Page 61 of Hunting Starla
Scepter tugged her hair, making her look up at him.“Anima Mia, there’s a difference between a male who wants you and a male who is prepared for you.Any male can want you because he’s attracted to your beauty, your softness, your vibe.Fuck, you’ve got all that in spades.Hell, just being in your presence, your energy, given an inch of your attention is enough to make a man go insane.But a male who is prepared for you has done the work.He’s healed enough to love you without confusion.He knows how to lead without control, protect without ego, and commit without fear.Wanting you is fucking easy.Being more than ready for you requires a level of maturity, discipline, and emotional depth you don’t get with age.A prepared man doesn’t waste your time, trigger your anxiety, or keep you guessing for shits and giggles.He doesn’t make you compete, chase, or prove your worth with silly fucking games.He will understand that loving you is a responsibility not to be taken lightly, not a convenience.Don’t confuse desire with readiness either.You don’t need a male who likes you.You need a male who is ready for the woman you are.I, Scepter, am that.I’m glad I was the first and will be your only.I’m sorry I can’t say the same, but trust me, you’re the only one I remember.”
“That’s the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard.You’d have a hard time shaking me loose if you tried to evade me.”She pressed a kiss on his chest.
“It’s you who’d have a hard time eluding me, Stellina.I’d hunt you to the ends of the Earth.Hell, I’d find a way to get on Fey if I had to.”
SEVERIN LOOKED UP ATthe moon.A shooting star flashed across the sky.He’d felt empty for over a hundred years, since the death of his bonded mate.Watching his brother with his female sent an ache down to his core.He imagined how Scepter felt all those years ago, losing the woman he’d loved to Severin.Although he knew he’d been Fated to be with Bianca, the reality had been both Scepter and Bianca loved one another.She’d struggled to cut off her feelings for his twin once they’d bonded, but having Severin completed her.Now, he knew what Scepter went through to a certain degree.Although some might say his pain was worse since Bianca and he were bonded by Fate, while his twin only chose to love her.
He let out a sigh.Severin hated and loved his twin back when he’d come home and found the female Fate said was his, only to be faced with Scepter’s wrath.“What fools we were back then, brother,” he muttered.
“Are you going to jump?”a feminine voice asked from behind him.
“Do you plan to rescue me if I do?”he asked, looking over his shoulder.The female was tall and sexy, like most of their kind.She had midnight dark hair piled on top of her head with some sort of sticks.He turned around, floating a few inches above the surface of the ledge.
“Nice trick.Do you pull rabbits out of your hat for the kids as well?”She sounded bored.Her voice had a rasp to it as if she’d smoked a couple packs of cigarettes a day if she’d been human.
He tilted his head to the side.“Is that type of male you like, the ones who can pull shit out of the air and amuse others?”
She snorted.“Hell no.Those are a dime a dozen.I like my males who know how to make me orgasm and don’t make a fuss in the morning when I’m not there to rub their egos.Now those are hard to find.”
Severin lifted a brow.Female vampires were interesting and sometimes, very off-putting.The old world tended to coddle them, isolating most highborn so they didn’t sully themselves with every male before they found their bonded mate.Hell, if his female hadn’t felt a pull toward Scepter, thanks to the twin connection to him, he’d have been her first.
He gritted his teeth and banished the memories of his past.
“You’re angry at Scepter,” she said.
Severin eliminated the space between them, sliding his hand around her throat.“Are you reading my mind?”
“It’s quite easy to do so when you’re so open, amore.I suggest you release me, or I’m not going to be responsible for what I do next.”
“You think I’m scared of you?”He tightened his fingers slightly, then decided to let her go and flashed back to his perch on the ledge, crouching low.If there was thing he understood, it was the danger from being too close to others of his kind.He was in unknown territory.Although technically it was his brother’s, Scepter hadn’t given him freedom like the female in front of him.If she felt safe making a threat, she could probably carry through with it.More than likely, there were more than her close by.Severin didn’t doubt his abilities when it came to battle, but he also didn’t want to start a war with Scepter and his clan.
“What’s your name, amore?”he asked, mimicking her choice of words.
“Why?Do you plan to look me up and ask my father for the opportunity to court me?”
Severin stood up.“I have had a bonded mate.I don’t need to court a female so no need to ask a father for that.Is that what you’re looking for?”
There was a flash of pain that washed over her beautiful face.Her bright blue eyes flared, but then she closed them, shielding herself from his view.“I told you what I’m looking for.You are a whole lot of complications, though.I will see you around, Severin, brother to Scepter.”
She flashed away before he found out who she was.His heart lurched.What the fuck was that?Severin looked around at the dark night.The thought of going back to his lonely hotel filled him with dissatisfaction.Instead, he turned to the air, becoming mist.
The End
