Desire: #4 Brightest Kind of Darkness by P.T. Michelle Read Free Book Online

slightly and begins to sway back and forth. All the berries I plucked from the mistletoe are gone. “What?” I ask the bird, laughing. A raven eating the berries doesn’t worry me; they can eat just about anything.
    He bobs his head up and down, making several gronking sounds. I shake my head. “It’s not my fault you gobbled them down so quickly. There might be some more under my boot.” I snicker. “But you’ll have to move it to find out.”
    When the raven lets out a loud raaaaack , Ethan looks at me, his brows pulled together. “You actually understand him?”
    I nod, a bit surprised. “Yeah, I do. I get the gist of what he wants. He’s very direct.” I gesture to the bird. “Don’t you?”
    Ethan slowly shakes his head. “Every other animal I understand, but it’s like Patch is a blank slate. I might be able to get him to understand me when I really concentrate, but I don’t hear or sense exactly what he wants like I do other animals.”
    Patch had been plucking at the boot’s shoestring while we spoke, but so far it wasn’t moving. Turning to us, he flaps his wings hard and squawks long and loud.
    “Go to the top of the oak and gorge yourself.” Ethan grunts, then slams the door shut, cutting off Patch’s sounds of agitation.
    I laugh and pat his jaw. “Did you actually understand him that time?”
    His hands flex on my hips, his thumbs sliding under my shirt to trail along my skin just above my jeans. “Not a bit, but he’s taking up what little time we have together.”
    My brow furrows. “I’m kind of surprised you can’t understand him.”
    “You’re the only one I care about connecting with, Sunshine,” Ethan says between kisses as he shifts my thigh over his until I’m straddling his lap.
    His double meaning makes me tingle all over. I settle against him and smile. “You were in the process of showing me the benefits of backseat love over Corvus submarining.”
    “Submarining, huh?” Chuckling, Ethan shifts forward and pulls me flush against his hardness. Before I can reply, he quickly captures my bottom lip between his teeth, but when he starts to slowly slide my lip free, he pulls back and clasps my jaw. “I taste blood.” Running his thumb along my lip, he turns it down. “God, Nara. It looks like ground hamburger. Did I do that?”
    “No.” I shrug and glance away. “I was worried about you while you were underwater.”
    He palms my cheek. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to worry you.”
    I meet his gaze, folding my hand over his. “I know it’s the Corvus making you so reckless.”
    Ethan snorts. “As much as I’d like to lay every dangerous thing I do at the Corvus’ feet, I can’t, Nara. I’ve always done things I shouldn’t have. My father might’ve thought I was a saint compared to my stubborn brother...” He shakes his head. “But the difference is, I just didn’t flaunt it in his face like Samson did.” Cupping my face with both hands, he slides his thumbs along my cheekbones. “But one thing I’ll never, ever risk is you. I would never have attempted to take you in that water if I didn’t know for sure you’d be safe.”
    Leaning close, he presses a tender kiss to my lips. “I’ll always watch out for you.”
    “But who’s watching out for you?” I reply, loving how his kiss sends sparks shooting through me once more.
    He shrugs and unbuttons the top three buttons of my shirt, his mouth crooked in an ironic smile. “I’ve been responsible for me for a while now.”
    I shake my head and cup either side of his face like he did mine a second ago. “Not any more, Ethan. I’m watching out for you too. I care what happens to you, so for my sanity I want you and your Corvus to care about you for me . Got it?”
    Ethan swallows a couple of times, then blinks away sudden mist in his eyes. “I love you, Nara.”
    I’ve never seen him get choked up before. Not like this. He’s sharing a deeper layer of himself with me than he ever has before.