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*****

• 𝓜𝓪𝓮 •

Later that day, I sat next to Noah as I ate my dinner. After skipping breakfast and lunch, I was famished. Add to the fact that the man next to me drank from me, I knew I needed some form of sustenance.

Instead of going to the diner, he brought a tray to my room and placed it in front of me in bed before taking a seat. He sat there as I ate, watching the door like he was waiting for someone to burst in at any moment. If it was going to be anyone, it would be one of the other two that had a key. He'd locked the door when he came in.

Once I finished, I looked at him, taking him in. His long frame, his sharp jaw, the way his chest rose and fell with a breath he didn't necessarily need to take.

"How long were you going to hide what you are," I asked.

He didn't look at me. "I wanted to tell you immediately after I was able, but I was scared. I know how much you hate vampires and I didn't want you to hate me. I was trying to figure out a way to tell you in the forest, but...well, you know."

"Why did you come to the forest," I asked. "If you were afraid of my reaction, why come to get me?"

He puffed out a laugh, but it lacked any humor. "I thought it would make it easier. But then we realized you were being watched and I couldn't just come out and say everything I wanted to say, especially when you were looking at me like I was the most vile thing to walk the planet. And it's no excuse, Mae."

He finally turned to me and looked at me. "It's no excuse because I should have told you the moment I saw you, regardless of my fears. I feel like you finding out the way you did made it so much worse."

It did make it worse. To me, it seemed like he didn't want me to find out at all. And the fact that I felt like I was being forced back, away from what I believed to be freedom? It felt like the worst kind of betrayal.

"Why do you want to have sex with me?" The question caught him completely off guard, it seemed. His eyes widened, his breath catching.

He blew out a breath and closed his eyes. It took him a moment before he opened them again. "I've always wanted to be with you, physically and emotionally. I...I've been in love with you since before we were taken."

I felt my cheeks heat under his gaze. So he was the same as me. Though the idea of actually being able to take things further never crossed my mind until recently.

I paused, remembering what Luca had told me to ask. "And your fantasies?"

"Fuck," he mumbled, standing and running a hand over his face.

I almost laughed until I saw his eyes darken as he looked back at me. It wasn't a look I ever thought I'd see on his face. If I had to peg him as anything, he'd be the golden retriever boyfriend in the reverse harem books they gave me. The one aiming to please. The one who followed the main character around like a puppy, practically wagging an imaginary tail whenever she gave him attention.

That wasn't who was looking at me in that moment.

"Luca told you to ask, didn't he?" He turned his body to face me again, that expression never waning.

I raised an eyebrow.

He stepped toward me and leaned forward, placing his hands on either side of my hips. He was so close to me, his face mere inches from my own. His eyes raked down my face, stopped at my lips, then came back up.

"I'm not like Luca," he started. "Luca likes to tie people up and have them at his mercy. Luca is dominant, and that's all he can and will be. And I may not be like that normally, but I'd do just about anything for you if you asked for it. I'd be dominant if you wanted, I'd be submissive if you wanted, I'd sit back and just watch you get off and hold back on my own release if that's what you wanted."

His words were spoken quietly, like he was telling me a secret. That, paired with his unflinching eye contact, was enough to make heat pool low in my stomach.

"When I say I'd do anything you want, I mean it." He tilted his head ever so slightly. "But there is one thing I want."

I stopped breathing, my entire body hot with his hushed words. I waited, my fists curling in the comforter.

"I want to watch you with Luca," he said. "I want to watch your face when he has his way with you. I want to join and see how wet you'd get with the two of us. I want Kite to join and see just how far gone you'd be in pleasure. But that's as far as it goes, Mae."

I let out a slow breath through my nose, clenching my thighs together to either rid myself of the sudden ache between my legs or to try and curl in on myself, I wasn't sure.

"Those two are the only ones I'd be willing to share you with," he said.

I couldn't speak, couldn't move. I wanted to come back with a snarky comment about how he said he'd give me anything I wanted. But I knew that was something he wouldn't budge on. He'd give me anything and everything I wanted, including Luca and Kite.

"Why did Kite get included," I managed to ask.

His lip curled. "You haven't noticed?"

I blinked.

"Why do you think he only drank from you?" He slid his hands closer to my thighs, his thumbs brushing against my pants. "Why do you think he brought you back, instead of leaving you at West District? Why do you think he put you in the castle?"

I shook my head. "He didn't only drink from me. He-"

He gave me a look that told me I was being dense.

"Well, even so, didn't you have something to do with bringing me back?" I uncurled my fists from the comforter and placed a hand on his arm. His eyes lowered to where my skin touched his, and I regretted what I thought was an innocent move almost immediately. "He put me here to keep an eye on me."

"Mae," Noah admonished. "Pay attention. He's awkward about it but it's so obvious."

I still didn't get it. Maybe I was stupid, but he'd been an ass up until we made our deal. And that was what? A couple hours ago?

He grinned. "Watch closely. Let me know when you figure it out."

Figure freaking what out? What was there to figure out about Kite?

"Any other questions, Mae," he asked.

I shook my head. I'd asked everything I wanted and needed to, and as far as I knew, he'd answered everything honestly. He had no reason to lie.

He leaned forward and placed his lips on my forehead, kissing me. He pulled away ever so slightly, then kissed my cheek, then my chin, his eyes moving to meet mine.

When he pulled away again, he kept his lips so close to mine. The muscle in the arm I was holding flexed, and I looked down to see him gripping my sheets so tightly that his knuckles were white.

I slid my hands up his arms and I saw the muscle in his jaw tense.

"Thank you," I said.

He hummed.

And I leaned forward and closed the distance between us, pressing my lips against his.