Chapter 29 EVAN
EVAN
Jericho grins at me, pure joy emanating from his eyes.
He kisses me one more time before going back on his heels.
Uncapping the bottle, he coats two fingers and quickly slips them in my hole.
I grimace, yet welcome the pain. He hadn’t been the only one terrified when Kaine held me captive.
I thought for sure my time with Jericho was over. That we’d never have this again.
Grabbing a pillow, I shove it under my hips, grunting when Jericho’s quick fingers brush that spot inside of me. “Holy fuck.”
Jericho bends over to suck my cock, distracting me to the discomfort as he adds another finger. He pushes my legs wider, then goes lower to suck on my balls. With his free hand, he jerks me, making precum drip from the head. I lift my head just in time to see Jericho go back up to lick it clean.
“Jeeesus, Jer,” I moan.
He grins, then reaches for the bottle. With one hand, he coats himself with an ungodly amount of the liquid before getting to his knees.
He positions himself at my entrance, pressing in slowly.
I gasp at the intense pressure, but Jericho quickly reaches for my hands, threading our fingers together.
He looms over me, hair curtaining his face in a beautiful wave of darkness. “I love you.”
Warmth spreads through me. “I love you too.”
He kisses me, then down my throat to my collarbone.
Now that I know what his bite feels like, I no longer fear it.
I long for it. Lust surges through my core as I wait, his lips hovering just above my pulse point.
When he sinks his teeth in, I gasp. He hadn’t been kidding when he told me vampires can make their bite pleasurable.
From the moment they penetrate, it’s like liquid lust working its way through my system, filling me with that sensation right before an orgasm. It’s unlike anything I’ve felt before.
I wrap one leg around his, bucking up to meet his thrusts.
Where my lips can reach, I plant warm kisses on Jericho’s skin.
Despite his urgency to claim me, Jericho is moving quite slow.
The pull from my throat isn’t as strong as it was in the shower, like he’s trying to draw this out.
He rolls his hips in a sensual rhythm that matches his swallows, and it makes my mind spin with ecstasy.
I glide my hands up his back, kissing him wherever I can reach. He pulls his teeth out, lifting his head to look at me. Lips stained from blood, he’s never looked more beautiful.
I kiss him, urging him to move. His pace quickens, the mattress banging lightly against the wall.
Just before he finishes, he bites me again but doesn’t swallow.
That same intense feeling returns tenfold.
I cling to him, heels digging into his ass as my orgasm crashes into me.
Jericho shudders, burying himself to the hilt, then heat floods my insides.
Jericho holds me for a moment, gently kissing my neck. When he finally lets go, he studies the wound with a strange expression on his face.
“I can’t heal it this time,” he says softly. “It’ll scar and—”
“Have a faint white hue, I know.” I grin. “I’ve seen a vampire’s mate mark before.”
He drags a thumb over it, a small smile touching his lips.
“I would mark you too, if I could,” I say. “I hope you know that. I love you.”
His gaze flashes to mine, eyes glistening like he’s about to cry. He suddenly turns toward the door, then rolls off the bed to open a dresser drawer. “Someone’s coming.”
I scramble to my feet and yank some fresh track pants on, quickly hiding the bottle of lube under my pillow. When the knock comes a minute later, I almost laugh. I guess one of the benefits of having a vampire boyfriend is we’ll never be caught off guard.
When I open the door, Mom lifts a tray with two mugs and a couple slices of buttered toast. It makes me smile. It’s what she always made me on a bad day when I was a kid.
Her eyes widen when she sees my neck. Shit, I must look like a horror show to her. Not only a fresh bite mark, but if Jericho had smeared any of my blood…
She doesn’t say anything as she slips past us to set the tray on the dresser. Does she know what the mark is? Or is she just startled to see evidence that Jericho really is drinking from me?
Without warning, she turns to me, hugging me fiercely. Her whole body racks with sobs as she cries. “Screw that vampire,” she says. “I wanted to kill him.”
I choke back a laugh, hugging her tight. “You could’ve. A bullet in the head might’ve finished him off.”
Mom shakes her head, pulling away. She wipes her tears as she says, “We might need him to get into the club.”
She’s probably right. Kaine knows more about the coven than we do. But can we trust him? He’s proven how far he’ll go to get Willow out.
Mom turns to Jericho and hugs him, a fresh wave of grief hitting her. “I love you both. I just want you to know that.”
Jericho tucks his cheek against her head and hugs her back. “Love you too, Evelyn.”
She steps back. “Anyway, Forest wants to talk to you. Says it’s important.” After wiping her eyes again, she hustles out of the room.
I grab a piece of toast and turn to sit against the dresser, legs crossed at the ankle. “You know what I just thought of?”
Jericho briefly touches the toast, like he’s debating trying a piece, but then drops it back to the plate. “Hmm?”
“Kaine said he’s been trying to get to Foxx ever since his family was killed. So why hasn’t he? I mean, he knows where the club is, right? So why hasn’t he just gone in there and killed Foxx?”
Jericho huffs. “Foxx isn’t stupid, Ev. He owns the club, sure, but he also hides out there. He has a room somewhere and only comes out on rare occasions. The night he turned me, I overheard someone saying that was the first time they’d seen him in weeks.”
“He lives at the club?”
Jericho nods. “A few of them do, yeah. There are bedrooms around the building. Private ones, I mean. Not just the ones they let guests use.”
I cringe, refusing to think about what happens in those rooms. “That’s…
weird. But okay. So, if they’re living at the club, how are we going to get to him then?
Especially if what Kaine says is true about the mage sealing the entrances with magic.
I don’t want any of us to get stuck there like the others. ”
Jericho turns to me, placing a hand on my neck and brushing a thumb over the mark again. “Lucky for me, I can bypass the magic.”
My eyes widen. Holy shit. He’s right. “Your portals.”
He nods.
“We can portal in, surprise them, and portal out if we need to.”
Jericho nods again.
“But, wait. Don’t you need to know where to go?”
Jericho’s expression hardens, and he carefully avoids eye contact, his attention still on the mark. “I’ll get us in there, don’t worry.”
I swallow the last bite before reaching for him. Jericho brushes his lips over the mark, sending tingles down my spine. “You’re officially mine,” he whispers. “Do you have any idea how good that feels?”
I realize he’s crying and reach up to wipe the tears away.
“I’ve loved you for so long, Evan. It feels like a dream that this… that you…” He shakes his head.
I kiss him. “I’ve loved you for a long time too, Jer. I just didn’t realize it. Whatever happens, that won’t change. Okay? We belong together.”
He folds his arms around me, holding me for a long time before we head downstairs.
When we get to the living room, Jericho and I come to an abrupt stop. The tension in the air is palpable. Forest paces the room with a phone to his ear.
“What’s wrong?” I ask.
“Forest called the other packs to relay everything Kaine told us, but Merebeth didn’t answer. He tried Anders’ phone, and they didn’t answer either.”
I shake my head. “Okay?”
“Anders is her second in command, and they’re supposed to be on duty at the apartment tonight. One of them is supposed to answer if someone calls, no matter what.”
Jericho stiffens. “You think something happened?”
Red exchanges a look with his mate. “We don’t know. That’s what we’re trying to figure out.” His eyes skate down to my throat, just above my collarbone. When he lifts his gaze again, he gives me a small knowing grin.
My cheeks heat. Soon everyone will know that Jericho claimed me. Good.
“Bronson has two men already in Prodigy. They’re going there now,” Forest says.
“How long?”
“Five minutes, tops. They’re going to call as soon as they know.”
I follow Jericho further into the room, standing beside the dining table where Grant, Rowen, and everyone else waits restlessly.
Grant clenches his jaw when he sees us. “Are you okay, Evan?”
I give him a smile. “I’m fine. Where’s Kaine?”
“Locked in the cellar. Neal is watching him.”
“Will it hold him?”
He nods. “It’s infused with magic. He won’t get out.”
Unease settles in the pit of my stomach. Kaine came to us for help. He told us he has a friend trapped in the building with Foxx, and he wanted our help to get her out. Was that a lie?
If so, then what about his family? If what he said is true about Foxx raping and killing his mother, then wouldn’t he have just as much reason to hate these vampires as we do? We’re all acting reacting with our emotions. What if Kaine only did what he did because he was afraid for his friend?
Isn’t it the same thing I did to find Jericho? I was prepared to kill to find him. It’s why I trained with the gun. Why I hired Davey. Jericho is my everything—and now I understand why.
What if Willow is Kaine’s Jericho? Even if they aren’t lovers, she can still be just as important to him. Family. Especially when he has none.
Forest’s phone rings, and we all turn to face him with dread. My stomach sinks at his gutted expression.