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“You’d fire her and kick her out on the streets if I told you to?” “You have no idea what I’d do for you.”
“We aren’t dating, Ruben. We haven’t dated for many years now. What does it matter? Sal can ask if there’s a chance.” “No. He can’t.”
Obsessed, stupefied, besotted. None of them quite measured up to the truth, to the emotion that had wrapped an iron fist around my heart at the sight of her tonight. I wasn’t sure there had been a word yet created that could define what I felt for Juliana. The worst part of all is she had no idea.
I wanted nothing more than to soak in the dawning awareness sliding across her delicate facial features that something had changed between us. I was no longer going to play nice and give her space. I was done waiting for her to realize she could trust me. As her only lover. As her partner in life. As her devoted mate. It was time to erase the space between us and hunt her, woo her, worship her the way she was meant to be as my one and only.
Before I fell deep, I heard Violet whisper, “Stones are old, stones are cold, but blood is colder.”
“It’s not about that, Jules. It’s about taking care of you.” She pulled me to a stop to face her before we entered the kitchen. “You’re always taking care of us, of everyone else, but sometimes, someone needs to watch over you.”
“There is no one emotion I feel at one particular time, Mom. I’m feeling all the feelings all of the time.” “And by all, you mean…all?”
“She means nothing to me. And you mean everything, so yes, I fired her. She’s out of the picture. So if it was her, she’s gone now and won’t get in between us again.”
“You said it already. We weren’t together. You’d broken up with me. But I’d never broken up with you.”
“I’m glad I brought you then. I’d like to be the one at your side when you do all the things you’ve always wanted to do.”
“Not usually, no. But there are times I could be. I feel like I have been.” He mapped my face with his sapphire gaze as if he were memorizing it, as if he hadn’t stared at me so many times just like this over the years. “Sometimes, I regret being the villain.” “You’re not the villain,” I assured him.
“But there’s something you should know that I’m not sure you understand. Or that you ever have.” “What’s that?” she asked, a little breathless. I never dropped her gaze in the glass, voice rumbling deep. “You’ve always been my queen, Juliana. You always will be.”
“There is one thing you cannot ever do again,” I growled, trying to rein in my temper, “and that is question my loyalty. There has been no one since you. And never will be again. No one.”
“But we’d broken up,” she whispered, panic seeping into her gaze. “That makes no difference to my hardened heart. Or my fucking immortal soul.”
I had called last night short, not for anything he had said or done, but for the grief of not having him in my life the way I’d once wanted and for having slept with another to try and rid myself of his memory. It was a crime, a sin I couldn’t wash away, so I needed to be alone.
“You embody three things that English overlords might immediately reject.” “And they are?” “You are a foreigner, an American.” “Strike one.” She smiled and sipped her wine. “You are a Siphon, a threat to their power.” “That one, I understand. And the third?” I hesitated but couldn’t withhold the truth. “You’re a woman.” Rather than flush with anger, her head tipped back as she laughed.
Jules and I were a force to be reckoned with, and though they may not see her as such yet, I’d make damn sure we didn’t lose this war before we’d even gotten started.
The fact that he said that to me sent off another red flag that he had no idea how precarious my position was. A thirty-one-year-old female Enforcer, the youngest ever to rule New Orleans, was now in charge of supernaturals far older and more experienced and who were expected to obey my will. And here was my own boyfriend dismissing me in front of his men, and he hadn’t even realized what he’d done.
my entire body simmered in flames of need. “I’ll take anything you’ll give me.” Maddening desire radiated from every part of him. Then he dropped to his knees, his hands gripping my hips. “I’ll beg at your feet for a pathetic glance, a simple touch.” He coasted his open mouth across my belly, searing me through the thin fabric of my gown. “I’ll be your slave. Anything you want, Juliana. Just put me out of my goddamn misery.”
Whether he’d known it or not, and whether I’d wanted it or not, I’d been falling in love with him while we were apart.
“Where do you think you’re taking my girl?” His girl? I grinned at him like a damn schoolgirl, all while a flush of heat filled my cheeks.
“People break up all the time and move on and have relationships with other people.” “They do,” he agreed in that quiet, steady, controlled voice of his. “But they aren’t soulmates.” I pushed away so I could look at him. “Are you referring to the human definition of soulmate?” Because that meant a person was ideally suited to a romantic partner. It wasn’t the same for supernaturals. Not at all. “No, Juliana. I mean true mates.”
Cocooned in his arms next to his body, I did something I hadn’t done in years, perhaps in my whole adult life. I let someone else carry the burden of caring for me and keeping me safe and secure and warm.
I wanted a partner. An equal. I wanted my soulmate. My deep, true love. And I wanted him at my side, always, from this day forward.
“I grew accustomed to managing the serious, distant Jules for so long, I don’t know what to do with this soft, smiling Juliana.” She cupped my jaw in her delicate hands and pulled me down to her. “Well, you better get used to the soft, smiling one because I’m not going anywhere.”
“I don’t deserve special treatment because I work hard.” “That’s your opinion.” “You’re a bit biased, aren’t you?” “Possibly. But if you let me, I’ll never let you forget how special you are, Juliana.”
“I’ll be having a ball at Wulfric Tower in honor of such illustrious guests.”
Like from her vision??
“No gifts he’s given correlate directly with a vote of any kind. He’s already the leader of the largest coven in the UK. But he seems to be amassing allies for some reason.”
“That’s the one thing about cooking I love so much. If you have the right ingredients, it’s hard to muck it up. You simply follow your instincts and add what you love. Or the loved ones you’re cooking for.”
❤❤❤❤❤
“Not at all. One thing I’ve learned is that when a supernatural gains too much territory, villainy follows.”
“I don’t sense we’re in that sort of peril. But the vampires, Ruben… If any supernatural kind had the ability to offset the balance, it would be us. And that’s what worries me about the north.”
He flinched, maybe at the tone of my voice, or the depth of what I said to him, or perhaps even the zing of magic that flared outward when I made that vow. I hadn’t even told Ruben as much yet, but I wasn’t going to stand here and let Gabriel think anything different.
The highlighted quote described Gatsby standing on his lawn in the middle of the night, stretching out his trembling hand and reaching through the darkness toward the green light on the other side of the harbor. It was the green light at the end of the dock where Daisy lived, the woman he loved and longed for so desperately. “The Green Light,” I whispered to myself, voice shaking.
“Since the day I realized you were my whole heart, I’ve never stopped loving you. Not for one painfully paralyzing minute.”
In a whoosh, the ball of tension in the room burst into nothing. A tingle of magic hummed along my skin, sinking into my chest as I held his gaze. “I love you, Ruben.” His chest caved beneath my hand with a shuddering breath. “More than that, I trust you.”
Her TK had broken the legs off the desk, shattered the lamp, splintered then flipped the dresser on its side. “What?” she asked, pretending she hadn’t destroyed the room like a drunken rockstar.
Sal told him, and I quote, ‘If my sire says he fucked his woman to screaming orgasms, then he did, so sod off.’”
“I love you, Juliana.” She smiled, sincerity and deep affection shining on her face. “I’ve always wanted to hear you say that.”
I was meant for Ruben, like he was meant for me. Soulmates, or bloodmates as vampires often called them. Whatever the name, it didn’t matter. All I knew was that Spirit whispered to accept him, to let him take me in every way. I had to have faith in my instincts and trust in Ruben.
