time, I only courted my own species. When I was young, though, I was enraptured by humans. I found them passionate and unpredictable. They seized the day because they knew their lives were finite.”
“Your life is finite, too.”
His hand drifted over my stomach. “Not nearly as finite as a human’s,” he said with a hint of sadness in his voice. Did it sadden him to think of my short lifespan?
“Is that why you had so many dhampir children? Because you had relationships with human women?”
“Yes, and after those children continued to die, I made a promise to myself never to fall for a human again.”
“And you kept that promise to yourself?”
“I did,” he answered, voice quiet. “Until I met you.”
I stilled, thinking about what he just said. Did he mean to say he was falling in love with me? The idea filled my entire body with butterflies. Perhaps he just meant falling in lust.
“Do you remember some of the things I said to you in bed last night?” he asked, distracting me from my thoughts.
“What things? I remember you speaking some Romanian.” And it being hot as all hell.
His arms tightened around me, pressing his fingers into the dip at my hip bone. His other hand travelled to my neck, where he caressed my throat. I trembled against him. “I tend to revert to my mother tongue when I get …excited,” he said then, somewhat sheepish.
I trembled again. “So, what were some of the things you said to me?”
“There were many. Only one was truly important.”
“And that was?”
His mouth came to my ear as he whispered, “Te iubesc. Look it up.”
My brow furrowed. I hadn’t remembered him saying those particular words, but admittedly I had been a little distracted.
“Why can’t you just tell me?”
His smile was devilish. “No, I’m too … shy.”
I barked a laugh at that. “You, Ethan Cristescu, are so far away from shy it could break a world record.”
“Fine. I’m mysterious then.”
He lifted me, and before I knew it, he was running down the roof and dropping us to the ground, so smooth I barely even felt it. Things went blurry again for a few brief seconds, and then we were inside his house. He threw me onto his bed, pulled my top off, and began kissing and licking his way down my stomach, before unbuttoning the top of my jeans.
“What … huh … what are you doing?” I asked weakly. His kisses made me forget my own name.
He flicked his tongue along my belly, where I immediately broke out in extreme goosebumps. “Making you mine again,” he replied huskily, and my willpower collapsed. Not that it was doing a very good job of helping me resist him anyway.
I moaned when his hand slipped inside my jeans, caressing me before he grew impatient and began removing the rest of my clothes. I didn’t fight him. One more night of bliss, and then I would figure things out. I’d fix my dad, make Rita whole again, and return Rebecca to her father.
Tomorrow.
Yes, all that could wait until tomorrow.
***
After the second night of barely any sleep, I woke up exhausted. When Ethan and I were alone together he had a way of making me forget everything. There were no problems, no other people, no rivalries, feuds, or villains—just us.
Reluctantly, I left him sleeping and threw on my clothes. As I passed by the spare bedroom, I heard Edwards snoring loudly. He sounded like a giant bumblebee. I knocked on his door, and the snoring immediately ceased. I waited a minute or two before peeking my head in the room. He was sitting up in the bed with the blankets tucked around him, his grey hair sticking out in every direction.
“Good morning!” he exclaimed. “My word, I think I slept nearly fifteen hours straight last night. After all the excitement of rescuing your father, I must have needed it.”
“I can imagine.” I smiled at him. “Are you hungry? I’m going to make some breakfast.”
“I’m absolutely famished,” he answered. “I’ll just make myself presentable, and I’ll be right down.”
I went downstairs, hoping Delilah kept some food in the house. Opening the fridge, I expected to find it mostly bare, but it wasn’t. It was well-stocked with a variety of food. Thank goodness a dhampir lived here and not just vampires.
I quickly threw together some French toast and coffee. Edwards entered the kitchen just as I was setting it on the table, and we ate quickly. Edwards seemed just as eager to