Chapter 10 #3
Blood drips onto their white clothing.
My eyes dart to Ethan. I watch him while listening to my father guide Contessa and Yvette through the pledge of loyalty, hearing them repeat his words.
Ethan’s eyes are wide and his face is a bit pale, but his back is warm through his sweater. I pull him closer without a word.
The words to the ritual are in Italian. Neither my cousin nor her fiancée speaks Italian, but as preparation for the ritual I know they’ve both been practicing.
I look back at the ritual.
Both women wipe the blood from each other’s chests and bring it to the amulet, smearing it at the same time.
Finally, my father walks away. Tessa and Yvette move closer to each other on the bench, and Yvette leans down and licks the blood from Tessa’s chest. I can’t help but watch the way the blood drips down her chin.
Tessa does the same thing to Yvette, but she’s shakier. Yvette wraps her arms around her and pulls her closer, until finally they kiss with each other’s blood in their mouths.
There’s no applause, just a signal of the ritual ending by my father wiping the crest with a white handkerchief and then placing that piece of fabric in a wooden box alongside many others.
People begin to murmur to each other and leave the room, while others stay to watch my cousin and Yvette continue to kiss and console one another.
“What did they say to each other?” Ethan finally asks. I notice he’s not looking at the women now that things seem to be getting more intimate between them.
I look back toward them as a designated guard guides them from the bench to a room adjoining this one.
“Where are they going?” he asks before I can answer the first question.
They disappear into the room, but the guard doesn’t. He closes the door and stands in front of it.
“To fuck,” I say simply.
Ethan chokes. “Jesus Christ, you could have a little more tact,” he insists. “They’re your family.”
“And they’re most likely going to have sex after bandaging each other, is that better?” I smirk at him.
Ethan takes a breath and steps away from me. “I suppose. Fuck. I need some air.” He starts to turn around and leave the room.
“Ethan, wait,” I call after him.
“No, just give me a minute.” He puts a hand up.
I continue to follow him until my father steps in front of me.
“Your guest is causing a scene,” he tells me.
I roll my eyes. “Everyone’s first time seeing the blood ritual is a lot.”
“You can certainly tell if a man is worth the trouble by his reaction to it,” he replies.
I narrow my eyes at him. “Ethan is worth it.”
“Why haven’t I heard about him until he was nearly blown up by the Greivans, then?” he asks.
“I ain’t gotta tell you every single detail about my love life, plus…there was no ‘us’ until he was almost killed,” I nearly hiss at him. My shoulders tense and my hands ball into fists.
“Ah. Tragedy bringing you together, that I understand. Still, be careful, Dante. You can’t bring just anyone into this family,” he tells me, stepping closer and speaking only to me. “I learned that the hard way.”
My throat tightens. “Mom was a good woman.”
“With her heart in the wrong place.” He stares into my eyes, as if trying to see if I’ll pull away.
“She’s dead. Leave her the fuck alone, will you?” I step around him, ignoring his response.
I’ll probably get bitched at later for it, but I don’t care.
I turn down the hallway in the same direction I remember Ethan going. I’m not sure where he went, so I look into each room briefly before jogging down the stairs. I ignore people trying to get my attention and talk to me. Right now, I need to find him.
As I get to the end of the hallway past the living room, I notice that the curtains to the sliding glass door leading to the garden are pulled open.
I head that way and yank the door open with ease, seeing Ethan standing in the cold just a few feet from the door.
The moon shines down on him, and he’s got his arms wrapped around himself.
I step back inside for just a second to grab a throw blanket from the couch and bring it to him. I close the door behind me, then drape the blanket over his shoulders from behind.
Ethan gasps, slightly started, but then pulls the blanket tighter around himself.
“Thank you,” he whispers.
I nod and stand beside him, my eyes taking in his shaken features.
My body is still tense from my interaction with my father. I want to reach out and touch Ethan, but I don’t. Instead, I shove my hands into my pockets and set my heavy gaze on the array of bushes and flowers that aren’t taken care of anywhere near as much as they used to be.
“Are you okay?” Ethan asks me.
My eyes dart back to his. “Me?” I ask. “I should be asking you that.”
He looks me up and down. “You seem tense, too.”
I shake my head. “Just my father being an ass.”
“About me?”
“Doesn’t matter.”
Ethan turns to look at me. “Clearly this whole thing means something to you,” he says. “If your family doesn’t want me here…”
“It seems like you’re the one who doesn’t wanna be here,” I snap at him.
Ethan frowns. “Excuse me if watching two people cut themselves and then lick each other’s blood is a little off-putting,” he huffs back at me. I watch his throat move in the dim light as he swallows. I can tell he’s blushing.
“You liked it a little bit, didn’t you?” I smirk.
He looks away from me, not speaking. I grab him by the jaw just at the top of his throat and force him to look at me.
“Tell me, puppy.”
He places his hands on my chest, the blanket almost falling off his shoulders.
“You are so incredibly bossy,” Ethan says, but he doesn’t pull away.
I lean down closer. “You like that too, don’t you?”
His face gets even redder. “Maybe. B-But…the ritual was really unnerving. I’ve never seen anything like that before.”
I tighten my grip on his jaw just a little bit and nudge my nose against his.
“Now you have…so you know what you can look forward to.”
His eyes widen slightly, but his hands grab the fabric of my shirt even tighter.
“Doing the ritual?” he asks.
“Yeah. Pledging yourself to me and my family.” I kiss his nose softly.
Ethan shivers and closes his eyes. “The thought of you tasting my blood is terrifying and electrifying at the same time.”
I chuckle darkly. “Oh, compared to the things I wanna do to you, the ritual is nothing, Ethan.”
He wraps his arms around my neck and moves his face even closer, until our lips are almost touching. “You scare the fuck out of me, Dante. You also make me…mmh.” He presses up against me until I can feel his hard-on through his jeans.
I lick his bottom lip slowly. “I could take you right here.”
“Yeah?” Ethan’s voice is breathy. “Tell me.”
I smirk. “Tell you what?” I already know, but I want him to work for it a bit.
He brushes his lips against mine. “Tell me what you would do to me.”
His fingers slide into the back of my hair, and I stifle a grunt as his nails drag along my scalp.
“I’d pull your pants down, bend you over the fountain, and eat your perfect ass out until you can’t take it anymore,” I tell him in a husky, hushed voice.
His breath speeds up; I can feel it against my mouth.
“My ass?” he asks.
“You never had anything in your asshole, baby?” I reply, curious.
He holds me tighter. “I…tried using my fingers a couple times, but I felt so guilty about it.”
“You ain’t got nothin’ to feel guilty about, puppy,” I tell him, my voice harsher now. “You’re not gonna feel guilty again, got it?”
He nods slowly, his lips brushing mine again.
I slide my free hand against his back and down to his ass. I grab it, pulling him even tighter against me.
“I need you t—” Ethan starts, but the screen door opens and my aunt’s voice cuts through the moment.
“Dante, your father needs you,” Aunt Tania tells me.
I growl and don’t take my eyes off Ethan.
“I’m busy.”
“I see that. Nevertheless, this is important. It’s about the Greivans. He says it’s going to take up the rest of your evening,” she informs me.
“Fuck him,” I mumble under my breath. I know he’s doing this just to get on my nerves and pull me away from Ethan.
“I’ll be there in a sec,” I tell her.
I kiss Ethan without a second thought. I remove the distance between our lips and bring my mouth to his, firm and needy.
He moans into my mouth, and I lick into his. I dance my tongue around his in a nasty and quick way that lets me taste every inch of his mouth in just a few seconds.
When I pull back, he’s panting softly, and his face is even more flushed.
“Dante,” he whispers breathlessly.
I grunt and nip at his chin as I let go of his jaw.
“I gotta go,” I mumble.
“But…” He clings to me.
I pull my hands from him reluctantly. “I want you to go up to my room, third door on the left, purple ‘D’ on the doorknob, and you’re gonna lie down, okay?”
Ethan blinks at me. “What?”
“You heard me. Go up there and lie down in my bed. I don’t want anyone but me takin’ you home. It’s late; you can stay here tonight.”
He looks toward the sliding glass door anxiously, but nods.
I kiss him on the lips one more time before I leave him standing outside, flustered and hard.