Page 26 of Love Summoned

Chimere sighs as Catori pulls his hand from beneath her skirt, flipping her around on his lap so she’s straddling him, her lips caressing a path up his scarred and battered neck.

His menacing blue eyes watch me. “Don’t disappoint me.”

No sooner does the warning leave his lips are Jett, Lennox, and I standing back in Hemlock Vinyl’s basement.

“Holy fuck, I hate when he does that.” Jett grimaces as he moves to the bar in the corner of the room, pulling three glasses from the shelf overhead and a bottle of whiskey. “Consent is key, and I didn’t sign up for group activities.”

“It only irritates you because it turns you on.” Lennox clicks his tongue.

“Well, duh.” Jett fills the three glasses and sets them on the bench. Len accepts one as he takes a seat on one of the stools. “Chimere is hot.” Jett takes a swig of his drink.

I hold my glass between my hands, staring into the amber liquid as Catori’s warning thickens in my veins. I have a duty to my warden, but since meeting Sera, it’s like I’m standing at a fork in the road, one I didn’t know could be open.

I’ve crossed paths with many females, both human and supernatural. I understand the concept of attraction, desire, and curiosity, but I don’t know how to put into words the connection that thrums whenever I’m around Sera.

It reminds me more of the life I had as a human. I protected my people, and I cared about their welfare, they would come to me for safety and guidance. Being someone my town leaned on was the very thing that tethered my feet to the ground. This call to Sera goes against everything I’ve known my life to be for the last century. To betray my warden is death all over again, but in my entire existence, have I actually lived?

12

“This is it?” Sloane holds up the paper with an article I found on Theodora Solomon after spending all day in the library. She was a local healer, died in 1968, survived by one son, unnamed.

“That’s it.” I nod, helping her to lean forward so I can fluff the pillows behind her.

Rowan doesn’t bother knocking before barging in, balancing a tray in one hand.

Sloane groans, her head dropping against the headboard as Rowan sits on the other side of her bed. “Don’t you have anything better to do than fuss over me?” She glares at him.

I haven’t shared Rowan’s secret with her. She may be my sister, but as someone currently caught in a bond I don’t understand, I want to respect Rowan’s way of navigating his own predicament. We did have to tell her he’s a wolf, though. It was the only way to explain why he was in her bed when she woke up this morning, sprawled out on top of him.

“No,” he says, picking up a small bowl from the tray he brought in. He scoops up a spoonful of stew, blowing on it before bringing it to Sloane’s lips.

“I can feed myself. I’m not a child.” Her dark eyebrows smash together in annoyance, but Rowan pays her no mind, just places the spoon closer to her mouth. Grandpa leaps onto the bed and walks straight up to Rowan, nudging the back of his hand with his nose and pushing the spoon toward Sloane.

“Wow, Grandpa,” she says, unsmiling, before reluctantly leaning forward to accept the food. She swallows the mouthful and groans with appreciation.

Rowan’s chest inflates. The pride radiating off him now reminds me of our first visit here, and how he’d wait until Sloane had eaten his food to ensure she liked it first, the brush of his hand against her skin that we thought was nothing more than accidental. But I can see it now; it was his bond. His need to be close to her, to look after her.

“What’s in the other bowl?” Sloane asks, eagerly taking another mouthful that Rowan feeds her.

“Lemon and rhubarb cream cobbler,” Rowan says, and Sloane’s eyes light up. “But only once you finish your dinner.”

Celeste and I try to muffle our laughs as Sloane purses her lips, refusing another mouthful in protest.

“Open up, Sloane. Only good girls get dessert.”

She complies only because my sister is a sucker for dessert.

“Well.” Celeste clears her throat as she crosses the room to leave. “I’ve got some more research to do.” Celeste pulls the door open, stepping into the hallway. “Sal, are you coming?”

Grandpa jumps off the bed and winds himself between my feet. “He can stay with me tonight.” I chuckle as Celeste waves a hand and disappears. “I’m gonna go for a shower, then do some more research of my own before bed,” I say. “You need anything?”

“I’ve got her,” Rowan says.

“She was asking me, you brute, and I can answer for myself.” Sloane and Rowan are caught in a stare-off that I’m sure my sister thinks she’s winning, but all my magic is picking up is the rampant lust building between them. I wonder what happens to Rowan the longer he denies his bond with my sister.

“Then tell your sister if you need anything.” He puts down the now empty bowl in favor of the plate of cobbler.

Sloane’s eyes flick to the dessert before meeting mine. “I’m good.”