22. Rina
TWENTY-TWO
rina
What I hadn’t expected when Ezra had returned from wherever he’d disappeared to: an orgasm, let alone him finger fucking me in the middle of the hallway where anyone could have seen.
Luckily, it was daytime now, the time of day most of the vampires seemed to disappear, though I’d already begun adjusting my schedule to his.
I didn’t know how I’d feel if one of them had walked out, finding me against the wall, breasts bared and skirt hiked up to my waist as he pleasured my body.
Not to mention how he’d carried me into my room, tearing off my dress before plunging inside of me, giving me no time to adjust to his size.
He was huge, bigger than I’d ever had before, and gods, I loved it.
Loved how he filled me, how each scrape of his teeth against my skin made me tremble.
How the feeling of his teeth when they sank into my skin was an aphrodisiac like I’d never known. It all felt so good.
Wendy was absolutely right, damn her.
It was getting dangerous to be around him.
Because despite my best judgement, I actually…
enjoyed it. I enjoyed being around him. Enjoyed being here, in this stupidly large mansion, surrounded by books that had information I’d only been able to dream about before.
The entire magical world was at my fingertips, a world that had been blocked off to me living in Pleasant Grove.
As much as I missed my coven, part of me didn’t want to go back.
What did I do about that?
I knew they’d all understand, and even be supportive, if I told them who Ezra was.
The word he’d forced me to say with his fingers buried inside me, curling around the spot that made me see stars.
Mate. It was odd how perfectly right it felt to call him that, how the strange sense of peace crept over my body.
He was turning me into an insatiable animal, and gods, I fucking loved it.
Just like I loved when he pulled me into his arms, carrying me into the bathroom and turning on the shower.
“We’re really showering together?” I asked, raising my eyebrow at the vampire.
He ran his fingers through his slicked back blond hair; the strands sticking to his forehead with sweat. “You said no more holding back,” he reminded me. “Besides, it’s not like I didn’t bathe you the other night.”
Neither of us had acknowledged that—how I’d woken up in my bed after being so blissed out, clean and healed.
Sometimes I wished he would stop healing the bite marks so I could wear them like a badge of honor, though that was counterintuitive to the whole rejected mate thing. How could I say I didn’t want to be mated to him when I also wanted to carry his mark on my body?
It didn’t make sense. Maybe it was biology taking over, or maybe that I actually wanted to be his. Strange, since I’d never been anyone’s but my own before.
“Come on, belladonna,” he coaxed. “Let me clean you up. And then I have a surprise for tonight.”
I raised an eyebrow. “A surprise?”
He nodded. “Yes. But first, I need to feed you.”
“Okay,” I murmured, surprised at how easy it was to agree with him now. “But only because your chef makes the best food I’ve ever had. Dessert wise, Pleasant Grove might still have him beat, though.”
Ezra chuckled, guiding me into the shower before I could wax poetic about the wonders of the pumpkin festival and the incredible pie we had every year. Not to mention Luna’s cookies, which were one of my favorite food groups. Sue me—I had a sweet tooth.
Without preamble, the vampire squeezed shampoo into his hands, scrubbing into my hair with practiced efficacy.
“How many women’s hair have you washed?” I mumbled, my eyes squeezed shut.
“What?” He asked, though I was pretty sure he heard me with his super hearing.
I just tilted my head back further, letting him massage my scalp.
A soft moan escaped my lips, unbidden, and I could feel his arousal growing behind me, pressed against my backside.
“Again?” I asked him, not bothering to open my eyes.
“Already?” His hum at my neck made goosebumps erupt down my arms.
His answer was a rasp, lips pressed next to my ear. “Around you? Always.”
The vampire tilted my head back, letting the shampoo rinse out of my hair, and I resisted the urge to look at him—at this blond vampire who had somehow become as important as breathing, sneaking into my life before I’d even blinked.
When had this begun? On the road trip, or that very first night in the bar?
Ezra was, hands down, the hottest man I’d ever met, fangs or not. Honestly, I no longer saw his vampire -ness as a fatal flaw. Not when I knew the man behind the monster. Not when he did things for me like this.
I opened my eyes after he’d finished rubbing conditioner into the ends, turning to look at him. Resting my hands around his neck, I looked up into those deep red eyes. They were still the color of blood—always would be—but somehow they felt different now. Less angry and more… warm. Endearing.
Was this just biology, trying to assure I’d procreate with my mate?
Maybe. But I couldn’t help the pull I felt towards him. Couldn’t help but want him inside me.
I grabbed the body wash, smoothing it all over my body, and before he could protest—his.
“Rina,” he cautioned me as I wrapped my hands around his hardened length that had been inside of me less than thirty minutes ago.
“You’re so big,” I murmured, not bothering to act like I wasn’t mystified by his cock for once. Gods, it was incredible, the length and girth of his shaft. Would I even be able to fit him inside my mouth? One day, I thought I’d like to try.
He gritted his teeth, hand wrapping over mine as we pumped him together in tandem.
“Come for me, my vampire,” I murmured, leaning on his chest. “I want to see it.”
Ezra groaned. “Fuck. This wasn’t about this. I just wanted to take care of you.”
I gave him a devious smile. “I know. But I want to see you fall apart for me.” I wanted to be in control, since he so seldom gave it up.
He was so focused on me, on my pleasure, and I wanted to return the favor for once.
I pressed a kiss to his collarbone as he hardened further in my grip. “What would it be like if I could bite you?” I asked, letting my tongue lap over his clean skin. “Would that feel good?”
“Fucking amazing,” he admitted. “They say there is nothing like your mate’s bite.”
Humming, I couldn’t ignore the strange sense of disappointment that I’d never be able to give him that.
What was fate thinking, pairing a witch and a vampire?
He deserved to be with someone of his own kind.
Someone who could give him everything I couldn’t.
But damn if I didn’t care as I stroked him harder, because he was mine.
“Rina, I—fuck—”
“Let go,” I cooed against his ear. Dropping to my knees in the tile shower, I perched myself in front of him, opening my mouth as I cupped my tits. “Give it to me.”
With a roar, he came, spilling on my tongue, down my collarbone, across my chest. I rubbed the pearl necklace he’d given me into my skin, tugging on my nipple piercings as I let out a small moan.
“I wish you could see how beautiful you look right now, all covered in my cum,” he murmured, thumb rubbing against my lower lip before pressing against my tongue.
I closed my lips around his finger, humming as I swallowed, surprised not to find it as bad as I’d expected.
Drinking a man’s release had never interested me before.
Then again, neither had drinking his blood, and I certainly felt sad I couldn’t do that, so maybe I was just a little unhinged right now, and it was all the vampire’s fault.
When he’d finished, I stood up, ignoring the redness on my skin from kneeling on the tile. “Now you can clean me up,” I said, shimmying my hips towards him.
“Fuck,” he murmured. “What am I going to do with you?”
Keep me was the first answer that came to mind, but I knew that was never going to happen, so I simply said nothing, choosing to focus only on the now instead.
The future was tomorrow me’s problem.
This didn’t mean anything—and I needed to remind myself of that.
For whatever reason, I’d expected Ezra to spend the day apart from me again.
After the shower, he’d wrapped me up in a towel, depositing me in the bed.
I’d fallen asleep, all cozy from being warm and clean, only to wake to the smell of food—and the sight of Ezra, carrying a tray into my room complete with one singular dark red rose in a silver vase.
“What’s all this?” I asked, surveying the platter.
He cleared his throat. “Food.” The vampire looked down at it. “Is it not satisfactory? I know it’s past breakfast time, but—”
“It’s perfect.” I swallowed back the roughness in my throat. “Thank you.”
Gods, it really did only take orgasms to make me agreeable, pliable. I no longer seemed to want to fight him at every turn—though he was still the same infuriating man.
Infuriating, and yet… thoughtful.
After I finished eating, he’d taken the tray away, looking satisfied at seeing me fed.
He’d drank from me last night, so I didn’t worry about him passing out from exhaustion again, though I had no way of knowing what had happened while he was visiting the vampire court.
After he’d traced away—the first time I’d ever witnessed it, since he always had traveled with me—Victoria explained that the queen had requested his presence at her palace.
I found it fascinating that they had a governing monarch, since there was no central seat of power like that for witches, and though Pleasant Grove had been closed off to so many, I’d always known we weren’t the only community of witches.
There were thousands of covens in the states alone.
Part of me wished we had some sort of gathering for the solstices each year. I could only imagine what knowledge we could share with each other.