Seduce(33)

“I did not want to be alone,” Antoine echoed, empty inside as the truth of it sank in. “So I made Snow suffer. I cannot lose him, Sera.”

“I know.” She pressed a kiss to his forehead and he sat back, wanting to look into her soothing forest green eyes and see in them that she didn’t think he was despicable for the things he had done and she didn’t fear the darkest part of him that would inevitably surface one day. He needed to see that she knew what she was getting in to by choosing to be with him, before this went any further.

Sera smiled softly, her eyes full of understanding, overflowing with compassion and concern.

“You need to save him, not only because he is your brother and you love him, but because you need to know that you too can be saved.”

Wise woman. She had seen through the mask of one intention to the others that lay hidden beneath.

“You are not your brother, Antoine.” She stroked his cheek and then leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. He wanted to drown in her then. Wanted to kiss her and make love with her in an attempt to lose himself and leave reality behind, forget everything they had talked about and the uncertainty of it all. Sera was good, and beautiful, and pure. Perhaps as Lilah could sway Snow from the darkest moments of his bloodlust, Sera could protect him from the demon completely and help him hold it at bay so he never suffered as his brother had.

Perhaps.

“Are you part fae?” He searched her eyes, looking for something magical in them, a spark of fae power. It was possible for a fae to mate with a human. Her ancestors might have passed it through her bloodline to her.

She laughed. “I don’t think so, why?”

Antoine brushed his fingers through the silken threads of her wavy ash blonde hair. “Whenever I look at you... whenever you touch me... I feel bewitched.”

Sera smiled. “I think that’s just plain old lust.”

He shook his head. “No... it is deeper than that.”

Her eyes widened. His did too. What he had said could be considered a sort of declaration, the kind that he had promised he would never make again. It was the closest he could ever come to saying the words all women liked to hear, and it was far too early for those sorts of feelings between them.

“Maybe you’ve just been alone too long.” Her smile became a wicked grin. “You need a woman’s touch and some company, and that’s all this has to be, Antoine, if that’s all you can give me.”

Antoine raked his gaze over her. She had to be part fae. A wicked sort of one. It would explain that aura of innocence she wore to mask her naughty side.

A side he wanted to become more acquainted with.

A side that was addictive.

She was willing to let this end.

He wasn’t.

Now that he’d had a taste of her, not just her body but her warmth and the beauty of her nature, he wasn’t willing to let her go.

Antoine placed his hands flat on the bed and kissed her, leaning forwards at the same time, driving her backwards until her head hit a deep red pillow.

She had sealed her fate by seducing him and there was no turning back, no matter what happened.

She was his now.





CHAPTER 9




Sera lay on the bed beside Antoine, watching him sleep. The crimson silk bedclothes rode low on his hips, revealing a delicious muscular ridge that ran over his hip and downwards under the covers. Her gaze followed the deep brown curls back up to the sensual dip of his navel. She wanted to lick that hollow. Had a few times already. Antoine laughed and told her to stop whenever she dipped her tongue into it.

It was hard to believe that the man lying next to her was the same one she had watched interacting coldly with others, keeping his distance. He had changed so much since three nights ago when Snow had lost himself to a fit of bloodlust and Antoine had told her things that had left her feeling honoured, touched, and a little bit in love with him. That he had never told anyone else the story of his past and what Snow had done, and had chosen to confide it all in her, still had her reeling to a degree. He had lived through so much darkness and terror. It made her want to give him light and love.

She gently brushed her fingertips across his brow and trailed them down the angular curves of his cheek to his jaw. He frowned and then sighed in his sleep. If he woke before midnight, it would surprise her. She felt worn out from their last bout of lovemaking, was tired to the bone and in need of sleep, but the sight of him kept her awake.

He frowned again.

Snarled.

His lips peeled back to reveal fangs.

Sera scooted backwards when he began to thrash side to side. He kicked at the covers, clawed at the pillows, and came close to hitting her.

“Antoine?” Sera got to her knees, nude in the middle of the bed. He snarled again and lashed out. She evaded his wild swings and grabbed his wrists, wrestling with him. The tighter she held him, the more he fought. He was too strong. Her heart pounded, eyes glued to his face as he growled. It was no longer fury in that thick snarl, but pain, endless agony that had her heart aching for him. What horrible things was he reliving in his sleep? Was it the night that Snow had butchered their family and tried to kill him?