Night Light. Amy Blankenship

flinched when she jerked hard enough to gain her freedom. Pushing up from the floor, he stared down at her as she nearly crawled across the bed in her attempt to put distance between them.

      â€œListen…” he started.

      â€œNo,” Jewel almost yelled as she climbed off the other side of the mattress, feeling a little safer now that the bed was between them. Her face instantly went up in flames realizing the bed was between them in more ways than one if she agreed to go through with this insanity.

      She snapped her gaze from the bed. “I didn’t want to get married in the first place! Why the hell would I marry you?”

      Steven’s eyes narrowed at the insult but he wasn’t going to let her pride get her killed. If he had to scare the hell out of her then it would be worth it. Besides… at the moment, she was the only lead he had on Micah. Steven’s lip hinted at a devious smile now that he’d successfully added another reason for doing what he was about to do.

      â€œWhy marry me, you ask? Because if you can pretend that the marriage is real in front of my family and yours… then in the bedroom it will be in name only. And that army you were wondering about, remember I’m not human and neither are my family or friends. So when you’re jilted ex tries to retaliate… we will be waiting on him.”

      â€œWhy would you do any of this?” Jewel shook her head. “And what do you mean pretend?”

      Steven held his hands out indicating the bed between them. “To answer your first question, I have a brother who’s been missing for a couple weeks now and the last person besides his family that he was seen with was your intended and it wasn’t friendly. So, what better way to get his attention then to yank his chain.”

      â€œAs for your second question, in order for this to work, everyone will have to think we are in love and intend to stay together. But when we are alone, you sleep on your side of the bed and I’ll sleep on mine. It’s not like I want to give up my freedom ether. If you can fake… it then so can I.”

      Jewel relaxed some of the tenseness in her shoulders seeing where he was going, “no one else will know the truth?”

      â€œJust our guardian angel… Dean,” Steven smirked when her fingers instantly rose to brush across the cheek that Dean had made a show of healing.

      â€œAnd once Anthony is no longer a threat?” she murmured.

      â€œThen our good friend the priest will give us our annulment and we will go our separate ways. But first, he has to marry us and, in order to get him to do that… he has to be convinced we are in love and have already consummated it.” When she gave him an appalled look he shrugged, “He’s a priest and above lying so we will just have to do the lying for him. Once it’s over, then we can tell him the truth.”

      â€˜But there will be no consummating our marriage,” Jewel confirmed with a hard look.

      â€œI can control myself if you can.” His pointed gaze matched hers knowing he’d just won the first battle. Now he would just have to pray he could control himself because right now it was taking every ounce of willpower he had not to come across the bed after her and claim her before Anthony Valachi got another chance.

      One thing was for sure. His family was already at war with the vampires, and they weren’t equipped to take on another war right now unless they believed it really was for a family member.

      â€œHow good of an actor are you? Because if my family doesn’t think we are completely in love… this will be doomed before the ink dries on the marriage certificate.”

      Steven’s lips parted when Jewel slowly smiled at him and started crawling back across the mattress toward him. He didn’t move a muscle, waiting to see what she would do. Coming up on her knees in front of him she slid her hand around the back of his neck and pulled him forward and down until their lips were touching.

      It was an innocent kiss and the realization that she was still a virgin slammed through Steven without mercy.

      Jewel tried not to flinch when his arm went around her back and he pulled her flush against him. Her lips were still closed against his but when she felt his hot touch slide across the seam of her lips, she parted them in surprise feeling it tingle somewhere in the bottom of her stomach.

      Just a taste… Steven repeated the words to himself as he leaned into the kiss and deepened it. Feeling himself instantly harden, he placed his palms on her shoulders and gently pushed them away from each other. Seeing her startled eyes snap up and lock with his, he detected the desire he’d barely flamed within her and smiled.

      â€œYes, like that… just like that.” He touched his fingers to the bottom of her chin and then turned away. “Shall we go get married?”