I didn’t answer right away. “You don’t have to worry about me. This’ll work out.”

“Did this . . . did Nanette do this because of your investigating?”

I nodded, then crooked him a wry smile. “Still like how brave I am?”

He stepped closer to me and looked me up and down in a way that was so serious, my smile faded. “Even after this, you aren’t going to stop, are you? You’re going to keep pushing to find Jerome?”

“Do you want me to stop?” This was almost like my earlier conversation with Dante, when he’d made it clear he thought I was a fool for continuing with my quest.

Seth’s answer was a long time in coming. “I don’t want you to get hurt. But I understand you, and I know why you have to do this . . . and it’s still part of that strange, brave nature of yours that’s so . . .”

He didn’t finish, but I saw the anguish in his eyes, the worry and heartache over something happening to me. It was mingled with something else, though. Pride. Affection. I put my arms around him again, wanting to comfort him now. “Hey, hey. It’s going to be okay. I’ll be okay.”

His hands rested on my hips, careful of my back, but honestly, I barely noticed. My attention was on his lips, pressed against my cheek. “Georgina, Georgina,” he breathed against my skin. “You are . . . incredible.”

And like in the car, I don’t know who exactly was to blame, but our lips met and were kissing again. Unlike before, we didn’t break apart out of shock. We kept kissing. And kissing. His lips were intoxicating and felt like they’d been designed especially for mine. Our bodies pressed against one another, though his embrace was still gentle. As the kiss continued, that same sensation came back to me: this was purely a kiss. Just an expression of love between two people with no dire side effects, no soul stealing. The longer it went on, the more amazed I was. By now, as a succubus, I would have begun to taste his energy and feel his thoughts. But not now. I was alone in my own head, savoring his body and not his soul.

We pulled back slightly, and he moved his hands up to the side of my face, smoothing my hair away and touching my cheek. “Georgina. You are . . . beautiful.”