Kieran tugged the diamond solitaire off my finger and tucked it into his pocket. “Consider the engagement broken off. I’ll return the ring for you.”
I shook my head frantically at the thought of how Jonathan would react and what could happen to Kieran during the confrontation. The rest of the story spilled out, and as bizarre as it all sounded, Kieran seemed to have no doubts I was telling the truth. He was such a good guy, and I hated that he was an innocent bystander to the mess my aunt had created. “I shouldn’t have gotten you involved. I’d never be able to forgive myself if something bad happened to you because of me.”
“The last thing you have to worry about is me,” he insisted before brushing his lips over mine.
It was the briefest of kisses, but it was my first and had one heck of a punch. I wanted nothing more than to enjoy the special moment between us, but the seriousness of my situation forced me to focus on the matter at hand. “This is so bad. I live with my aunt. All of my things are there. She only gives me a small allowance each month. I can’t pay for a hotel or food for more than a couple of days at best. She’s my only family left in the world. I have nowhere to go and nobody to help me. What am I going to do?”
“You’ll never have to worry about not having anywhere to go ever again. You’ll stay with me,” Kieran announced as though it was the most obvious solution to my problem.
I wanted to accept his offer—which had to prove that I wasn’t thinking clearly, since we’d only just met—but I was starting to second-guess everything that had happened tonight. “What if I overreacted? My aunt will never forgive me for embarrassing her in front of the Thackers.”
“My neighbors?” he asked as he turned his head to glare at the wall in the direction of their house.
I nodded and glanced down at the pocket where he’d placed the ring. “Jonathan is the one who I was running from. The man who-who—” It was too difficult to repeat what he would’ve done to me if I hadn’t gotten away.
“Forget about Jonathan. I’ll take care of him,” Kieran vowed, a muscle jumping in his jaw. He gripped my chin and tilted my head back, crashing his mouth down over mine. My lips parted on a gasp, and he slipped his tongue inside. My fingers clenched the soft fabric of his shirt as I lost myself in his kiss. When he started to pull back, I let out a whimper of protest and pulled him close. A small chuckle bubbled up his chest, but I didn’t mind because he kept kissing me until we were both breathless. “Trust me, Thana. I’ll take care of you from now on.”
I released his shirt and smoothed the wrinkled material while I considered what he was offering to do for me. “Are you sure? That seems like a lot to ask of you since we just met.”
“I’ve never been more certain of anything in my life,” he vowed, flattening one of my palms against his chest while lifting the other hand to brush a kiss against my knuckles.
I peered into his eyes, searching for any sign that he wasn’t being serious but didn’t find anything. My heart told me to go for it and agree, but my mind wasn’t on board yet. “This is all so sudden...and after my mad dash from next door, I don’t know that I’m in the right frame of mind to make any life-altering decisions. I might have already thrown what little relationship I had with my aunt out the window tonight for no good reason.”
Staring into my eyes, he completely freaked me out when he said, “Stop second-guessing your decision to run tonight. It saved your life.”
4
Kieran
Thana’s pretty, blue eyes were swimming with uncertainty, but it didn’t hide her hope. Even if she hadn’t been my consort, I would have helped any young woman in trouble. However, since she was mine, my wrath at the people who had hurt her was vicious. I wasn’t sure how I would handle her aunt yet, but there was no question that Jonathan was a dead man.
“Saved my life?” Thana repeated.
I nodded. “Jonathan is a very dangerous man—not to me”—I clarified when she looked like she was about to jump in—“but he wouldn’t have hesitated to hurt someone smaller and lacking the same strength as him.” I paused while I debated how much truth to lay at her feet right then.
I hadn’t been aware that Jonathan had been turned, and it pissed me the fuck off that I’d been so careless. If Thana hadn’t run straight to me, she could have been lost to me before I ever found her.
That thought settled the argument in my head. Thana needed to be aware of her destiny so I could claim her. I needed to make sure evil bastards like Jonathan couldn’t prey on her while she was still human.
“Do you believe in fairy tales, Thana?”
She giggled, but her face sobered when she saw my expression held no humor. “I suppose some of them could be true. It’s nice to pretend a handsome prince will come and sweep me away from my aunt.”
“What about the villain?”
Her brow furrowed as she considered my question. “What about the villain?”
“What if the handsome villain wasn’t so bad, and he wanted to sweep you off your feet?”
Thana cocked her head to the side as she looked up at me, the corners of her mouth lifted into a tiny smile. “I like a good anti-hero from time to time.”
I chuckled and cupped her face in one palm, nearly groaning when she closed her eyes and pressed her cheek deeper into my hand. I wanted her whole body pressed against me like that. To see that blissful expression on her face after as she snuggled into me, freshly fucked and satisfied.
“I need you to listen to what I have to tell you and be open-minded, alright?” Her eyes popped open, and she frowned worriedly. I stroked her cheek, and some of the tension in her muscles eased. “We haven’t known each other long, but in your heart, you know you can trust me.”
Thana blushed—it was so damn sexy when she did that, and I was dying to know if the pink color would spread over her whole body when she came—and nodded. “I don’t understand what me trusting you has to do with fairy tales and villains.”
“You will, baby,” I assured her with a quick kiss on her forehead. I would never use compulsion on my consort, but I did send some waves of calm through her to help her deal with what I said next. “Vampires, shifters, witches, these are not just fairy tales. We are very real, but we keep the knowledge of our existence a secret because we cannot trust how humans would react.”
“We?” Thana squeaked.
“I am a vampire, Thana.” I clasped her face with both hands this time and kept our eyes locked. “But like all species, there’s good and evil. My kind are not like the ones in stories.”
Her expression was shell-shocked, but she wasn’t looking at me with fear or trying to get away. So I hurried on to explain the difference between the two races of vampires. I skipped over the part about consorts. That would be a conversation to be had all on its own, once I knew she’d accepted the reality of the supernatural.
When I was done, I searched her eyes, trying to gauge her reaction. She still appeared stunned, but it was more awe than disbelief.
“Why are you telling me this?” she inquired curiously. “If humans don’t know…”