Gypsy Moon (Page 31)

Doesn’t matter.

Right now, nothing else matters. Everything else gets a big freaking pin pushed into it.

I pull on the red coat that managed to escape the crash in pristine condition. Arion arches an eyebrow as if to say he’s finally won this battle, as he finishes helping me into it.

“What are the two ways we can do this?” I ask, looking away from his weirdly playful eyes.

“Really fast, so that it’s over as soon as possible,” Arion says from behind me.

I can hear his grin growing.

“I’m not sure you want to set the precedent as that being a bragging right,” Damien tells him dryly, giving him a pointed look.

I turn to see Arion still grinning at me.

“Aye, she knows I’ll take my time with her when she finally gives in. The double entendre won’t hold, mate,” Arion answers dismissively.

“The two ways?” I cut in, interrupting their shared tangent. “So far I’ve only heard one option, and I’m not sure what it means.”

“The other way is rather slow; however, you’ll have a long time to think about how high up you’re being carried, because the only way to the castle is to go straight up,” Arion carries on, pressing closer to my back.

He moves abruptly and walks out the door, letting more of the cold slither in.

“It sounds like a blizzard out there,” I say as my teeth chatter a little, despite the new, very nice and warm coat.

“Damn thing came out of nowhere,” Damien states conversationally, as he opens the door for me, smiling tightly.

I hesitate, and then grimace. “This blizzard is my fault, isn’t it? It’s probably because of the super charge from the lightning. Sorry.”

He cups my chin, brushing his thumb over my bottom lip. “After just witnessing that helpless torment, I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t apologize for inconsequential details, sweet gypsy. Apologize for not warning me how truly severe that is.”

I blink a few times. “Aside from the plane crash, that one really wasn’t all that bad.”

Emit makes another strange sound before stalking out, as Arion rakes a hand through his hair on his way back in.

Vance mutters a curse before also storming out.

“Why do I feel like everyone is mad at me? What’d I do?” I ask as Damien starts out as well, a series of peculiar sounds slipping through his tight lips.

“Apparently the voltage made me stupid, because I’m not even getting the gist of this tantrum,” I call from behind them, walking out quickly…and then I stumble to an abrupt halt, as my jaw flops open.

The massive mountainside in front of me has me gawking up at a painful angle, but I still can’t see the top, because there’s an ominous ring of fog obstructing the impossibly high view.

“You couldn’t have just gotten me up there while I was unconscious?” I ask incredulously.

“We weren’t planning on including you on this adventure, remember?” Arion points out.

“So you’re plotting at the bottom of the mountain because…?” I let the question trail off and literally tap my foot.

“The cabin was closer,” Damien says like it makes all the sense in the world.

I open and close my mouth a few times, unsure how to even counter that statement.

“I want it over as quickly as possible,” I decide before walking toward a grinning vampire.

His arms open like he expects me to run into them, and Damien snorts.

“Again, not bragging rights, mate,” Damien retorts.

“You beautiful fucking girl,” Arion murmurs against my ear just as I get my arms around his neck, “climb me.”

Rolling my eyes, I pull myself up, and his hands immediately go to my ass the second my legs are around his waist.

“A kiss for the ferry charge,” Arion says as he teases my cheek with the brush of his lips.

“For fuck’s sake, Arion. Don’t make the girl so—”

Emit’s words cut off when I quickly kiss Arion, pressing my lips to his. It catches him so off guard that he doesn’t have time to react, and I’m able to keep the kiss chaste.

“Not everything has to be an argument. Can we go now?” I ask, staring Arion in his dark eyes, as a slow grin curves his lips.

“Impatient, aren’t you?” Before I can formulate an equally smartass remark, he whispers, “Brace yourself, love.”

It’s all the warning I get before gravity is stolen from me. My arms and legs tighten around him, and the feeling of weightlessness settles, as gravity slams back into place.

I don’t even know when my eyes sealed like air-tight locks, but I crack one open when everything remains still. Arion’s hand is still firmly clutching my ass, and his other is in my hair, as he starts kissing up the side of my neck.

“I paid the ferry toll,” I remind him as he continues gingerly kissing the side of my neck, backing me up to a wall.

“So you did,” he murmurs against my neck.

Like a bad habit, my neck turns, giving him more access instead of cutting it off like I know I should, flirting with disaster.

Arion groans as he presses against me more, his grip tightening on me, as his lips travel up and brush mine. “Shouldn’t the others be up here by now?” I ask, swallowing thickly when one of his fingers toys with a place on my neck, his attention there.

“They’re currently arguing,” he murmurs almost absently. “Tell me, Violet, why do you work so hard to keep from being left alone with me? You’ve given me your throat when I was at presumably my worst—”

“Presumably?” I interrupt in deflection, my fingers lacing behind his neck as I attempt to support some of my weight.

“I’m not really sure I’ve been at my worst yet, Violet. There are limits I’ve done well not to explore. I wasn’t conscious during that state; therefore, I don’t know if I was at my worst or not,” he says like he’s assuring me, lips ghosting mine again. “Answer me. Why are we never alone?”

“Looks and feels like we’re alone right now,” I point out.

His lips twitch. “You know they can hear me if I can hear them.”

“I bet Emit can hear me from my cellar then,” I state dryly, mentally assessing how weird and quiet Emit has been.

Fucking. Great.

Arion’s grin only grows. “This is a story you can tell me another time, love. I truly want to hear it, since the temperamental wolf is huffing and puffing at the bottom. But for now, answer me. Why can’t we be alone?”

Even the sound of his voice makes me want to make stupid decisions.

“I told you it’s you I want,” he goes on, lips teasing mine once again as he keeps his voice hypnotically smooth. “So this isn’t really about Idun, despite what you—”

“Shouldn’t you check the place out or something, instead of keeping your vulnerable back turned to all your surroundings?” I ask, clearing my throat as I sober a little.

His eyes narrow on me. “We’ve already checked the place over twice because you were at the bottom of the cliffs. It’s perfectly safe, Violet. Stop avoiding my questions if you’re truly not playing games with me. I don’t particularly like games that leave me out.”

My gaze holds his for an awkward length of time before I exhale, gently toying with the ends of his soft, short hair, as I give up pretending to help hold myself up.

“For reasons I can’t discuss at the moment, I trusted you once.”

He slowly lowers me to the ground when I start trying to move, and my hands slide down to his chest, as I steady my breath.

“You sort of shot holes in that trust, easily saying one thing while meaning another,” I say in barely a whisper, studying his eyes that give nothing away, same for his stoic expression.

He gently tucks a strand of hair behind my ear, not meeting my gaze.

“And you’re using that as an excuse not to trust that I mean what I say now,” he states like he’s figured it all out. “Because you enjoy being chased.”

“That’s not at all what I’m saying, Arion—”

“I’m happy to give you your chase, love, so long as you continue to touch me like you’re doing now,” he says, glancing down at my hand on his chest. “The touch reminds me it’s just a game, despite you saying it’s not. Clearly, I’m not the only one of us who says one thing and means another entirely.”

His smirk really infuriates me.

My hand slowly slides from his chest, and his smirk falls with it, as I give him a tight smile. “Idun played a lot of games, didn’t she?”

“The maddening woman did little else,” he says with a shrug.

“You worked around her to get what you wanted when you could, didn’t you?”

“Of course,” he scoffs like there could be no other possible answer.

“Working around me is almost counterproductive, because I generally go with the flow, unless there’s a barrier I can’t cross,” I explain, even though he just looks confused. “Manipulating me is really easy to do, if I trust you, so there’s no sport in that challenge for a man like you.”

He moves my hand back to his chest, and I don’t fight him, just letting him hold it there, since he looks so lost.