And if it is…
“Take me out tonight,” I say, leaving no room for discussion. It’s not a request, it’s a demand. A… last wish, one could say. I roll onto my stomach and drape myself over his chest, resting my chin on my hand over his heart. I’m trying to give him puppy-dog eyes, not sure if it will even work on him. It’s one of those things I’ve seen done in movies and on TV so many times, but I have no clue if it works in the real world. “I’ve never celebrated Halloween.”
And it’s true. At least not that I remember. The aunts would always celebrate the Shadow Moon, and we’d dance for hours in the front yard. But Halloween was never really something they cared about. Not that it would have mattered since we were in the middle of nowhere, and it wouldn’t have been as fun to dress up and ring the doorbell to my own house.
I might be playing it up a little, but I believe if this really is the end, we should make it a night for the history books.
Because… who knows? Maybe we’ll get the chance to remember it for a long time to come.
“Never?” he asks, his fingers working through my hair.
“Not one I can remember,” I tell him with a small smile. I don’t want this to be a sad moment. “There were no cute, homemade costumes as a kid. And I never got the chance as an adult to wear something too small and revealing and be someone else for just one night. Like… a sexy nurse or a sexy devil. Orwear a skin-tight leotard and a pair of ears, and pretend to be a human version of some kind of cute animal.”
His grip tightens in my hair. His eyes turn dark. A deadly combination of lust and possession pins me in place.
“You will wear nothing of the sort,” he tells me. His chest vibrates with a growl, and I have to bite back a smile. “You will wear a costume that I deem appropriate. You will not leave my side. And when I say we’re done, we’re done. No complaining.”
I’m hanging on to every rule, waiting for him to say the actual words. He’s demanding and controlling and bossy, but I don’t hate it. Nope. Not when it seems like all of those things are for my own good, or so I imagine they are in his mind. I bite my lip as my smile presses harder to show itself, even if it seems like the exact words aren’t coming.
“So… you’ll take me?” I ask with too much hope in my tone.
“I’ll take you,” he confirms.
I lean up, able to reach his mouth when he releases his grip on my hair. I kiss him and kiss him and kiss him. And when I finally pull away, I instantly bury my face in his neck. I breathe in, inhaling his sexy, smoky scent deep into my lungs.
His body relaxes with a sigh.
Then he’s wrapping his arms slowly around me. He holds me like I’m the most precious thing in the world and he can’t bear to let me go.
I feel strange tears spring to my eyes as he tightens his arms, pressing us closer together. Good tears, I’m sure.
He’sholdingme.
I know it’s a little twisted and the timing is all wrong and the situation is…fuckedbeyond anything imaginable, but for one tiny moment in my possibly short life, I feel valued. I feel… cared for. Important. Someone who isn’t living in the shadows. I don’t feel alone.
“You will follow the rules,” he says, and by his tone, I can tell it’s not a question. Still, I feel the need to answer.
“Yes, I promise. You have final approval over my costume. I will not go more than five feet away from you. And when you’ve had enough like a grumpy old man, I will turn in as well.” I lift my head just in time to see him roll his eyes as he snorts at my ridiculousness. I’m smiling so hard my cheeks hurt.
“Alright.” He clears his throat as his arms go slack around me. I reel in my glee, unsure of what’s coming next. “Go get ready. I know a place we can go for a costume. Might be slim pickings since today is Halloween and all.”
“Thank you,” I say as I get to my knees.
Before I crawl across the bed, I lean over to kiss his stubble-studded cheek. He turns his head at the last second, and his lips brush against mine. I feel his hot breath, and my lips part as I breathe it in. I don’t resist when his mouth captures mine. I don’t pull away when his hand makes its way to my hair again, and I feel it tighten in the strands as he holds me to him. I don’t shut him down when his tongue invades my mouth like it’s on a mission to conquer everything it glides over.
No. I don’t even have the urge to do any of that.
My body is strung tight. I need him. Ialwaysneed him. Alwayswanthim.
I can’t say if it’s some weird side effect of the curse or what, but I find myself not even trying to resist him. It’s like I feel for the first time in my life when I’m near him.
“Donovan,” I nearly groan as my body decides it has a mind of its own. I straddle him, leaning down to kiss him again as my hands become bold in their perusal of his body.
And what a body it is. He’s hard, and his skin is warm. My nipples pebble as I feel him growing firmer between my thighs.
There’s nothing between us. Nothing stopping me from letting him slide through my wetness. Nothing from stopping him from burying himself deep inside me.
I realize there’s not a single thing I wouldn’t do for him. If this is our last moments or just the beginning of a lifetime of them, I will stop at nothing to give him everything.
