Chapter 45: Forged in Blood: Chapter 43

“Look at her.” I nudge Xavier in the ribs and jerk my head in Ophelia’s direction. I could—and often do—spend hours watching her read or study. I pay close attention to her features. The way her nose scrunches when she’s thinking. The way she chews on the end of her unicorn pen when she’s puzzled. The way she smiles to herself when she gets to a good part of her book or her eyes fill with tears at the sad parts. My heart beats double time in my chest just from looking at her. “She’s so fucking cute.”

He grunts, but he looks up from his cell phone, and the corners of his mouth curve. “Yeah.”

I jump onto the sofa next to her, causing her to yelp in surprise. She closes her book and places it on her lap, resting her hands on the cover as she fixes me with a sweet smile. “I thought you were all too busy with trial business tonight to entertain me. That’s why I brought a friend.”

I take the book from her hands and examine the cover. “I hope this isn’t research, sweet girl, because our world is nothing like what happens in this book.”

“And how would you know? You read a lot of vampire fiction?” She rolls her eyes and snatches the book back.

“I did read that series actually. And just so you know, I’m firmly team Edward.” I wink at her, and a smile spreads across her beautiful face.

“Aren’t you a little old for Twilight, Cupcake?” Xavier asks.

She huffs with indignation. “Nobody is ever too old for Twilight, Xavier.”

He sits on her other side, squashing her between us on the couch. “I saw you reading Brontë last week. I assumed your literary tastes were a little more”—he narrows his eyes and taps his chin—“refined.”

“Twilight is a modern classic. And my reading tastes are varied. I must have read close to five thousand books in my lifetime.”

Xavier lets out a low whistle and sits back, draping an arm around her shoulder. “That’s impressive, Cupcake. Did you not sleep as a kid?”

The slender curve of her throat thickens as she swallows, and her sadness permeates us. There’s so little we know about the orphan girl who was left on the steps of a church. I want to unpack every memory she has, but I get that it hurts for her to talk about those times in her life. Fuck, I was so messed up as a human that I was about to put a bullet in my own head. If it weren’t for my horse stepping in a hole and breaking her leg, leading me to use that bullet to spare her suffering, I would have killed myself before the professor found me sobbing over Moira’s corpse. No doubt about it.

I cup Ophelia’s jaw and turn her head so I can look into her bright-blue eyes. As I expected, they’re shimmering with unshed tears. All we really know about her childhood is that she was a foster kid and she was bullied in school. “What is it, baby?”

She blinks and tries to shake her head, but I hold her in place. “Nothing.”

Xavier tucks her hair behind her ear and trails his fingertips down her neck, making her shiver. “Why did you read so much, Cupcake?”

I stare into her eyes, wishing I could truly read her mind. “Tell us, sweet girl.”

She closes her eyes, causing a solitary tear to roll down her cheek. Xavier catches it with his thumb and licks it off, then wraps his arm around her shoulder. I allow her to lean back against him and study her face. Another emotion clouds her sadness—shame.

“We’re your family now, Ophelia,” I say, my heart splintering. “There’s nothing we don’t want to know about you. Nothing you can tell us that will make us love you any less than we do.”

Her eyes snap open and she blinks rapidly. “You love me?”

Xavier snorts a laugh. “Understatement,” he mutters.

Does she really not know that? Can she not feel it every day? We’ve never said it, but vampires are so driven by emotion and base instinct that we often let our actions speak for themselves. Clearly we failed her by not realizing she needed the words. “We’re bonded for life, sweet girl. I don’t even think love is enough to describe this.” I wave a hand between the three of us.

Her lips curve ever so slightly. “I guess not.”

Xavier rests his lips on her temple and murmurs, “Back to you reading five thousand books. How? Why?”

She licks her pink lips and glances between the two of us. Then she holds up her copy of Twilight. “I wasn’t kidding when I said I brought a friend. For as long as I can remember, I’ve never stayed anywhere long enough to connect with people. I had twenty-six foster placements in total and half as many schools. It was hard to make friends, so I read a lot. Stories became my escape. I figured I didn’t need actual friends when I could be best friends with a hobbit. It didn’t matter where I lived when I could curl up in my bed in Hogwarts or visit Victorian England. Books have always been my only constant.”

Oh fuck me, my heart just cracked in two. I link her fingers through mine and press a kiss to her knuckles. “Until now, baby.”

That earns me the sweetest fucking smile that makes me want to kiss her, but I hold back. If I press my lips to hers, I’ll want to bite her, and then, well, we won’t be talking about books. Or talking at all.

Xavier pulls her onto his lap, and she offers a faint squeal of protest, but he wraps her in his arms. She melts into his chest, her fingers still entwined with mine. “You had twenty-six foster placements?”

“Yeah, I never stayed anywhere longer than a few months until I was in high school. That was the longest one I had, and I probably would have stayed until I graduated, except …” She winces, and I give her hand a reassuring squeeze.

“Fiona and Alan were a real nice couple. I can’t really blame them for not wanting me to stay after the fire and everything …” She pastes on a big smile that breaks my heart, but before I can tell her she doesn’t have to pretend for us, she continues. “Anyway. Alan was a mechanic, and he taught me a little bit about cars. How to change the oil, swap out a tire, that kind of thing. And Fiona loved to read too, so we would spend hours talking about books.” Her face lights up. “We used to go out to dinner every Friday night, and I loved it because I’d never been to a restaurant before.”

“Hold up,” I say. “You never went out to eat until you were in high school?”

She looks down at her hands and shrugs. “Kids would always talk about going to grab a burger or pizza after school.” She whispers, “I was so jealous,” then clears her throat and continues in a ragged tone. “I would have loved to have been invited. Just once. I even got an allowance from Fiona and Alan, so I could have gone, but I guess …” She shakes her head and brushes away a tear. “Anyway, I think that’s why they started taking me out to eat. So that I didn’t feel like I was missing out.”

Goddamn, my heart fucking aches for this girl. “So I guess you’ve never been on a date either?”

Her forehead wrinkles, and she slowly shakes her head.

How has this beauty, who has the kindest fucking heart of any creature I have ever known—not to mention the cutest goddamn laugh and the kind of curiosity that can make watching paint dry together interesting—never been on a date? That is practically criminal. I leap up from the couch and pull her with me. “Then let’s change that right fucking now, baby.”

She squeals with laughter. “But the Trials … You said⁠—”

I silence her with a kiss. “Fuck the Trials. You’re way more important.”

Her smile makes lightning race through my veins. Xavier stands behind her and wraps his arms around her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder. “Where do you want to go, Cupcake?”

She bites on her lip, her eyes shining with excitement. “I d-don’t know.”

I cup her face and rub the pad of my thumb over her cheek. “To get food? The movies? Dancing?”

Xavier grunts. “Ugh. No dancing.”

“We will take our girl dancing if that’s what she wants to do, numbnuts.”

Xavier rolls his eyes, and Ophelia laughs. “I don’t even know if I like dancing. How about food?”

Xavier hums. “We could go to Henley’s. I guess I could force down a burger.”

“No.” Ophelia gasps and shakes her head. “That’s like where everyone hangs out. If we go there, everyone will know about us.”

I shoot Xavier a puzzled look. It sounds like she doesn’t want to be seen with us. No, that’s not right. If I know my girl, and I definitely know my girl, she thinks we don’t want to be seen with her. And that kind of bullshit is not gonna fly. “All the more reason we should.”

“Fuck yeah.” Xavier trails kisses over the side of her neck. “I wanna show off my girl.”

Axl stomps into the den and greets us with a frustrated groan. “Can you two not keep your hands off Pyro for thirty minutes? I thought you were prepping for Saturday night.”

“We were, but now we’re taking Ophelia on a date instead,” I tell him.

He stands beside us, hands on his hips, trying to look annoyed, but his eyes are raking up and down Ophelia’s hot body, and I feel the desire for her coursing through his veins. Like he’s any less distracted by her than we are.

“It’s okay. You can work,” she says. “I know the Trials are important.”

I grab her jaw again and narrow my eyes. “What did I just tell you?”

She giggles, and dammit, the sound has my cock twitching so much I’m almost regretting this date idea. Our bed is calling me. Or the sofa. Anywhere I can lay her down and sink deep inside her. I’d also take standing up. Against a wall. The door …

Ophelia has never been on a date before, Xavier says through our bond, actively tuning her out of our conversation and snapping me out of my filthy thoughts.

Yeah, and given that we were complete jerkwads to her these past few weeks, I figure this is the least we owe her, I add.

Ophelia starts to fidget, probably aware that we’re having a silent conversation and wondering what we’re saying.

Not to mention, I want to claim her in front of every person at this school, Xavier growls.

Axl cracks his neck, directing Ophelia’s gaze toward him. “I think we could all use a break from the Trials.”

She sinks her teeth into her lip and flutters her dark eyelashes. “So you’re coming too?”

He tilts his head to the side and licks his lips. “Not a chance in hell I’m missing our first date, princess.”

As it usually is every night of the week, Henley’s is so full that students spill out into the street. Axl opens the door, and I guide Ophelia inside, one hand on the small of her back.

“Everyone is staring,” she whispers, her cheeks as pink as her hair.

“That’s because you’re so fucking hot, Cupcake.” Xavier presses his lips close to her ear. “And you’re here with us.”

Her heart rate kicks up, and she glances around the crowded restaurant. Sure enough, almost every pair of eyes is on us. I take her hand in mine, and Axl heads to a booth at the back. We don’t frequent this place very often, but when we do, we always take the same table. The six people sitting at our usual table include two Ruby Dragon pledges, and they all move without being asked.

Ophelia presses her lips together and looks at the floor. Axl places his index finger under her chin and tips her head back up. “Hey. No more fading into the background. You’re one of us now, and that means you get treated like a princess by everyone. Not only us.”

She rolls her eyes. “Not entirely sure you can equate how you guys treat me to royalty.”

A low growl rolls out of him, making me wonder if he’s going to punish her for sassing him in public. Instead, he leans down and seals his lips over hers while squeezing her ass in one hand and sliding the other to the back of her neck. I let go of her hand and allow him to have her to himself for a moment. When he breaks their kiss, she stares up at him, her lips parted and her tits heaving. He tugs her bottom lip down with the pad of his thumb. “That was before. This is now, princess.”

Xavier hums and shakes his head. “Except she’s not a princess.” He drags her from Axl’s arms and picks her up, holding her bridal style to his chest. “She’s a fucking queen.”

Her cheeks turn a deeper shade of pink, and she smiles that fucking smile that makes my knees feel weak. I can’t help myself from tangling my fingers in her hair and planting a kiss on those sweet lips of hers. And now everyone in this whole damn place knows that Ophelia Hart belongs to us.