He grimaced and drew his own card, pleased at what he’d picked. “I wish I knew. He’s fast too. I can never catch the little sucker.” He put a card down.
“Are you sure it’s not your kin messing with you?” She took her turn. “From what you’ve described, that sounds like it could be Rolf tricking you.”
“Well, he’s immature enough, yeah.” He grunted, recalling the last prank the blond vampire—who had a few hundred years on Orion—had committed. The draugr had replaced Orion’s toilet paper with a roll of duct tape covered with one sheet of paper, making for an awkward stay in the bathroom. Because yes, vampires did use the facilities. He picked up another card and discarded one he’d been saving for a run.
“Or maybe Kraft?” She smiled and called “gin.”
They both put their cards down, and he wasn’t surprised to see she’d won again. “Damn, girl. You’re a real card shark. Ha, see what I did there? Not card sharp. Card shark.”
She rolled her eyes. Since becoming intimate, she’d let down her guard and now gave back as good as she got. He loved her wit, always loving and funny, but sometimes with an unexpected bite that never failed to make him laugh.
He sensed that she was thirsty and called a time out. After making them both mugs of cocoa, he sat down again. Then immediately got up to bring her marshmallows. No wonder she’s so sweet. It’s all that damn sugar she ingests.
She laughed. “Okay, that was funny.”
Once again, sharing a brain. He saw that as a positive, that she was truly his mate, spell or no spell. He had never heard of a witch interfering in a vampire’s mating, and he didn’t think it possible. Maybe when Macy returned, he might persuade her to convince Kaia they were okay. Then they could get started making a baby.
And after Kaia gave birth, she’d have to stay with him. Together, they’d find a place in the Night Bloode. If that didn’t work, they’d go rogue and find a place to live together by the water somewhere.
“You are so sweet to me,” she said with a chocolate mustache.
He grinned. “Aw, such a cutie, even though you look like you just ate sh—”
“Orion of the Night Bloode, watch your moth.”
“I was going to say sheeeeer sugar.”
“Sure you were.” She swallowed a melting mini marshmallow and tried not to grin.
“I saw that.”
I think love you.
He choked on his next sip, thrilled to hear what she’d finally admitted to herself. Because she should absolutely love him. He was the strongest, most admirable vampire he knew, and the only male who could satisfy all of her. He understood her, wanted her, and appreciated everything about her. Hell, he thought he might even love her, and vampires didn’t love.
She frowned in concern. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, sorry. I was just wondering what your father might think about us. I know you love your mom but you don’t always like her.” She refused to talk about the sea witch and shielded subconsciously when he mentioned her. But her father she loved without reserve. “You haven’t said much about your father.”
“Dad? Grand Mage Will Dunwich?”
Memories of Kaia’s father, a mage he’d fought next to while battling a demon, came back to him. The male looked just on the lesser side of middle age for a human, so Orion had no idea how old he might really be. Mages aged much more slowly than their human cousins, the witches. And they weren’t human but magir, able to use the magic within them to great effect, whereas witches had to borrow power from an outside source to make use of it.
“I met your father.”
“Oh, right, when you fought Abaddon with Macy.” She watched him with admiration. “I can’t believe you went up against demons.”
“To be fair, it was goblins. A whole horde of them,” he muttered. “And their champion, who was a total dickhead. I just happened to be in the same hell plane when we fought.”
“I’d be too scared to deal with demons. Uh-uh. No way.”
“You stick with me and you’ll never have to. But in any case, I doubt your dad would let you.”
“No, he wouldn’t.” She smiled. “He divorced my mom when I was just a baby. My mother needed to get away and didn’t want a child, not when I came out a lot less powerful than she’d hoped. But it turned out to be a blessing. My dad is kind and loving, and he married a wonderful witch in Macy’s mom. She’s the mom I dream of, and he’s my perfect dad.” She sighed. “But sometimes I feel like I’m not enough.”
“Bullshit.”
“No, I mean it.”
He reached across the table to clutch her hand. “You’re plenty enough for me.”
“Aw.” She stroked his fingers, and he felt that affection all the way to his toes. “I’m kind of wimpy, I hate to say. I play the peacemaker. My dad gets freaked when my mom acts all mighty, and she does some nasty things.”
“Like what?”
“She cursed a group of high school kids messing around, turned them into trashcans for a day. That was fun for them.”
“Ew.”
“Yep. And she’s always making deals with the desperate and unloved, promising potions for true love and money and success, and in the process, she steals their power, sometimes even pieces of their soul.”
“That’s tough.” He kind of liked the sound of her mom, but maybe if she hadn’t been such a bitch to Kaia. Only the strong survived, and it sounded like Kaia’s mom was a survivor.
“But for all that she can be so nasty, she’s also loving. She’ll be supportive when I get a raise, and she tells me that of course I’m smart and pretty and wonderful. But I think she says that because I’m her daughter. I just want her to love me.”
“And your father?”
“My dad is awesome. He loves me unconditionally. He’s always there to help. Heck, he got me into my house, pulling some strings so that my roommates and I could have a spot on the water. I share the house with three guys, and two are water-magir. We all get along so well.”
“Three guys?” he repeated, not liking the sound of that.
“Don’t be jealous.” Kaia bit her lip. “I mean, I kind of like that you are, but my friends are just friends. I’m not really into dating anyone from MEC anyway.”
“Why not?”
She blinked at him. “Because what they do is way too dangerous.” She paused. “Not like being a vampire or anything.” A species everyone wanted to kill.
They both had a laugh at the kookiness of that thought.
“Anyway, I know I sound super dramatic and whiny for not taking more pleasure from my great life. And now I have you.”
He wanted to get back to her father, because he had a feeling she’d left out a few details. But the way she was looking at him woke him up in a hurry.
CHAPTER
THIRTEEN
Orion always seemed to know what she felt or thought. As if they shared the same brain.
Kaia wanted to smack herself for falling so hard for a vampire, but she couldn’t. She’d done her best to let Orion do what he wanted, but he kept making their time together all about her. She would have felt bad about that except he seemed to take great enjoyment in their play.