Enchanting Absinthe (Sex with Strings, Book Four) by Shona Husk

really a second chance?
    He let her go and stalked to the other side of the balcony, ignoring the sweeping view of Sydney.
    “Then explain why I can’t dig you out of my flesh.” He ran a hand through his hair. “What spell have you laid on me that I can’t stop thinking of you? Was it payback for all the women I’ve enchanted? I never forced them.”
    Her stomach twisted. Claire placed a hand over her belly, trying to still her tumbling stomach so she could think. “I felt how your enchantment works. I know you leave outs and don’t break the rules about freewill. I swear I did nothing to you in retaliation.” She stepped inside.
    William stood in the doorway, “I can’t remember the last person I didn’t use an enchantment on before fucking.”
    “That is tragic. Sex is brilliant, fun, it connects…” The blood, the magic, the baby. Everything they’d done had created this bond. Maybe he needed the connection more than he realized. He had been the one to reach out to her at the concert. “Why do you hate Shamen?”
    His black eyebrows drew together, creasing his forehead, the line that hinted at Shaman blood became deeper, more prominent. Even a frown couldn’t destroy his features. “Why does it matter?”
    “It matters to me.”
    He shook his head and stared at his shoes. The same skull and crossbones ones he’d worn that night. “I’m half Shaman.” He glanced up. “But I’m sure you worked that out. Have you heard of the Ferrara Ruling?”
    Claire nodded. She’d been right. He was there when Shamen and Vampires had fought; the resulting earthquakes had rocked the city for years afterward. Because of Ferrara the Council had banned Shaman-Vampire unions. It was the only way to appease the Vampires who thought Shamen only wanted them because of the power burn.
    “I was the by-product.”
    The penny dropped with a clunk. He hadn’t been there; he’d been conceived there in hate and a quest for power. Bile burned the back of her throat. She put her hand against the wall to stay upright as nausea flooded her system.
    “I’m sorry. Your poor mother.” She felt sorry for him too, growing up knowing the damage that his conception had caused not only to the Shaman and Vampire populations but to the humans who lived in the area.
    “She recovered physically, but she never looked at me the way other mothers looked at their children. I was a reminder. Hell, every time anyone looked at me, all they saw was the massacre.”
    “It wasn’t your fault.”
    “I know that. But Shamen avoid me and Vampires don’t like the taste of me, so I muck around with humans. But I have to be careful because that enchantment you felt grows when I’m with someone long-term and I can’t control it. Eventually they can’t think for themselves.” He shrugged. “Pity the half-breed. Give me back my magic and I’ll be gone.”
    She stared at him, not sure what to say. “But without your magic, you’re no danger to anyone.”
    “It’s mine. I’d rather be whole and alone than half of nothing and with someone who doesn’t know the truth.”
    And she knew the truth about his birth and what he was. She was sure there had been other half-breeds before the ruling, but they were most likely long gone. Not even Vampires were immortal.
    “What are you saying?”
    He cupped her cheek as if to kiss her. “I like you, Claire, but we both know this isn’t going anywhere. It never was. Enchantments and lies aren’t a good start and the Ferrara ruling ruins any other chance. So please, just undo what you did and we can both move on.”
    “It’s not that simple.”
    He blinked. “Why not?”
    “I’m pregnant.” She stopped short of telling him it was his.
    “Really?” His gaze skimmed over her body.
    She offered him her hand. “Taste the truth for yourself.”
    He kissed her fingertips, but didn’t bite. “I don’t need to. So a nice Shaman baby, just what the Council ordered. Who is the lucky man?” He