Chapter 10 Zill #2
"It's pretty rare for someone as powerful as you to not be able to read my mind," Reese says. She steps closer to me, prowling like a predator circling her prey, and how I long to be at her mercy.
"It is," I tell her.
My shadows tighten even more against me. I'm surprised they aren't going absolutely insane in their celebration of our Reese, knowing how badly we want her and what it means to be wanted by us. They're nervous it's too good to be true, though, and I don't blame them.
This absolute goddess of a woman is looking at us like we're even remotely close to being in her orbit, and it's a lot to take in. At least before, I could pretend I wasn't telling her she was my soulbond so I could continue my job. Now I'm worried that I'm not going to be enough for her.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Reese asks as she stops in front of me. Her hands twitch by her sides like she wants to reach out and touch me, but is stopping herself. I wish she wouldn't. I want her hands on me, want her anyway I can have her.
I inhale deeply, dropping any pretense of this being fake. If that's not what she's asking, I'll deal with the consequences, but I'm pretty sure I'm reading this situation correctly.
"If it made you uncomfortable, Kolos would've taken my place, and if you thought I was jealous of a smoke machine, you would've been shocked by how much I wouldn't have been okay with another Sombran touching you in ways only I should."
Reese looks up at me with wide eyes, her makeup making her expression seem even more surprised as the light bounces off the glitter and makes her shimmer.
"Oh wow." She sounds almost surprised by my confession, and for the briefest moment, I'm irritated with myself for telling her so much without knowing if she knew. "So you do want me then? It's not just me imagining it?"
My shadows decide that's good enough of a reassurance for them and lunge for Reese before I can talk them down from overwhelming her.
Thankfully, she lets out a high-pitched squeal as they weave around her skin and tug her tight to me until we're barely a breath away from one another.
I wish I were in her head, wish I knew if she wanted me to lean down and take her lips against mine, if she wanted me to strip her robe from her, make a mess of her makeup and her hair.
Instead, I'm left guessing as my shadows scream at me to do something.
"What have you been imagining?" I ask, my voice barely above a whisper as I lean closer to her, the glow from my eyes reflecting against the iridescent shimmer on her eyelids.
Reese's smile is huge. The red stain on her lips makes me want it to leave marks all over my skin to show everyone that this woman has claimed me.
"I thought I was imagining your boner," she says in a conspiratorial whisper, her eyes glancing down to where our bodies are pressed together, my cock swelling even more at the idea of her noticing it. "That's what made me curious about looking Sombrans up."
"My cock?" I ask, brows rising in amusement.
She huffs and rolls her eyes. "Well, yes, but more so the fact that you said you weren't attracted to me and then when we kissed, you were all hot and bothered."
"I never said I wasn't attracted to you," I say, needing to make that abundantly clear. "I might not have told you I found you attractive, but that's not the same."
"It's pretty much the same," Reese teases, her breath warm against my lips now that she's stretched to her tiptoes.
"Not the same," I whisper, my lips brushing against hers.
One of my shadows, in all his infinite wisdom, strokes against Reese's lower lip, wanting to slip inside her mouth and be the first to feel her there. The sensation startles her, breaking the moment between us, and I, along with the other shadows, mentally scold the one who just ruined things.
Reese steps away just a little, but stays close enough that my shadows can freely move across her skin. She presses her fingers to her lower lip before looking down at the shadows all over her. When she looks up at me, I can't tell if it's horror, confusion, or a little bit of awe.
"So they're really part of this, too?" she asks, the question confusing me for just a moment.
"If you're asking if they want you, the answer is yes," I tell her, watching for her reaction to that.
For Sombrans, our shadows are seen as an extension of ourselves. But that doesn't mean Reese is going to be okay with a whole bunch of needy little smoke tendrils wanting her. They all stop moving, the weight of my thoughts heavy for all of us.
"I understand if it's too much. I should've told you about it sooner, or at least explained them to you. I–"
"Zill," Reese presses her palm to the center of my chest, shutting me up in an instant. "I was just curious. I didn't realize how much of their own thing they were. It's fine, they're fine."
And just like that, they all start skimming over her body again, a few of them being quite a bit more daring than they should be. They're quickly brought back to heel when they tickle up underneath Reese's robes.
"If they do anything you don't like, just tell them to stop. Pretty sure they'll listen to you better than they listen to me."
I'm joking, but completely serious at the same time. My shadows are even in my head, telling me how quickly they'll do whatever she wants them to. They're also fantasizing about her asking them to do a million different scandalous things to her.
Reese wraps her arms around my neck, the same way she did when we were at the beach. My shadows, without being prompted, pin her to me, attempting to get us as close to one another as possible.
"I have so many questions," Reese says, standing on her tiptoes again.
"I'll answer them all," I respond, brushing my lips gently across hers at first, teasing the sensation.
She deepens the kiss, tightens her grip on my neck, bringing our lips crashing into one another. Her fingers clutch at my hair while my shadows scramble up and down her body, wanting to be closer to her, wanting to slip underneath her clothing, to touch her and make her cry out for us.
It's such a temptation, one that's broken in a quick second as Reese's makeup artist and costume director enter the changing room without knocking.
Granted, I knew they were in the hallway.
I could hear them thinking about coming inside, but kissing Reese was more important.
It's not like they're a threat to her. How was I supposed to know they wouldn't at least knock?
Chelsea decides to enter the room without any forethought about what might be happening in here, throwing the door open as soon as she thinks about it.
My shadows shoot up around Reese, covering her like they always do when they think there's any danger.
Reese doesn't release me, and I'm not about to push her away, not when more than anything I want to pull her even closer.
It isn't until one of the women clears their throat that Reese finally lets go of me, her face bright pink, her lipstick smeared, and her eyes shining.
She turns to face the two women, her smile even bigger than before.
"Let me wash my face," she says as if everything is perfectly normal and we didn't just get caught making out in her changing room.
"Will one of you send a message to Dom telling him there's been a change in who's acting as my model for the next shoot? "
I narrow my eyes at Reese, who is beaming even brighter.
She shoots me a wink before turning from all of us to the small bathroom attached to her dressing room.
The costume designer pulls out her comm and shoots off a message while Chelsea moves over to her station near the floor-to-ceiling mirror on one of the walls.
She rummages through one of her bags, pulling out a wet wipe of some kind and walking it over to me.
"You have lipstick just like…" She motions at her own face.
I glare at the wipe, not wanting to remove the traces of my soulbond from my skin.
As if she's the mind reader between us, Chelsea quirks a brow at me.
"If you're going to be the stand-in model, you can't have lipstick all over before the photoshoot even starts. "
And that's enough to get me to do whatever she wants.
My shadows cycle through her thoughts, making sure she's being genuine.
Sure enough, it was discussed earlier that Reese might want me to take the place of the male model for her fourth shoot.
If that's the case, I'm more than willing to wipe her lipstick from me, because I've seen the photos she's recreating.
There's going to be lipstick in a lot more places before the day is done.