Amy Blankenship - Night Light стр 13.

“As 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?”

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

“And once Anthony is no longer a threat?” she murmured.

“Then 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.”

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

“I 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.

“How 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.

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