Goddamn right it did.
My eyes shot open, a feral blue shining like a blaze of warning in the darkness.
Instantly, I lowered my eyes at the sight of my husband. I didn’t want to frighten him.
Ezra’s nostrils were flared, inhaling and exhaling deeply, scenting everything I was feeling. His own green gaze was just barely shining in a frigid wariness. Every muscle on his body was poised to flee from what he sensed from me, his body even slightly turned…but his feet were firmly planted on the moonlit grass. He was just watching me.
My wolf howled deep inside my mind…but I pulled back with steel mental gloves all of my desires to tackle him to the ground and shove a vial’s liquid down his throat. I had become the ice queen bitch this last year. I knew how to shut off my emotions now.
And he needed to see that it could be done.
My jaw set, and I felt the cool rush of ice seep back into my bones. Into my soul. All I had to do was think of…killing Elder Harcourt. He had taken my husband away from me, torn away my two other best friends, and he had played with us, and all I wanted was to crush his heart inside my hand. My eyes now glowed with the frost of a killer as I peered up to spring green eyes. I wiped the tears off my cheeks with the back of my hand, never glancing away from him. “Drink it.”
Ezra inhaled deeply again. “No.”
I lifted one red brow. “Are you a King? Or a coward with a pretty crown?”
He stiffened. “What?”
“Antonio was right. This isn’t a decision. You just do it. It was, no, it is your life.” I stared just as coldly as he was. “You. Just. Drink. It.”
His eyes narrowed dangerously. He cracked his neck and stepped forward with a casual stride, then he began circling me, blatantly sniffing me at every angle. “You called me a coward. No one does that and lives.”
I snorted…even while I remembered he didn’t love me. “I asked if you were a coward.”
His Vampire growled quietly, then his tone turned intimate. Quiet. “You care for me.”
“I do.” Easy. I wouldn’t lie to him.
He hummed softly. “You love me.”
I nodded. “I do.”
He inhaled deeply. “You don’t smell like it anymore.”
My lips curved as he stopped directly in front of me, his gaze roaming my frame for any crack, any weakness, he could find. “I did learn a few things over the past year.”
“Hmm.” Once more, he leaned in, inhaling. “If you could do anything right now, what would it be?”
A soft chuckle escaped my lips. “Your dad and mine are here. I won’t answer that.”
His arched black brows rose, then he lifted a finger and poked my shoulder. “Did you feel that?”
“Yes.”
He shoved my shoulders, knocking me back a step. Instantly, he breathed deeply again.
I crossed my arms. “You can’t distract me. I’m better than that.”
Spring green eyes roamed my body…his gaze landing on my hand where I fisted the vials.
My words were steady. “Drink it.”
His lips pursed, but he didn’t say no this time.
I uncrossed my arms and held out a single vial. I didn’t say anything else.
A full minute passed before a Vampire’s hiss sounded. Cahal was apparently running out of patience. He griped harshly, “Son, are you really going to be a goddamn pu**y about this?”
Antonio whispered, “Tick-tock.”
With a nonchalant hand, Ezra flipped his father off, but his gaze lifted to mine. His question, when it came, sounded honest. “Is it hard?”
I knew what he was asking. “No, all I have to do is envision an elusive Mage. After that, I’m as cool as a cucumber.” I shrugged a shoulder. “If I ever see Elder Harcourt again, I’ll kill him.”
Ezra’s lips twitched. “I’ll drink the dammed thing.”
My words were quiet. “I know.”
Cracking his neck all over again, he lifted his hand and took the vial. My husband stared directly into my eyes as he uncorked it. Knocked it back like it was a shot. He didn’t jerk as I had; instead he went predatory still while his eyes rapidly scanned back and forth, like he was reading a book. I knew he couldn’t see me, but his gaze never wandered too far from mine.
I stifled a squeal when his power erupted like a hurricane wind, the blister of it deadly.
Just as abruptly, the power was hammered back inside himself, his head lowering. He stared at the ground with his glowing gaze, crushing the vial inside his palm, the glass sprinkling to the ground and the smell of Mystical blood wafting to my nostrils.
I wanted to grab his frozen hand and pluck each sliver of glass out of his flesh.
But I stayed still.
Five seconds of silence ticked by before he raised his head, rolling it on his shoulders. When his gaze roamed my features, his eyes were just as frigid as mine. Gradually, his lips quirked on one side and he took a step forward, aligning our bodies. He stared down at me while his heat penetrated through my clothes, warming me bone deep. He raised a black brow and his tone was a sexy-as-hell purr. “Our dads will ride with Elder Merrick and Elder Jacobs. And you’ll drive our car. I want my hands…and lips…free to travel as I wish.”
My resulting grin was private. “I missed you.”
He chuckled softly. “You can show me how much later tonight. I get the first round.”
We stared, no other words spoken. This was a test for us. To see the new individuals we had become around each other. Ezra and I were pressed against one another, a coldness to anyone else’s senses radiating from us, because our protective love was pushing it. We would never be taken from each other again. We were that much better now at hiding our affection.
A soft whistling reached my ears, a merry tune. Ever so slightly, Antonio was rocking back and forth on his heels, his hands in his pockets and an entirely content expression on his features while he lit the night with melody. Even though he whispered once more, “Tick-tock.”
Ezra scowled, then he turned, his shoulder brushing mine as he faced Antonio. “Enough with the Mage shit. What’s happening?”
Antonio sighed heavily, sending me a cross expression before peering back to Ezra. “You and my daughter are about to take a trip. Since I can’t follow to watch over you two, it’s a trip that I do not approve of.” He waggled glowing fingers in the air. “It’s not in my blood to do so.”
I cocked my head. “Your blood?”