool to think you a traitor.”
I ate up his gaze, my eyes flittering back and forth between his, hope dawning. “Trust.”
He nodded once. “Trust.” Gradually, he lowered his hand to the bed. “What’s next on your agenda tonight, since you have a free evening?”
My eyebrows lifted in thought. “I have no clue. I haven’t had an evening to myself for three months.”
His own brows lifted and he bent forward, his face coming closer. “You could stay here for a little while and we could,” closer, he was inching closer, his lips hovering over mine, “become better acquainted.”
I lifted a quick finger, setting it against his lush lips, stopping them from landing at their destination. “That wasn’t why I came in here.” Ezra’s eyes narrowed slightly from his blocked attempt, but I ignored them, glancing around his room. “Maybe we could watch a movie or something, if you bring in the TV from your front room. I haven’t done that with an adult in a very long time.”
He spoke against my finger. “I’m beginning to get a complex, wife. The first night I offered, you only wanted to sleep, and now, at my second offer, all you want to do is watch TV, when you’re already,” his voice turned growly, “naked in my bed.”
My lips twitched as my eyes came back to his. “Well, we wouldn’t want you getting a complex would we, husband?” The slightest shake of his head, his lips brushing against my finger. I lowered said finger slowly, watching avidly as it dragged over his bottom lip. “Fine, one kiss, then if you’d like we can watch something. I’ll even let you pick the movie.”
“How very kind of you,” Ezra whispered softly, his breath spanning my own lips now.
I chuckled softly, my eyes on his mouth as they moved damn slowly toward mine. “Kindness isn’t a trait I’m used to anymore, so you should feel fortunate I’m bestowing it on you.”
“Oh, I’m feeling something all right,” Ezra whispered.
His lips landed on mine. And we both groaned at the contact, our lips again molding together perfectly, soft flesh aligning seamlessly with soft flesh. Lifting a hand, I set it just as gently on his bristly jaw, his shadowy beard rough against my palm as he kissed me. The warm touch was heady on my palm and lips, and I pressed for more, a soft moan of need slipping past my lips onto his. His Vampire growled, soft and slow, sounding content as he gave me what I needed, his lips pressing more firmly against mine as he tilted his head, threading his fingers into my hair at the back of my head and lowering us so I was resting on his pillows.