Chapter 8 #2
It races. Her blood rushes through her veins, through every chamber of her heart, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth. Dry and dying of thirst.
Swiping my thumb across her knuckles, I smile at being held accountable. “I promise, Sugar. I’ll fix anything you want me to.”
She leans her elbow on her leg, her chin in her palm, as she gives me a playful smile. The longer we sit next to one another, the stronger the bond becomes. I miss what I haven’t been able to have yet.
Her touch all over my body.
My fangs in her throat, or even better, in her inner thigh.
Her moans in my ear when I’m deep enough.
My cock hardens in my jeans, and I clear my throat, covering the evidence the best I can with my hands.
Westin and Jazz are laughing, tears are in their eyes. Jazz even falls to the ground, gripping his stomach. All because they can smell how much I’m dying to have Nariko.
Millie and Jess are sitting on the cabin steps. Millie is higher, retwisting her wife’s locs. Music plays in the background at a low volume so everyone can still talk, and yet I can’t seem to find the words to talk to my fated mate.
The longer I look at her, the more I realize I’m at peace. We don’t have to talk. There’s plenty being said now. Her hand in mine. Her eyes on me. The beat of her heart playing in my head over and over, a song that anyone else wouldn’t understand.
“What made y’all start chasing tornadoes, anyway?” Jazz asks, taking a drink of his beer.
Not that the humans know, but there’s blood mixed with his drink.
I’d do anything for one drop of Nariko’s blood.
I think that’s the only reason why I’m not bedridden right now in sickness like I was earlier.
I licked her wound. I couldn’t help myself.
The cut was right there, blood dripping from it, teasing me, toying with my restraint, and I needed a taste.
One. Small. Taste.
That’s what I told myself.
And now I need more.
“That”—Ruka points to his sister—“is a Nariko question.”
“Oh, it is not. You like to chase too,” Nariko chastises her brother.
Ruka glares at her from across the fire. “Please, like I’d ever let my little sister go off alone to the forty-eight.”
“You’re not from here?” I ask, wanting to know everything about her.
“No. My parents immigrated to Hawaii when my mom was pregnant with Ruka.”
“Hawaii? And you wanted to come here?”
“Don’t be rude, Jazz,” I warn him, wanting him to tread carefully with how he speaks to my mate.
“I didn’t mean to be rude. I mean, why Oklahoma when you had beautiful beaches in Hawaii?”
“Well,” Ruka sits up in his chair, hiccuping. From what I can tell, he’s two beers in.
Millie and Jess giggle when they realize Ruka is already drunk.
“Nari has always loved storms. In Hawaii, she monitored everything, even the volcanoes. Hurricanes too. Nothing was safe from Nari’s mind. When she was little, she would stand outside in the pouring rain and wind.”
I can’t help it. I stare at Nariko, imagining how happy she must have been as a child.
“No matter what our parents tried, she always went back to weather. She hated dance, cheerleading, chess club, track and field, swimming, and softball. Our parents tried everything.”
“Chess? I bet I could beat you at chess,” I challenge.
“I bet you could too. I didn’t stick around long enough to learn. I only wanted to learn about weather,” she laughs.
Fuck, even her laugh is a sound I’m addicted to.
Do it again. Make her laugh.
“Why weather?” I ask her and only her.
“Well—” Ruka speaks, and I interrupt him.
“Sorry, Ruka. I love that you know everything about your sister, but I’m asking her. I want to learn about her from her.”
“Oh, I’ll drink to that!” Jess lifts her drink in the air.
“Here, here!” Reina joins, clinking their cans together.
“Here, here!” Jazz and Westin cheer in unison.
Ruka hiccups mid-mock, trying to take another drink of his beer, only to find out it’s empty. “Aw, man.” He flips the can over, trying to get one more drop, but alas, ain’t nothing left. “What was…” Another hiccup. “What was the question?”
Everyone bursts out laughing except Millie, who is focused on Jess’s hair. She scoops her fingers into a small silver can, a hair product from the smell of it, and uses it to twist the hair near the scalp.
“Keep still,” she warns her wife, pecking a kiss onto her cheek.
“Yes, ma’am,” Jess smiles, settling between Millie’s thighs to get more comfortable.
I’m jealous.
I want Nariko to be that comfortable with me.
Everyone begins their own side conversations with one another. Ruka is asleep in the chair, his body angled in a funky way that he will regret tomorrow. Half of his body is bent over the arm of the chair, his head hanging, and one leg is thrown over the other side. I’ll carry him in later.
He can suffer for now.
I haven’t forgotten the question I’ve asked Nariko. I want to know everything about the woman I’m going to spend forever with.
A slow country song comes on, and I stand, a surprised emotion hitting my chest.
“You’re leaving?” Nariko’s surprise turns to sadness. “Already?”
I toss my hat on the chair and hold out my hand. “You’ll have to make me leave, Sugar. Dance with me.”
“I…I don’t know how to dance, Oklahoma.”
I bend down, caging her in by gripping the rocking chair, stopping it from moving, and those gorgeous fucking brown eyes round. Her breathing picks up. Lust infiltrates the air, mixing with the smoke from the fire, and it’s the best fucking thing I’ve ever inhaled.
“That’s okay. You don’t need to know how. I only want you close to me.”
That earns me a shy, bashful twist of her lips. Her much smaller hand slips across my palm, her flesh warm from the fire and soft to the touch.
Fuck, I’m obsessed.
I don’t think there’s a part of her I don’t find captivating.
“No one else is dancing,” she whispers in warning.
I lean down, tucking her hair behind her ear. “I don’t care.”
Her cheeks pinken, and I can’t stop myself. I drag my lips across her jaw, inhaling the scent of her blood since it’s so close to the skin.
“You do that a lot.”
I pull away, slightly drugged from the aroma. “Do what?”
“Sniff me.”
“I do not sniff,” I scoff, leading her to a clearing in the field.
“You sniff,” she giggles, making that sound again that I’m obsessed with.
I spin her around the grass long enough to hide our feet. She cries out in laughter. The biggest smile I’ve ever seen overcomes her face, and it doesn’t fall when I yank her against my chest.
Instead, Nariko stares at me like I’m the only star in her sky. I’d darken every damn day if it means she looks at me like this all the time.
“Maybe I do sniff,” I admit with a bit of embarrassment. Taking her hand in mine, I sigh in content when our bodies give in to being so close after we’ve been forcing them to stay apart. Like two magnets finally finding one another. “I can’t help it. You smell so damn good.”
My hand tightens around her waist, yanking her closer, her body against mine.
“Maybe it’s my shampoo,” she says.
I shake my head, twirling her again. “It’s not your shampoo I’m smelling, Sugar. Although, I do love your hair.” I reach for a wild strand, wrapping it around my finger, consumed by how long and soft it is.
“Then what do you smell?” A small wrinkle forms between her brows in concentration, not understanding me.
I dip her over my knee, her breasts pressing against the thin material of her shirt. Her nipples harden, and I have to dig my fingers into her hips to stop myself from ripping her top off and sucking a delicious bead between my lips.
Lifting her up, I gather her hair, placing it all on the other shoulder so I can have a view of her neck. So flawless. So smooth. My thumb swipes over the spot that will hold my mating mark. My gums tingle as my fangs descend. I spin us away from the fire, my back turned so no one can see my face.
Only Nariko.
I let my eyes shine their true color, and I bury my face in the curve of her shoulder. “I smell you. Your blood.”
Her hand flattens against my chest, her fingers curling into the material of my button-up shirt. “And it smells good?”
I can’t believe she’s more worried about how she smells than the fact that she’s dancing with a vampire.