Wicked Bite (Night Rebel, #2)

by Jeaniene Frost

“I care far more than our short time together accounts for,” I admitted. “When are emotions ever ruled by something as trivial as time?” Mencheres muttered.

“Clever, calculating, and cruel.” Ian’s voice dropped to an insinuating purr. “No wonder I married you.” Damn him! I couldn’t stand to be reminded that I had the legal status of something denied to me in every way that counted—a

“Oh, I have many of those memories.” Then his voice deepened. “Though sometimes, I wonder if they’re real.” “Why?” I shouldn’t have asked. Why had I? Maybe Mencheres’s truth spell on me from earlier hadn’t worn off yet. He came nearer, brushing my arms with the lightest of strokes, which still caused shivers to race over me. “Because nothing that good could possibly be real,” he murmured,

A slow smile curved Ian’s mouth. “Have I ever told you you’re irresistibly attractive when you use forbidden magic?” “Yes,” I said, then could have kicked myself. Now his gaze was filling up with green flame. “Don’t,” I said when he reached for me. The look in his eyes made me shiver. “You want me, and I want you more than anything I’ve wanted in my entire life.” I had to look away. If I didn’t, I would take him up on every decadent promise in his gaze. “Yes, I want you. But desire is an emotion, not a decision, and I still say no.”

As the saying goes, sometimes you have to kick the darkness until it bleeds daylight.

“She’s a real bitch,” I muttered. Ian gave me a wary look. “Who?” “Karma. Has to be a woman. Nothing else is that vicious, patient, or effective.”

and there was karma to bite me in the ass again. Out of every species, I had to be related to this one! It proved there was no point being bigoted. Whatever you looked down upon would eventually end up in your own family.

“Understand,” Ashael said in a vehement tone. “I’ve known Ian for decades. He loves only himself. I will allow no one to take advantage of you, especially a man who will use and discard you the same way he’s used and discarded so many others—”

“Family,” he said in a conversational tone. “Can’t live with ’em, can’t kill ’em unless you really, really mean it.”

“Whether you’re Veritas the Law Guardian, Ariel the vampire-witch, or Death’s scary demigod daughter. Doesn’t matter. In all your forms, in every manifestation of yourself, I love you.”