Undying Thirst (Crimson Coven #2)

22. Catalina

TWENTY-TWO

catalina

After showering, I idled in the living room and knocked out on the couch instead of staying upstairs and brooding in the dark bedroom. I’d been awake a while now and sunlight no longer beamed through the slit in the curtain.

Jax rested on the settee a few feet from me. I wiggled under the blanket and sniffed the sweetness clinging to the soft yarn.

“Are you keeping watch to make sure I don’t steal from you guys again,” I muttered, grumpy from the shuffling paper that disturbed my rest.

The newspapers in his hand rustled again.

I glared over at him.

“You know people don’t read newspapers anymore.” No comment from him. I huffed and yanked the blanket under my chin. “That’s what phones are for.” He finally looked up, but he hid the hate he usually blasted my way, then returned his attention to the documents in front of him.

I clicked my tongue and lifted off the couch, curling my feet under my ass.

“What, no hateful words to spit at me?”

“No need. You’ll be dead soon enough.”

I scoffed and shook my head. I didn’t like him, but if I would live with these vampires, I didn’t want to feel uncomfortable.

Nothing would happen with him, but I could be civil.

“Your petty comments are getting old, Jaxon Crimson. How about we agree to an impasse? Agree to disagree, we can’t get along, so let’s be civil.” He slowly looked up with his eyes narrowed oh so slightly. He didn’t like me full-naming him? Too bad.

“Over your dead corpse,” he said, words heavily accented.

My jaw hung open. I had to wrap my head around his words. Unbelievable.

“You’re not taking my olive branch?” I scoffed. “After everything you’ve done to me, you have no right to act like?—”

I clicked my teeth together. It was useless to spout moral codes at him because he wouldn’t care what I had to say, he was an asshole for one, and two, he didn’t see me as more than a pathetic blood bag, so anything I said was useless to him.

All of the others gave me, ‘sweet, adorable human’ vibes when they communicated with me. Nothing I said was truly taken seriously, and him most especially.

Tears of frustration sprang to my eyes and I stiffly pushed off the couch. I padded to the front door with the slippers Maddy had dug out of one of the boxes.

“Where are you going?” Jax snapped.

“Fuck off,” I mumbled and quickly made my escape. The hint of bravery didn’t last long. I took a few steps down until the path veered to the right, opposite from where the body had been. A small cement bench sat within the mass of roses. I plopped my ass down on the cold stone.

Dashing my hand across my cheeks, I rubbed the tears off my face. Hopefully the jerk hadn’t seen them.

I pulled my legs up to the edge of the bench and hugged them. There was something about wrapping my arms around myself that calmed everything. It was the same sort of reaction I had when I was hugged in general, and the only ones that unknowingly offered that comfort were a group of vampires who didn’t take me seriously.

For someone that was never touched often, it was my fucking luck that it calmed me.

A meow reached my ears and I perked up. Binx suddenly hopped up next to me.

His head rubbed against my side and a purr started up in his chest. I sniffled again.

“There you are, Binx.” I swallowed the ball of emotion that rose to the surface again. I’d been looking for him all around the house. My guess had been right, he’d managed to slip outside.

Binx meowed again and nudged against me harder. His little paws perched on my leg, and he sniffed toward my face. I moved my head away before he got too close. I dug my fingers into the top of his head and rested my chin on my knees, staring at the bed of bushes and flowers. From this vantage, I could see over the wrought iron spikes adorning the top of the brick wall surrounding Crimson Manor.

The closest house to them had been mine before they burned it to crisp, but I could see the faint lights a mile down the road. Overgrown dried grass surrounded the outside of the gates in both directions, such a difference from the opulence of their home.

Moonlight beamed across the front of their gated garden. The stone steps reflected the pale light, making them glint. Sitting out here in the silence made everything feel a bit eerie. If I was someone who didn’t know about vampires, I’d definitely imagine them living in a manor like this.

They really should work on keeping up appearances if their goal was to hide their existence.

“Catalina?” A crisp English accent floated to my ear. The cadence falling over me like a blanket.

I jumped.

Binx seemed just as startled as he slunk away in the opposite direction of Tobias’s voice and disappeared into the flowers.

“Yeah.” I cleared my throat and dashed my palms across my face.

“Jaxon upset you again.”

It didn’t sound like a question, but I still shook my head and waved my hand in the air like I could swat his words away.

Pressure culminated at the base of my nose so I closed my eyes before I started bawling and inhaled the flower’s aroma.

Dried leaves crunched right in front of me and stopped. I could feel him standing in front of me, still as a statute. The wind rustled and my hair tickled my cheeks. I needed to get a hairband from Asher to put the mass of hair in a ponytail.

I finally opened my eyes. Tobias’s features were shadowed and the moonlight outlined him.

Why was he standing here asking me questions? He hadn’t looked at me since the club.

Belligerence bubbled to the surface and I popped off the seat. His gaze dropped to the top of Asher’s unbuttoned silk shirt.

Without a bra and with the cool breeze, my nipples rubbed against the soft material. I tipped my chin up, trying to push through the hot embarrassment.

He wasn’t the one that caused the hurt roiling in my belly, but I was still upset with him. Tobias focused his attention behind me and his cheek ticked. Having him avoid me didn’t help my sensitive state.

My embarrassment won and I crossed my arms over my chest, curling into myself.

“I don’t mean to offend you with the sight of me,” I said through gritted teeth. His face blurred. I didn’t want to be dressed like this—looking all disheveled and unkempt. I much preferred my outfits, my blow dryer, my face serums . . . I sighed. The only reason I hadn’t gone absolutely nuts was because Asher had good taste in clothing and as loose as it was on me, the material was top notch.

I took one step past Tobias, my shoulder brushing against his bicep.

“I . . . have broken my vow of celibacy.” He inhaled sharply. “But I find . . . I cannot stop myself from wanting you.” His hands banded around my upper arms, squeezing tighter with each of my breaths. His gray eyes searched my face and settled on my lips. “Nothing has ever tempted me.”

Tears stopped brimming my eyes, but the remnants spilled over and trickled down my cheeks.

Tobias hissed, cupping my face with both hands. He thumbed away the moisture on my face and his lips parted.

The tip of his nose tipped up slightly. The refined and regal nose fit for an aristocrat.

“I . . .” I licked my lips.

Tobias turned his head at an angle, gaze fastened on my lips. He closed in and caught my mouth, swallowing my words.

Our lips met in a clash of desire. One I hadn’t expected from him. His lips pillaged mine, licking and nipping with hunger that tightened every nerve in my body.

“Tobias,” I said against his lips, muffled. “Are you sure?”

He molded his mouth to mine, making it impossible for me to say anything more. He remained bowed forward, making it easier for me to reach him. Tossing my arms around his shoulders, I sank into his touch, lapping and licking back with each ravenous kiss he pressed to my lips. Lust swelled and rampaged through my veins.

Tobias pressed his fingers into my waist and guided me a few steps. He could have tossed me about and I wouldn’t have cared, but instead he sat on the stone bench.

With his guidance, I climbed on top of him, straddling his hips. The position lined up my pussy with his stiff cock. A groan wrenched from my throat.

Sliding my hands around his neck, the tips of my fingers buried into his silky hair. His face tipped up, and a strand fell across his forehead. The brown hair and gray eyes looked black in the shadows. I settled on his lap; a tingle worked its way up my spine. His eyelids fluttered and my attention dropped to the regal, strong bridge of his nose. The curve of his mouth remained soft.

I rolled my hips against his thickness.

Tobias groaned and he gripped my hips, grinding me down on him harder. A cry wrenched free.

“Mm, Catalina,” he murmured and forced me down to his lips. With his height and me on his lap, it lined us up perfectly.

His tongue curled around mine while he continued grinding me on him. I let him maneuver me as he pleased.

Lust licked over every inch of my body. Spurring on the swell of pleasure. My clit throbbed painfully. His movements held an edge of desperation. God, he made me so weak in the knees.

I desperately tugged at the sweats.

“Take it off me,” I breathed, and he tore the cotton from the seam, taking along my panties too.

I knew it was coming, but I still gasped at the suddenness. Cool air licked my thighs. I hadn’t needed to ask twice. My bare pussy settled on the wool of his slacks. My smile melted away, overtaken by a moan. The rough texture elicited a shiver. The fabric felt good against my needy wet folds, but it still wasn’t enough.

I delved under his sweater and wrapped my fingers around his waistband.

This explosion of lust had built from the moment I saved him. He’d been the first one of the Coven I’d encountered. I fumbled with the hook of the slacks, and Tobias leaned back, bracing his hands on the ledge of the bench. Finally getting it unhooked, the back of my hand grazed against his hard abdomen. He was just as built as the others, only a bit leaner. It didn’t take away from his strength because he felt like a silk stone under my touch.

I tugged the zipper down and released his stiff member. I couldn’t see the full magnitude of his shaft with the shadow cast by my body, but the outline of it looked intimidating. Pre-cum glinted at the top.

“Tell me you want me, Love.” His breathy tone was enough to wrench free another gush of need until moisture dampened my thighs.

Spreading my hands on his belly, above his cock, I nodded jerkily. I smoothed my fingers across the happy trail starting at his belly button. His lips curled at one corner. It was the most predatory I’d seen him. Almost devious.

“I want you,” I managed to push through my throat. I squirmed.

“Then take me.”

I sucked in a breath, my heart beating overtime.

Pushing up with my thighs braced against his and my palms on his chest, I raised myself.

I lusted for him so much.

Poised over his dick, I hesitated in the face of his hunger. His sweater stretched tight over his shoulders, straining at the seams. His regal features stiffened, and his nose flared from his deep inhale. A crack echoed and I gawked at the crack in the bench originating at where he gripped it.

“Are you sure?” I didn’t know how I managed to rip the words from my throat.

In answer, he grabbed my hips and slammed me down on his cock.

I screamed. Christ, he was so big. His cock deliciously stretched the walls of my channel. He groaned, his head falling back while he watched me with lowered eyelids. I stilled over him, letting my body open for him in this position. My pussy throbbed around his shaft, trying to take more of him.

He hissed between clenched teeth and his fangs flashed.

He was so wide I could feel him press against my clit in this position.

My lashes fluttered and I braced on his shoulders to move up on his shaft. I got maybe half way, before slamming back down. When fully seated, his tip shoved against my cervix. I whimpered.

Using my hands perched on his shoulders, and my knees splayed against his thighs, I lifted myself up. The smooth, wet glide of his cock twitched. I bunched his sweater, swallowing another whine.

“Yes, such a precious Love,” he breathed. “Take me just like that.” I slammed down again, my movements clumsy. My eyelashes lowered with my next glide up until I stared at him through half-lidded eyes. As much as I wanted to close them, I enjoyed the expression on his face.

Each time I rose on him and fell, a muscle bunched in his cheek. And those little reactions gave me life.

Settling on him, I twisted my hips in a circle, embracing the feeling of him in me.

Tobias audibly clicked his teeth together, baring his fangs. The thick cock throbbed in my channel and warmth spread in my core. A soft groan ripped free from the cage of his teeth and his hips bucked, shoving his cock deep inside me. Desperation tinged his movements.

He grabbed my hips and guided me up and down, making the motion smooth and toe curling.

“Love.” He groaned again, his frantic bucking stilling.

His release slicked my entrance, making everything exponentially wetter.

“Harder,” I whispered.

He flexed his hand around my hips and after a grunt, rammed me harder. Giving me more of his strength.

Moans escaped my mouth. My thighs slapped against his, but my bouncing turned frantic.

My orgasm loomed over my body, but I tried to hold it at bay. I wanted more of this delicious sensation. I sank my teeth into my lower lip.

“Yes. Yes. Moan, darling, let out those sweet little sounds for me.”

Fuck.

I cried out as my orgasm crested, cinching my eyes tightly shut. His hands stiffened on my hips and using his vampire strength he bounced me on his cock, gliding me up and down his silky shaft.

I couldn’t have shut up if I wanted to. Nonsensical words spilled from my mouth. Another wave of cum splashed inside me from his twitching cock and he groaned.

The sound did naughty things to me.

Another orgasm chased the one I just had, making my legs twitch from the force. I crumpled forward in Tobias’s arms. Every bit of energy I had drained out of me with my orgasms. His chest moved a few times under my cheek, so he was as tired as me. A sick satisfaction speared through my gut. I tired out a vampire.

His arms fell around my back, and I curled my fingers in his sweater. He felt so good inside me. He wasn’t as hard as two orgasms ago, but he was still stiff.

I was fully immersed in the dark side and . . . I loved it.

“Never thought I’d see the day the Priest broke his vows.”

I startled with a gasp and fell backwards.