Page 20 of Unbound

“Hi,” I say.

He comes over and wraps his arms around me.

I melt into his embrace, hooking my hands around his shoulders and leaning into him. His cool, firm body is the pillar of strength I need to stay upright at this exact moment, and we just stand there quietly holding each other.

“I walked through a portal and visited a Covenstead in New Orleans,” I tell him, leaning back just enough to look into his beautiful blue eyes.

“I think I’m beyond the point of asking if you’re serious,” he says, his lips curving into a slight smile, “because I’m pretty sure you are.”

“Serious as a heart attack.”

“What is a Covenstead?”

“To be honest, I don’t really know how to explain it.” I think for a second. “It’s like a little hidden town, I guess. There’s a school and a bar and a graveyard and maybe some houses, but it was dark, so I couldn’t see too far. Plus, Marie didn’t want to keep me out too late.”

Xavier just looks at me, unmoving, for several seconds, eyes holding back emotions he’ll never admit to me. Or maybe himself. It’s a fear of him not being able to offer me what I fully deserve.. Then he asks, “Do you want to go back?”

“I do,” I say honestly. “I want to learn how to use my powers fully. I want to be around other witches. I want to know more about my family. And most importantly, I want to learn how to trap Vaelric again.”

“Okay,” he says simply.

“But I don’t want to tonight,” I add. “I’m tired.”

Xavier just nods, and I can tell by his stoic expression that he’s trying hard to keep his emotions at bay. His hands slide down my body before he shrugs off his suit jacket and drapes it around my shoulders. It isn’t chilly at all tonight, and there’s no humidity, making it rather pleasant. But the mosquitoes are terrible.

“This is neat,” he says apprehensively, poking at the little ball of light hovering beside our heads. His fingertip burns when it touches the bright energy and then instantly heals. He looks at his finger, then back at the light. “It feels like sunlight,” he tells me.

“Sunlight has a specific feeling?”

“Yes,” he says. “And it’s probably something I can’t explain either.”

He holds his hand beneath the floating ball of energy. The light itself doesn’t seem to affect him. It only hurts when he physically touches it.

“You know, the first time we were here, I hated you,” I say, looking around the garden.

“You can still hate me,” he says. “Like I told you, you just have to be alive to do it.”

“I probably should.” I look into his blue eyes, feeling my breath hitch in my chest. “But I don’t. I can’t. Not even if I tried.”

“Then try harder.” His eyes cloud over, reflecting the same angst I’m feeling.

“It’s not possible,” I whisper, and Xavier brings a hand up, fingers slowly trailing up my arm, causing me to shiver. “And I’d be a hypocrite if I did.” I look down for a second. “I didn’t want to live without Antonio. I don’t want to have to suffer the loss of my brother.” I look back up at him. “I would say we’re all human, but I know you’d counter that.” I’m trying to inject even the smallest bit of relief into an otherwise heavy conversation.

“There’s a part of humanity in us that never dies, I suppose.” He steps closer, his fingers going to my chin as he gently tips my head up and kisses me. Tingles make their way down my spine, and I step closer, needing to feel him fully pressed against me.

“I am sorry,” he says softly. “Not for what I did, but for everything that’s going on. I will never regret choosing you, Florence.” Tears well in my eyes, and I wrap my arms tighter around him. Xavier picks me up and carries me over to the bench where I’d just been sitting.

Pushing his tongue into my mouth, he holds me ‌tight against him, with my breasts crushing against his hard chest. Heat floods through me and any anger I was feeling melts away.

Xavier’s body is cold to the touch, but his lips are soft and warm, probably from my own body heat. Any resolve I had crumbles at my feet, and I want nothing more than to relent to Xavier and get swept up and lost in bliss.

“Wren,” he whispers, pressing his forehead against mine. I grind my hips against him, straddling him on the bench. His suit jacket falls from my shoulders and onto the ground, but we both ignore it.

Until Xavier, no one has ever held me like this. It goes beyond his vampire strength. Yes, it’s effortless for him to hold me in his lap, but it’s more than that. Part of it doesn’t make sense, and I think that makes it all the more alluring to me.

I’m a witch. He’s a vampire. I was nothing more than a business arrangement to him. Marrying me was a solution to an annoying problem he got stuck with, and now look at where we are.

Marie said the universe unfolds as it should. Was this all part of the plan? I never would have crossed paths with the Malus vampires any other way. My heart swells in my chest as I further melt against him, hands sliding from his neck down his chest, not stopping until I’m awkwardly fumbling with his belt. I lean back and he holds me, keeping me from tipping out of his arms as I undo it, pulling the leather from the buckle.