26. Ezra
TWENTY-SIX
ezra
Fuck, I didn’t deserve her. Didn’t deserve the gentle, patient witch who didn’t hold my past transgressions against me.
And she should. Especially about the dark witch coven that continued to linger in my mind long after that day.
She hadn’t brought up the blood magic spell again—hadn’t brought up destroying the bond at all, in fact.
Neither had I. We were living in some sort of fragile balance, one that I was terrified to ruin by disturbing the still waters.
“Rina?” I frowned, looking in all the usual spots for the witch who had somehow become the sole focus of my attention. She wasn’t in the library—nor in her bedroom. Unfortunately, she wasn’t in mine either, though I hoped to remedy that after tonight.
No more sleeping separately.
I wanted her in my bed. Wanted her at my side, my bite on her neck, her blood in my veins. Wanted everything, even if that was more than I should ever ask for.
After exhausting my options inside the manor, I found her sitting in the greenhouse, legs tucked into her side as she sat on the ground by the water feature, looking at the small fountain.
She had a book in her lap, though she wasn’t reading it, just staring out at the flowers. The crescent moon was high in the sky, surrounded by a million stars. A perfectly clear night.
“Beautiful,” I murmured, wishing I was a talented painter like Scarlet, who could memorialize any moment in oils and pastels. I’d always worked better with my hands—in the garage, fixing up old cars, or out here in the dirt.
Rina turned to look at me, no longer startled by my sudden appearance. I’d noticed the longer she was here, the harder it was to sneak up on her. Maybe it had more to do with the bond deepening, the way I could feel her in a room even without looking.
Could she feel it too?
“Hi,” she murmured. “It is a beautiful evening, isn’t it?”
I motioned to the book in her lap as I sat down next to her. “Some light reading?” It was the first time in weeks I’d seen her reading something that wasn’t a history book or some old spell book.
She looked down, like she’d forgotten she had the book at all. “I found it abandoned in the back of the library.” It was one of the old bodice rippers that Scarlet loved. “Honestly, I don’t even know. I just wanted something to take my mind off of…” Her hand waved in a circle. “Everything.”
“I can think of better ways,” I said, giving her a small smirk.
“Ezra.” She pushed at my chest.
Grinning, I took my shoes off, throwing them behind me, then my socks.
“Wait. What are you doing?” She frowned as I stretched out, letting my feet dip into the water.
I shut my eyes, doing my best to look like I was relaxing. “Living in the moment.”
“Ha, ha. Very funny.”
Chuckling, I turned to her, finding her hazel eyes intent on me. “It’s okay if you’re overwhelmed, belladonna. I know that none of this was anything you asked for or wanted.”
She looked down at the water. “I know.” The gown she was wearing hugged her cleavage, though the large slit gave me a view of her perfect, bare legs. I loved that she’d been wearing them, all the clothes I’d made the girls collect for her. “Is it strange if I tell you I love it here?”
“No.” I smiled, reaching over and brushing her hair back, letting my fingers trail over her cheekbones, lingering. “I do, too. The first time I came here as a young adult, I never wanted to leave.”
“I bet.”
“I was born in New York City,” I told her as I stared into her eyes flecked with gold.
“My mother needed an heir, and so she chose the strongest warrior of our kind, and they mated until she found out about her pregnancy.” Rina looked surprised that I was sharing more about myself, and I knew it was long overdue.
So I kept going. “He wasn’t a nice man, but she hadn’t picked him because of love.
Though, to be honest with you, I’m not sure either has a loving bone in their body.
It’s not how they were bred.” I shook my head.
“I grew up in the den. During prohibition, they lured people in with speakeasies and alcohol so they could drink from them. And I was their errand boy. Their prized heir, and yet they treated me like a mouse.”
Rina frowned. “How could they not see you?” Her words were hardly more than a murmur.
“I was better seen and not heard. Out of the way. My mother, she…” I shut my eyes. “She’s obsessed with power, Rina. The reason I’ve tried to keep you hidden here is out of fear of what she’ll do when she knows about you.”
“Why?” She looked confused.
“Because she knows that one day, my mate—my wife, the lady of this manor—will also be my queen.”
If she had been standing, I thought Rina would have staggered back. Instead, she could only stare at me, not blinking. “Queen?” The word was a whisper.
“The staff here, they call me my lord, because that’s what I’ve been to them for a long time.
But they all knew that their young master would one day be the ruler of vampires.
I didn’t grow up here, but after I’d reached a certain age and the city was no longer safe, my mother allowed me to come to our ancestral home.
Here, they treated me like a normal teenager.
For the first time in my life, Rina, I could be free to do something that didn’t involve luring humans into unwillingly giving up their blood or wiping their memories. ”
“You deserved so much better than that,” she said, her eyes glassy.
I reached over, rubbing under her eye with my thumb. “Thank you for saying that. It was a long time ago. A lifetime, really. I’m not the same as the boy I was then, the one who strove for my mother’s love and approval. Now I know her for what she truly is: a twin headed viper.”
“Ezra…” Rina’s voice was soft. So different from the witch who had stared down at me with fire in her eyes all those nights ago in the bar. The one who had sworn she wanted nothing to do with me.
“You don’t have to pity me. That’s not why I’m telling you this. I just wanted you to understand where I’m coming from.” I cupped her cheek, unable to pull myself out of her eyes. “I want you to have my truths.”
Her eyelashes fluttered. “Ezra.”
“Mmm?” I pressed our foreheads together.
“Will you kiss me?” I hadn’t expected those words to slip from her mouth. “I want you to kiss me,” she admitted.
I couldn’t hold back my smile. “Belladonna, I thought you’d never ask.”
Her eyes slid shut as I leaned in, pressing a kiss to the side of her lips—so soft, like everything I’d imagined.
How had it been possible that I’d had my mouth all over her body and never kissed her perfect lips?
I left soft kisses across her mouth, so different from the furious passion we shared in the bedroom.
She hummed against my mouth as I lingered there, mouth moving over hers as we shared the first meaningful kiss. I wrapped my hands around her waist, picking her up and placing her on my lap as my tongue swept into her mouth, tasting her.
All this time together, and I’d never imagined this.
I’d thought our first kiss was going to be angry, but no.
It built, growing deeper, the skirt of her dress flowing behind her into the water.
Rina wrapped her hands around my neck, kissing me back harder, her movements growing bolder until she was rocking on my lap.
We broke apart, her lips pink and tender.
She ran her finger across her lower lip, like even she was shocked by the outcome of the moment.
Moving down, I pressed my lips against the spot behind her ear, leaving openmouthed kisses down her neck, scraping my teeth over that spot I wanted to mark.
She let out a moan. “Don’t stop.”
It was perfect. She was perfect.
I pulled back, holding her eyes with mine. “Never,” I promised.
Heaving her into my arms, I stood in one smooth motion, carrying her towards the workbench at the back of the greenhouse—the one where floral arrangements for the manor were prepared. It was clean, thankfully, and I set her down, dropping a hand on either side of her.
“How attached are you to this dress?” I asked, eyeing it skeptically.
She frowned. “Huh?”
I grabbed the front with my hands—and tore it in half, baring her body to mine. She gasped as I took in her body; her black lace bra and panty set made my mouth water.
“Gods. Look at you.” I pressed a kiss to the swell of each breast, tugging at the cups till her nipples were freed enough for me to play with the piercings. “These drive me fucking crazy,” I said, swirling my tongue around the silver bars.
She let her head fall back against the shelf, hands digging into the wooden edge for purchase.
“I wish you could see yourself the way I see you,” I murmured, unable to hold the words back. It was like something had been set free in me entirely, the dam broken, and everything was flooding out.
She unsnapped her bra, tossing the garment away, and I helped her up—out of her panties, the scraps of her dress fallen to the floor, forgotten.
Rina was facing the table, her back against my front, and I wrapped my hands around her, cupping her perfect tits in each palm. I loved holding her like this, feeling her body, and I flicked and pinched her nipples, twisting until she was putty in my arms, moaning just for me.
“Bite me,” she murmured as I pressed my lips to her neck.
I chuckled, my voice practically a rasp against her ear. “Ask nicely, sweetheart.” Her arousal smelled so sweet, and I was looking forward to getting another taste of her.
“Mmm.” She wiggled her hips backwards until my erection was pressed between her cheeks. “Please?”
“Patience,” I said, clicking my tongue against the roof of my mouth as I stepped back. Rina let out a growl of annoyance—at being left wanting. Gods knew I wouldn’t leave her for long.
Quickly divesting myself of my own clothes, I pressed my hand against her spine, her back arching as I pushed her forward until her hands came to rest on the table.