“Do you even hear yourself?” I wondered out loud, flabbergasted. “I’ve spent the last month doing exactly the opposite.”
“So why won’t you bite me?” she asked, her gaze narrowing.
“Fuck,” I breathed, my head falling back. “Is that what this is about? The fact that I won’t bite you?”
“No,” she said, the word too fast for it to be believable. “It’s that you won’t tell me why. You’re acting all high and mighty, saying it won’t happen, that I should watch Kols, and refusing to elaborate.”
I softened a little at her explanation, hearing the words she refused to say that were carefully threaded between the admission.
She wanted to know why I wouldn’t bite her.
Because she wanted me to bite her.
I palmed her cheek and pressed my forehead to hers. “Ella, when a male fae bites a female fae with a compatible bloodline, it initiates a mating process. If I bite you, you’ll become mine. Permanently. Because there’s no going back once a male fae has initially claimed a female fae.”
Her only response was a puff of air.
“It technically takes three bites,” I continued softly. “The first is more the dating phase, the second is an engagement period, and the third is a mating for life. And it can only be initiated by a male fae.” Which was a source of contention among the Midnight Fae.
Our females were rarely given a choice in the higher circles. Even Ella’s mother, who had chosen a human, would have eventually been called back to fulfill her familial obligations.
Just as Ella would one day be forced to accept me.
That I wanted her to make the choice herself was merely a personal preference on my part. Not all male fae felt that way.
But Kols and I were raised a little differently. Our mother was rather keen on the human modernist movements, as she called them.
“Wh-what about me being a Halfling?” Ella asked softly, her blue eyes wide and holding mine. “I’m still part human.”
“Your fae bloodline overrides the other.” I lowered my hand from her cheek down to her hip, gently grasping her as I placed my other arm against the wall over her head.
“You’re sure?”
I nodded. “I sensed it the moment we met in that alley years ago. Your royal line was like a buzzing energy that warmed my skin, marking you as a potential mate. It’s why we tend to get carried away when we kiss.”
Her pupils flared. “Because our blood makes us want more…” Her cheeks flushed a pretty shade. “Things.”
I chuckled. “Things?”
“You know what I mean.”
“Sex?” I suggested. “Intimacy?”
That only made her cheeks darken to a gorgeous red as she bobbed her head in affirmation.
“Oh, Ella, that’s not just our magical compatibility.” I slid my thigh between hers, my grip tightening on her hip. “We want more because we’re attracted to one another. Our Elite bloodlines are only a small piece of the puzzle.” I knew plenty of mated pairs where one side—typically the female—despised the other.
“But our connection adds to the, uh, heat, right?” She cleared her throat. “Like, that’s why I want you to bite me?”
My blood heated at her question. “You want me to bite you?”
She nodded shakily, her eyes holding mine. “I… I, yeah. I think I do.”
“Do or did?” I asked, arching a brow. “Knowing it’ll bind you to me, I assume you meant did.”
Ella’s tongue slid out to dampen her lips, her throat working as she fought to swallow. “Do,” she whispered.
My heart actually stopped. “I don’t think you understand, Ella. When I bite you, there is no going back.”