My eyes flick up to his, and he brushes my hair out of my face.
“I’m a monster who loves killing things, yet I allow the disrespect this Sanctuary instills in its subjects toward alphas. I reward it, even, because I understand what it is you seek to accomplish, however nobly na?ve I find the notion to be. My love for you has turned me completely into your monster. To be honest, your wolves haven’t trembled around me in over three months, Violet. Lemon even started stocking blood packets for me, since I have a particular brand, when I’m not tasting your sweet Portocale blood.”
He moves so fast that I don’t register the motion, until he’s between my sore thighs and pinning my hands above my head.
“You do a lot for everyone, Violet. We know we’re special to you, but you fail to see how very much more we care for you. You’d never question us again if you’d been around long enough to know us before you,” Arion goes on, kissing the side of my neck.
My head lulls to the side, and he groans in the back of his throat, as he sucks a spot on my throat he loves to drink from.
“You’re the only vampire who has ever drank from me,” I point out.
“Only because no other vampire has needed blood in your presence, and only because you started it by breaking my curse,” he sulks.
I end up kissing him, because I thought I was making them special, and now he has me questioning if I’ve done as much as I thought I had to in order to prove that.
Sometimes I forget how broken they all are, because they’re so…top-of-the-food-chain and all.
I feel his stupid grin against my lips, as my arms go around his neck and pull him down—
“Sorry to interrupt!” Shera shouts as she knocks. “But Jasper is fussy and we’re all a little busy at the moment.”
Arion turns to glare at the door with blacked out eyes, and I wrap my legs around his waist just to keep him from doing something evil while he’s pissed.
“Where the bloody hell is his mother?” Arion snaps.
There’s silence for a minute. “Boss? Why can’t I smell you? I thought the wolf was in there,” Shera says through the door, trepidation in her tone now.
Arion frowns, glancing down at me and then back at the door.
“Fuck’s sake, Shera, come in. I can smell your fear from here, but Violet’s doing very well in giving me a splendid reason to stay less hostile.”
My legs tighten around his waist a bit more to be safe, and his lips twitch, as he restrains a grin, pressing down on me more, as he toys with my hair.
The door gently swings open, and Shera walks in, pushing Jasper in his mobile bassinet. Her eyes move between us, possibly because we’re both naked. Immortals don’t get too offended by nudity and sex, but when alphas are involved, everyone worries what their punishment will be for interruptions.
Shera grins when she sees how very intimately we’re placed, probably getting the wrong idea.
“It’s nice to see the two of you spending some quality alone. I’ll just take Jasper back out with—”
Jasper screams so loud the glass of one of my mirrors shatters, and we both lock our gazes to the babe. Someone cleaned up my bed, my room, and even replaced the broken wall and mirrors in my absence. Now the process of breaking mirrors starts over.
Arion is off me without so much as a warning, and Shera startles when he suddenly has Jasper in his arms, sniffing at him.
“Go,” he tells Shera, who frowns over at me as I begin to tense. “Don’t say anything about this,” he adds.
She doesn’t dawdle, hurrying out of the room.
He sniffs along Jasper’s neck, causing the tension in my body to ratchet up.
“If you even dare think about feeding—”
The vampire recoils and shoots me a horrified look. “What sort of monster do you think I am?” he asks very seriously.
Jasper makes a gurgling noise, his small hand landing on Arion’s cheek in a way that would melt my heart…if the alpha vampire wasn’t acting so suspicious.
Every day, I mute Jasper’s scent more and more with my apple products. Yeah, I haven’t told them about that small revelation just yet. I’ve learned so much these past five months. Most of it seems really important, but I’ve yet to discover why.
However…Jasper’s scent is really strong for an infant, according to Leiza. Hence the reason I started muting it. Strength instills fear, and fear motivates horrible actions.
Arion’s gaze flicks to me, and I realize it’s my tension that has him being so suspicious.
I’m such an idiot.
He smiles like he’s caught me in a lie. “My sweet monster. What are you hiding from me?” he muses. “Babes don’t scream and break mirrors. And you look like I’m going to sniff out some dirty little secret,” he adds, pressing his lips to the top of Jasper’s head, eyes never leaving mine.
I’m struggling between the image of him holding Jasper so delicately, seeming so paternal, and wondering what happens if I’m honest with him.
“Do speak up, sweet gypsy monster. No one’s close enough to hear you,” he adds, moving toward my bed. “Not with Emit’s new mating scent all over you, confusing their senses.”
He takes a seat next to me on the new bed, stretching his legs out in front of him. I cover up his lap with a sheet just to distract myself and to keep his naked body from being the wrong sort of distraction.