Chapter 32
MATHIAS
She falls into my arms, wrapping all her arms and legs around me, and I carefully stand. Then I pull out my phone and find the playlist I made that reminds me of her. The first song begins to play: “We Go Down Together” by Dove Cameron and Khalid.
Soft notes fill the bedroom, and I dance, slowly and sensually, letting the music erase the hours of screaming and cheering, the sound of swords hitting, the thud of heads dropping with each win. My hand runs down her back in a rhythmic pattern, every stroke reminding her she’s safe and in my arms.
One songs slides into the next, filling her ears and mind, until the muscles in her body begin to lose their rigidity and her shaking subsides to the occasional tremble.
“Better?”
She lifts her head and stares into my eyes, wordlessly telling me to continue.
I walk over and lay her on the bed. Then I reach into the bedside table and grab the body lotion I bought with her in mind. It reminded me of the luxurious one she used at The Hari in London that drove me crazy that day. A bluebell scent mixed with her natural jasmine and vanilla. Sweet and musky.
Pouring a generous amount into my hands, I rub them together and begin massaging it into her muscles.
The sensuous aroma perfumes the air, hopefully erasing the coppery tang of the blood from the arena, while my touch soothes and pampers her tight muscles.
Her deep sighs and languorous stretch when I stop tell me she’s finally relaxed.
Nestling my body between her legs, I prop myself up on my elbows and marvel at what the fates have given me. “I wish I could take away the memory of today.”
She loops her arms around my neck and pulls my me closer. “Replace it with something good. With us. I want you, Mathias.”
With a groan, I fall into her, letting the world drop away.
Exploring and mapping the feel and texture of her lips, I learn what she likes and doesn’t.
Playful one minute, long and passionate the next.
Our tongues and lips dueling with each other in an age-old game of conquer and surrender. Damn, I could kiss her for days.
She shifts restlessly, and I deepen the kiss.
Sliding from her mouth to her neck, I lose myself tasting and kissing the sweet lobe of her ear and then, the delicate juncture between her neck and shoulder.
The sweet sounds spilling from her lips become a guide, revealing exactly which areas are sensitive and which ones drive her absolutely wild.
When my mouth reaches the collar of her shirt, I sit up and finger the top button.
Who knew the sight of her wearing my clothes would make me both weak in the knees and desperate to tear it off her.
I slip the buttons through the holes and spread the shirt open, unveiling her slowly as if we have all the time in the world.
Skimming her body lightly with my hands, I memorize the look and feel of her with my touch.
Delicate blue lace frames the curves of her breasts, teasing me with glimpses of what’s underneath.
“Blue is one of my favorite colors.” I glance up at her blue eyes to find a mischievous gleam in them. “For hours I wondered whether you had chosen the blue or green.”
She smiles and teases me. “I’ve been on your mind for hours, huh?”
I crawl up her body until my mouth is hovering above hers. “Hours, days, weeks. All the damn time.” Desperately wanting to drive her crazy, I deepen the kiss until she’s as lost in me as I am in her.
Her hands reach up and slide along my shoulders and down my back, lingering and stroking, like she knows I need her touch. I shiver, wanting more.
I slide my mouth to the valley between her breasts.
She whimpers, and I close my eyes at the sound, need surging through me.
Tonguing one nipple through the lace, I slip my thumb over the other one so I can pay equal homage to them both.
Her hands dig into the sheets beside her as her back arches.
I slip the bra from her and cup her breasts, feeling their weight, shaping them with my hands until I could map them blindfolded.
Licking my way south, I continue my assault on her senses, needing her to forget the horrors of the day, wanting her to remember this night forever.
The taste of her is sweet and all woman, making me ache for her blood, but I force the thought away and concentrate on making her body shake with need.
One finger, two, I stroke and lick, driving her to the brink over and over.
The sounds falling from her lips are more than I imagined they would be.
The pleasure I’m giving her, intense. My mate.
Her hands grip my shoulders as her body tightens around my fingers, and knowing she’s close, I increase the rhythm, bringing her over the edge.
She explodes, squeezing my fingers tightly, and my breath catches as I imagine what she’ll feel like when she comes again with me inside her.
Her little cries and gasps subside, and I return to her lips, softly invading their space as her body calms. Then I begin again.
This time, I explore the rest of her body, finding sensitive spots behind her knees, on the inside of her thighs, on the curve of her waist, and I savor and catalog every single one.
“Mathias,” she pleads, her cheeks flushed with desire. Her hands caressing my body move south to grasp my hard cock, and I throw back my head as hunger tears through me. “I need you inside me.”
I peer down at her and notice her blue eyes are clear from the damage of the day. All that remains is her desire. With a sharp nod, I position myself and slide in an inch. Then another. And another until I’m all the way in. Fuck me. My imagination didn’t even come close.
I pull out slowly, wanting to feel her squeezing every single inch of me, then I thrust in.
Over and over until those deliciously delirious sounds of hers echo in the dark bedroom.
In and out. In and out. My body tightens.
So close. I reach between us and circle her until she’s quivering beneath me, then I speed up.
Her breath quickens, and with a soft moan, she comes, clenching and milking me, triggering my own release.
With a groan, I slide to the side, my body satiated, and my mind filled with the scent and taste of her. Rising up on my elbow, I look my fill, wanting to store all the little details from this night, knowing I’ll examine them over and over. Obsessed might be putting it mildly.
Her hand cups my cheek as she turns to face me. “Thank you. For making me forget.” She moves her head to my outstretched arm, and I pull her in closer. “And for making this special.”
I kiss her forehead. “I’m sorry you had to witness that today.”
She’s silent for a moment, then looks up at me. “When this is all over, we need to find Gregori’s family.”
Surprised at her compassion for my fellow opponent, I squeeze her and agree. “We will.” I run my fingers up and down her body as I think about what we need to do next.
The playlist starts over, and she slides her body on top of mine. “Stop thinking. We deserve one night together before the rest of the world intrudes on it.”
My lips lift, and I nod.
She taps my chest in time with the music. “Is this the type of music you usually listen to? I sort of had you pegged as an opera or classical guy, not this mix of soft rock and pop.”
I flash a wry smile. “You would be right.”
“And…” she drawls, tapping me again with her finger.
I grab it and bring it to my mouth to nibble on it. “And these songs are for you.” Her eyes widen, and she stares at me, silently urging me to continue. “Whenever I hear a song that reminds me of you, I save it to this playlist.”
She’s staring at me like she’s never seen me before.
“I had a lot of time on my hands here,” I gruffly say.
She finally opens her mouth, but it isn’t to comment on my corny habit, but to ask the one thing I’ve been putting off: “Tell me about the mate bond.”
I take a deep breath. Tonight, she chose me. It’s time. “Not all vampires get a mate. We’re not sure why. Fewer and fewer are discovered each year. Even fewer outside our race.”
Her eyes are glued to me, full of questions.
“One mate,” she concludes from my rambling. “You only get one mate? What happens if we don’t complete the bond?”
My mouth firms. “Then we don’t. I’ve lived without a mate for 3,741 years. I’m used to it.” I don’t tell her how empty and incomplete I would feel. She needs to make this decision without that kind of pressure.
“Wait, is that how old you are? We’re about the same age.” She pauses for a minute. “If we don’t bond, you’ll never have another mate, will you?”
I smooth a strand of hair back from her face. “No. You’re it for me. I’ll want you and only you until the day I die.”
“That’s not fair,” she says, biting her cheek. “But why do I find so much satisfaction in it? Why does it sound like the most romantic thing in the world?”
“There’s beauty in the singularity of belonging to one person and sharing your soul with them,” I reply, sweeping my thumb across her sweet lips.
“I’m in love with them. Will I still feel that way if I complete the bond?” she asks, clearly worried about the others.
One day, I hope to hear her say those words to me.
“If you were a vampire, you would only desire your mate, but you’re not.
It’s why the bond is so rarely found with someone who isn’t one of our race.
” I pause for a second. “They are my family. For a reason I can’t explain, I don’t need to be the only one for you.
They make you happy; therefore, I’m happy. ”
Her face fills with relief. “What happens if we complete the bond, and the gods offer you a chance to return to Kallias?”
“There is no returning to Kallias for me,” I state firmly, needing her to understand. “All these years, I’ve yearned to see my daughter, but not Kallias. There’s nothing there for me. This is my world now.”
She lifts an eyebrow in disbelief, and I lift a defensive shoulder. “For a microsecond, I thought about it, but Kallias isn’t my destiny. Here, with you and Jamison and Hawthorne and Gatlin, is where I belong.”
The tension eases from her shoulders, and I realize that’s what she’s been worried about all along. That I would go back to Kallias.
She plays with the hair on my chest for a second. “What do I have to do to complete the bond?”
“You only have to drink a sip of my blood to complete the exchange,” I tell her, trying not to get my hopes up.
“It spiritually ties us together. We become aware of each other in a way that’s more intense than a normal relationship.
Sometimes we can hear each other’s thoughts or feel each other’s emotions. It varies. No couple is the same.”
I sigh at the worried expression on her face. “Look, this isn’t something you have to decide any time soon. Let me court you. Spoil you. Take time to get to know each other. In a hundred years, we’ll talk about it again. Okay?” No matter how long it takes. I’ll wait.
Her laugh is full of relief. “A hundred years, huh? That sounds wonderful, although I’m greedy, and a hundred won’t be long enough.” Her leg slides over my body as she straddles me. “Why don’t we kill a little time right now?”