Midnight Moonrising (Moonrising #2)(132)

After a moment, I held out my hand again. "Come here." I'd be dead and damned before I went to her, not with how she'd been acting since we left Montgomery, Alabama.

She looked down at my hand and set her jaw. I knew she wanted to touch me just as much as I needed her to, but I also knew by her thoughts that she wouldn't without a little more encouragement.

"I know you promised Phoenix that you would try to be happy here with me in Sin City. Do I need to make a call to the High Vampire of Montgomery to let him know you aren't playing fair, Andra? My first attempt at getting him to break things off with you was just that: my first attempt. You may hate me before this is all over and done with between you and your bloodsucker, but, in the end, you will still need me and you won't have him. I can live with that. Can you?"

Her lip quivered, and I nearly caved. "Ace—"

"You're mine, Andra. I'm willing to give you some time to let that soak in, but I won't wait forever." I hardened my voice to a steely edge, even though she undoubtedly could tell I was serious. She had bonded with me, dammit, and she was mine, not some vampire a thousand miles away. I had to tamp down the utter rage at Andra’s memories of the bloodsucker in bed with her, his skin sliding against hers, he mouth on Andra’s. Fuck. If she wasn’t going to realize it on her own, I’d have to push the issue.

"I knew you would do this. I knew you would get me here and try to control me—"

"The only thing I'm trying to do is train you, but you won't stop thinking of him long enough to concentrate on keeping your love-sick ass alive if this were a real situation!"

"Why do I need to learn how to fight so fast? We've barely stopped since we got here. And why haven't you let me in your mind in two days?"

I huffed. I couldn't tell her about Justice yet. If this made her mad, I could only imagine how enraged she would be when I told her that I had just nailed a huge target on her head with our bonding. The worst part was I knew it before I even did it. I didn't know how to break the news to her without her hating me for it. Hell, I hated me for it. "I'm not ready to talk about it yet."


"Well, I'm not ready to stop missing Phoenix yet," she bit back. "I've only been away from my home for a little more than half a day, Ace. Cut me a little slack."

I guess I was damned and dead, because I took a step forward, reached out and took her hand. The relief was immediate. "I am sorry. I'm trying, Andra, and I will talk to you about him soon. I promise. I'm just trying to figure out how to go about doing that."

She nodded as she wrapped her arms around me, and I looked up to the high ceiling, thanking the good Lord above us that He had given me enough sense to apologize. There was no better feeling in the world than when she was in my arms. It felt like heaven. It was new for me — totally unheard of for me, but I was quickly getting used to it. And that in itself was mystifying.

"I'll understand," she said, and I lowered my head so that I could whisper in her ear.

"About what?"

"About him. Whatever it is, I'll understand, Ace."

God, if that were only true! Sighing heavily, I said, "I hope you will."

"Were you lovers?"

I blinked rapidly at that. What the f*ck? "No!" I had to laugh. Of course she would think something like that! "I've never been intimate with Justice or any other guy, for that matter. I like puss—"

Andra clamped a hand over my mouth. "I hate that word. Call it something else."

I threw my head back and laughed harder than I had in a long time. After I calmed down enough to speak clearly, I said, "What do you call it?"

Her eyes nearly popped out of her head as she blushed, and then those walls swiftly went up, blocking me out of her mind. Damn! "I'm not telling you what I call my… my…"

"*?"

She slapped my chest, and I laughed. "Stop! That sounds so gross to me."

She did a little shudder-wiggle thing, and I couldn't stop laughing. I'm serious. It was freaking hilarious watching her squirm over a word I'd said in everyday conversation most of my adult life.

"Okay, we won't talk about what you call yours. What do you think I should call it in general? I have to call it something."

"Why do you have to call it anything? People don't go around talking about hoo-has all day long. You could just leave that particular body part out of your vocabulary altogether," she said matter-of-factly.

My eyebrows popped up as I stared at her. "Hoo-has?"

"Well, hoo-has is plural. Hoo-ha is singular, meaning only one."

Shit! Is she really giving me a grammar lesson on * slang?

"I know what singular means, Andra. I'm fairly educated."

"Oh, then there you go. Hoo-ha and hoo-has."

Frowning, I shook my head. "I don't like that word. Call it something else."

She grinned playfully as she mimicked my head shake then turned to walk away from me, but I grabbed her arm and pulled her to me, enclosing her in the iron-like frame of my arms. Her skin — coated in a thin sheen of sweat — slid against mine, bringing to mind all sorts of erotic delights, but I only gripped her tighter. She stiffened, but she was too distracted to keep her walls intact. We were too close. I felt her desire for me the exact moment I smelled it.