Dark Champion (Flirting with Monsters #4) - Eva Chase Page 0,35
of fire scalds us now and then, we’re a pretty resilient lot. And some types of burning are very enjoyable.”
Sorsha hummed as if she didn’t quite accept my argument but didn’t feel like pushing the matter. “That’s not the point. I’ve decided you deserve me. I want you in my life for all the wonderful things you do bring into it. And you’d better not be telling me I don’t get to make my own decisions.”
The corner of my lips quirked up before I could stop it. Our mortal did have her own knack for persuasion. “Woe betide anyone who attempts that.” Maybe her proclamation didn’t ease my guilt completely, but maybe I should never have been letting that guilt interfere with what we had in the first place. If what I could offer was enough for her, then whether it was enough for me was only a problem between me and myself.
“I suppose I’ll be forever wondering how I managed to con you into making that decision,” I added, lightly enough to show it was a joke.
Sorsha rolled her eyes at me and did a little shimmy against me with a lilt of her mixed-up lyrics. “Oh, I, I just glide to your charm, all right? It must have clean gone to my head.”
I caught her jaw and drew her so close my nose brushed hers. “I’ll show you a lot more than charm,” I said, one promise I knew I could make good on, and captured her lips.
Why shouldn’t this be enough? Making her laugh, making her sigh with pleasure… I did have talents none of our other companions possessed.
I kissed her harder and lowered her onto the bed. Her fingers slid down my chest while the other hand hooked around one of my horns in that way that sent an electric thrill over my skin. I was just easing up her shirt when a tiny scaly body wriggled its way between us as if attempting to join what he saw as a cuddle fest.
“Pickle!” Sorsha protested with a snicker, scooping her hand around the little dragon. Her shadowkind pet let out an indignant chirp. “Have I been neglecting you? I promise you’ll have my full attention after I finish this… conversation with Ruse.” As she got up to see him out the door, she shot me an amused look. “Sorry. I didn’t realize he was in here.”
“So much competition for your affection these days,” I teased.
“Good thing I have so much to go around.” She nudged me back down on the bed, leaning over me, and then paused. “There are different ways of saving someone, you know. Maybe duels to the death aren’t your forte, but so many times you’ve bolstered my spirits when that was what I really needed. I know I can always count on you.”
“Sorsha,” I said, filled with more emotion than I was prepared to navigate. Getting back to kissing seemed like the simplest way to show her. But before I could bring her mouth to mine, we were interrupted again, this time by the chime of her phone.
Sorsha groaned, but she grabbed her purse. So few people called her that it was likely to be important. Her stance stiffened at the sight of the call display.
“It’s Vivi. I’ve already put her off twice in the last few days.”
The hesitation in her voice pricked at me. The woman she was avoiding had once been her best friend—I recalled the fondness her voice used to hold when talking about or to Vivi. But the longer she’d spent with us, the more she’d withdrawn. Was there anyone from her life before meeting us that she hadn’t pulled away from?
If she was worried about hurting us in our semi-immortal state, how scared must she be when it came to people like Vivi? Did she think putting distance between her and them was the only way she could save them… from herself?
It wasn’t right for her fears to separate her from the people she’d cared about and who’d cared about her before all this had come to light. Our mortal might be more shadowkind than she’d ever suspected, but that shouldn’t mean she didn’t deserve human friendship. Perhaps she needed a reminder of that to calm those fears—a chance to talk to someone who could speak to her non-monstrous side for once.
I sat up next to her and kissed her cheek. “Answer it. I can wait, and you know I can share.”