Chapter 20

D ominic

Trixie barreled through my door without bothering to knock. Just the way I liked it. We'd mostly started coming and going from each other's apartments as desired the last couple of days. I knocked on her door, but mostly for Emmy's sake. I liked that she felt comfortable enough to forego the formality on mine.

Tonight, Trixie's cheeks were rosy, and she held two mostly-empty glasses of red wine in her hands. The half-empty bottle was tucked under her arm.

"Sorry," she said, not really sounding sorry. "Emmy and I got started already. She was saying how I've been spending so much time with you that we haven't had girl talk, so after my morning with Belinda, we spent some time together."

Trixie didn't stop moving. I suspected she might be a little drunk already. She turned on the TV, settled into the sofa, and kicked her feet up on the coffee table. As she poured more wine, she nodded at the screen. "Doesn't Lucas Paul the Third look great tonight?"

"He definitely consulted a stylist," I murmured, thinking I hadn't actually glanced at the TV once. The debate was of no interest to me. It was just another tool in my toolbelt to spend time with Trixie.

Even so, we both put on a good show of pretending to be interested in what Lucas and Levian were saying. But as the debates wore on slowly, the distance between us disappeared. As did the wine in Trixie's glass .

Soon enough, we were sitting arm to arm, our skin touching as if we'd been hot glued together. Neither of us moved, even to refill our glasses of wine. There was a thickness in the air tonight, a bit of magic, a surreal sort of pressure that seemed to be hovering around us.

It was like the last couple of weeks were coming to one big finale. The wildcard election would be ending. The building would go up for sale. We would go our separate ways...or would we? The only reason I had to keep my distance from Trixie was because my brother would know that she was important to me. And I'd been failing at keeping my distance anyway, so why start now?

On screen, both Lucas and Levian were fielding questions from Merci, who was moderating the event. So far, Merci had been lobbing softballs, and both candidates had been playing nicely.

There had been two more podiums sat out at the beginning of the debate presumably for me and Trixie, but a suited security guard had tried to inconspicuously roll the podiums away about ten minutes into the debate. Once they were really sure that neither Trixie nor I intended to show up at the last minute.

"I met with Belinda." Trixie's eyes were fixed on the television. "It was really helpful. Thank you."

"I'm glad."

"I cured a bad-tempered gnome from a curse that'd turned him to stone for 150 years."

I blinked, glanced over at Trixie to see if this was some sort of joke, but her heart rate stayed constant, and the look in her eyes told me she was serious .

I cleared my throat. "You did what?"

"Long story," she muttered, taking a sip of wine. "Suffice to say that I used my magic."

"And?"

"It was nice. I did a good thing. I think. I mean, the gnome was sort of nasty tempered, but really, who wouldn't be after they've been cursed for that long? Can you imagine the crick in his neck? I sleep wrong on my pillow and it's like I need to call hospice."

I didn't want to press Trixie too hard for the details. She was talking about magic voluntarily, and that was a big step in the right direction. I made a mental note to have Vix send Belinda a big thank you fruit basket.

"That's good," I said. "I'm happy for you."

I squeezed Trixie's hand, then pulled mine back. I was relieved when Trixie relaxed, shifted even closer to me on the couch, this time relaxing against me like a languid cat in a puddle of sunlight.

"Any word on your brother?" Trixie asked without turning to look at me. Almost as if she could read what had been going through my mind a minute before.

"Vix is on it," I said. "She tracked down Sebastian's last known hidey-hole, but he abandoned it about three days ago. He's a hard man to catch."

"I wasn't worried." Trixie didn't sound like she quite believed her own argument. "Do you regret not having a chance to really be a candidate for the The Circle because of Sebastian? "

"No," I said. "I have no interest in being elected. What about you? Do you wish you were up there debating tonight?"

"Zero percent."

Trixie paused, then opened her mouth to say more, but she stilled at Merci's next question. Merci had asked something about their feelings on two candidates not showing up for the debate. I listened in curiously for their responses.

"I'll take this one, Merci," Levian answered smoothly. "It's come to my attention from multiple sources that there's a good reason the other two candidates are notably absent."

"Oh?" Merci prompted.

"It's because Dominic Kent and Trixie Gardens are dating," Levian said. "We all know that according to Clause 873 of the Code of Candidates Campaign Conduct, any two candidates who are romantically entangled are disqualified from being on the ballot."

Merci sucked in a breath. "Indeed, you're correct about Clause 873 of the CCCC. That is, if Dominic Kent and Trixie Gardens truly are romantically linked. But I haven't seen any statements from either candidate regarding such an engagement."

"I think it's obvious," Levian said. "They're not trying to hide it. I've been flooded with messages on social media from people who've seen the two of them together."

"Levian's got some weird magic floating around him," Trixie harrumphed in reply at the television. "I was working on auras today with Belinda. Levian has a stupid aura."

"Okay," I said. "I'll trust you on that. "

Trixie crossed her arms with a huff, then turned back to watch Levian and his apparently-stupid aura.

"I'd be willing to bet Trixie and Dominic would admit to it if asked," Levian said. "They didn't even make an effort to show up tonight to defend themselves."

"Great," Trixie grumbled. "He basically just invited a flood of reporters back into our lives. Just when I thought we'd seen the last of them."

"I'll have my PR team put out a statement."

"Huh?"

"Easy way to solve it," I said. "I'll have them put out a short statement saying that we're dating."

Trixie's eyes were as wide as if she'd slipped on Emmy's science goggles.

"Look, I know it's probably not ideal to interact with the media," I said to Trixie. "But strategically, it might solve one of our problems. The reason I wanted to keep my distance in the first place from you was because I didn't want Sebastian to know you were important to me."

Trixie was holding her breath.

"But I've been doing a terrible job of staying away from you," I said, my voice coming out all husky. "I can't help it. I know I should feel sorry about it, but I just can't seem to muster one ounce of regret for the time I've gotten with you."

"I never wanted you to stay away from me." Trixie didn't meet my gaze. "I can take care of myself."

A pinch of regret needled at me. The thing was, Trixie couldn't take care of herself. Not against Sebastian. Nobody could. I didn't say as much out loud because I could already feel the guilt starting to gnaw at my stomach. The little drip of guilt that told me I was putting my needs above hers. My need to be with her over her need for safety.

"Being upfront about it will help keep reporters off our backs. No fun in breaking a story that's already been broken. I'll just do it first."

"Well in that case..." Trixie took a deep swig of wine. "Why didn't we think of this weeks ago?"

"I don't know about you, but I've never read the CCCC and didn't know what in the world Clause 873 was until just now."

"Touché," she agreed.

"I'll have the team meet us here first thing in the morning. You can stay here tonight, just in case any hungry reporters turn up at your apartment in the meantime. We'll have the press release out by eight a.m., and then we'll be free to go about our lives as usual."

"Okay," she said uncertainly. Then she repeated more confidently, "Okay then. We've got ourselves a deal."

Trixie extended a hand to shake on it, but when my fingers met hers, a bolt of electricity sizzled through us. I wasn't sure if the intensity of our connection was because we'd started to stumble into unknown territory—talk of a real relationship. I hadn't offered that this announcement be fake. She hadn't either. I looked over at Trixie, finding it dazzling just to be within touching distance of her. Wondering, hoping if maybe she would be mine.

Trixie felt it too, judging by the way her lips parted. She didn't release my hand .

"Shake on it?" she said, her voice trembling, looking at our interconnected fingers like it was something incredible. Then again, it was pretty incredible.

"I can do you one better," I murmured, tipping her chin up. "Are you feeling okay?"

"I'm just tipsy. Not drunk," Trixie clarified. "If that's what you're asking. I have all my faculties about me."

I took that as an invitation to close the gap between us. It didn't take more than a few seconds of my lips on hers before it wasn't enough. I hungrily pulled Trixie onto my lap.

"I mean, if we're going to announce that we're dating, we might as well make good on our promises, right?" Trixie murmured, looping her arms around my neck. "But before we do anything else, there's something I need to tell you."

"Okay." I loved feeling her on my lap. I wanted her closer. Impossibly so.

"I think unlocking my magic today unlocked something else in me." Trixie's voice was a breath against my skin. "Whatever was between us already, doesn't it feel stronger to you now? This bond we share?"

"Like I can't survive without you?" I confirmed. "Yes, Trixie. I'd trade the rest of my eternal life to give one mortal lifetime a shot with you."

"I want to be with you, Dom. For real."

I lifted Trixie, gripped her to my chest, and stomped into the bedroom without a backward glance. I set her on the bed, her hair spread before me, those rosy, pink cheeks beaming up at me. I was practically feral in my desire for her .

"The smell of you, the feel of your lips on mine," I murmured to her, "I haven't been able to get you out of my head. I'm ravenous for you, Trixie. You have ruined me."

"I know, Dom. I feel the same way."

I stripped her of her clothes. She helped tug her shirt off, then mine.

I buried my face against her neck, inhaling the honey and rose and earthy scent that was all Trixie, knowing this was where I was meant to be, forever and ever. She was mine.

I ignored the blood pumping through her neck, the way it made me wild with desire more than ever before. This was my mate, the woman I was put on this earth to love for as long as she'd live and then some.

I could see in her eyes that she meant it. It felt right, too right, and I knew that as we kissed, as we moved against one another—as the moonlight bounced off her porcelain skin, I wanted to connect with her on every level.

"You have my permission, if you want." Trixie tilted her head back, her neck exposed. "I trust you."

"I couldn't let myself—"

"You can." Trixie's eyes were intense as she arched against me. "This has always been real, Dominic. I'm yours, whether you want me to be or not."

"There's never been a doubt in my mind," I growled. "But if I taste you, Trixie, one time will never be enough. You have to understand what you're signing up for."

She leaned up, nipped at my lip. "Trust me. I understand."

Then Trixie looked at me, complete vulnerability in her gaze. Her eyes told me everything I needed to know .

"God, I love you," I said, almost frantic with need for her. "I have loved you since the moment I laid eyes on you."

"I love you too, Dom."

Then my fangs descended, and as I pierced her skin, she shuddered against me. And for the rest of the night, I made her mine, and she made me hers. When she finally drifted off to sleep against me, I watched her rest, those tiny pinpricks on her neck a memory of the last few hours. Hours that had changed me beyond measure.

I knew deep in my heart, a heart that no longer beat, that my life would never, could never, be the same.