Toadstools and Vampire Kisses: The Durmont Witches by S.J. Sanders

Author:S.J. Sanders [Sanders, S.J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2022-10-05T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter

Nineteen

FRAN

“What is the theme of the evening?” Reynard asks as he stands stiffly at my side. He has resumed his glamour despite my protests, not yet comfortable with the idea of being in his true guise around so many humans.

I frown at the bite in his tone. Though the activity of the afternoon is set at a dizzying pace, I can sense that something is riding him hard, and he is not amused. He doesn’t so much as crack a smile as his gaze follows the activity like a fox tracking chickens, looking for the easiest one to cull from the flock. I tug at his elbow to get his attention.

“What’s wrong with you?” I whisper.

He shakes his head, but I sure as hell am not backing down. If he wants this mating arrangement to work—something we still haven’t talked about since we’ve been, ah, distracted—then he needs to spill. Despite my worry, I smile and turn Beast over to the coven’s flock of children, silently laughing at his excited wiggle. I feel a very slight prick of betrayal that he is so eager to leave me, but I know it’s better for him to be outside running around with them than penned in my bedroom.

Once they are gone, however, I turn an irritated look at my tight-lipped would-be mate. “Reynard,” I hiss. “Out with it.”

He sighs when he takes in the look on my face. “I need to feed,” he grumbles.

Now that catches my attention and I frown. “I thought vampires didn’t feed that often. Didn’t you already have your fill?”

“Typically, that is true. And normally the feeding I had before our arrival would have been enough to sustain me until we return to the coven’s compound. I did not anticipate that I would begin nesting, however. It is natural for a mated male to feed more. I have, in fact, fed twice since then.”

I shake my head in confusion. “Nesting? You forget we haven’t talked about any of this yet. What do you mean?”

I can feel a sense of dread growing like a cold lump in my belly. What if he suddenly becomes so hungry that he turns into a monster and begins attacking the coven? My mother would see to it that he was destroyed on the spot, and I wouldn’t be able to do anything to stop her. I know that’s extreme, but I don’t do well with unexpected changes in my preferably well-ordered universe and so this worries me.

He gives me a sidelong look as if aware of my apprehension. Quite possibly he is, since I seem to be able to sense his mood. I find it a bit odd having another’s presence in my head but it also quite useful.

“It is not as bad as whatever you are imagining,” he leans down and murmurs, his hot breath stirring the hairs at the nape of my neck. “Mated males do something we call nesting. Our bodies require far more nutrients than normal so we can nest with our mates and feed them.

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