Chapter 35
Chapter thirty-five
Tressa
It was worth it. Everything they’d been through. Every moment of despair she felt at thinking she was going to lose her mate. Every bit of pain she’d endured when he stabbed her. Even the horrific experience of dying a second time.
All. Fucking. Worth it.
He filled her so perfectly, as if they were made to fit together like puzzle pieces. And maybe they were. Maybe that’s what a mate was. The other half of her soul. Her perfect match. The only man she could ever love enough that she would want to spend eternity with him.
She rolled her hips and nearly went cross-eyed. Oh yeah. She could get used to riding this cock for the next thousand years. She wanted to ride it forever.
“Forever is a very long time.”
Baylin’s words echoed briefly in her head, but instead of sadness, she only felt reassurance at them. Forever. She had forever with Ethan.
It should have slowed her down. Should have made her want to savor every minute of fucking Ethan for the first time.
But it had the opposite effect. She wanted to ride him straight into forever at a furious gallop until he erupted inside her.
She wanted him to feel what it was like to fuck a vampire.
She wanted to show him just what an eternity together could mean.
She picked up her pace, bouncing up and down on his cock, taking him deep inside. His hand landed on her hips, trying to control her pace, but she wasn’t having any of that.
He was the newbie. And she was going to teach him everything she could.
Grabbing his hands, she pinned them to his sides and rolled her hips in a circular motion, his cock hitting that perfect angle inside her that set every nerve aflame. They had just begun, but already she could feel a scream building up, clawing for release.
“Fuck, Tressa,” Ethan moaned as his hips matched her pace, meeting her thrust for thrust.
“You have no idea,” she said, smirking. “I’ve been alive for a long time.
The things I’m going to teach you.” She raked her nails down his chest, shivering with pleasure that she didn’t have to hold back.
The light grooves barely broke the skin, healing between one heartbeat and the next.
And the way Ethan moaned at the sensation…
Her mate apparently had a little pain kink.
Something she was more than ready to explore.
Her fangs started to emerge, demanding that she sink them into her mate and taste him, but she forced them back under her gums.
Maybe one day Ethan would be ready for that, but not for a long time. Not until years after the last nightmare ended would she bring that up again.
She only ever wanted him to feel pleasure.
Bracing her hands behind her, she arched her body and let her head fall back, relishing the deeper position. One Ethan clearly enjoyed as well since the groan he let out stoked the flames building inside her to a fever pitch.
Faster and faster she rode him, her pussy wet and dripping to the point he slipped in and out with ease.
As the pressure grew higher, she flung herself back up to lay forward on his chest. She brought Ethan’s mouth to hers, nipping lightly at his bottom lip before kissing him, and the feeling of his hand sliding down to rub against her clit broke her.
The scream that exploded from her when the orgasm hit was so loud she could only imagine she was pushing the room’s soundproofing past its limit. Not that she cared. She wasn’t in the compound anymore. She was in some alternate universe where she was fucking her mate into oblivion.
Just as her release began to fade and she fell back to reality, Ethan bucked his hips up into her with a sharp snap and erupted. The roar he let out was just as loud, if not louder, as he painted her insides with a glorious heat.
Soundproof? Yes.
Vampire orgasm proof? Probably not.
She collapsed against his chest, not even caring how sweaty they were.
All she could smell was their mingling scents.
Bubblegum and vanilla. Together, they created the aroma that had teased her for the past three hundred years, hinting at the perfection waiting for her if she just held on.
Not that any ice cream would ever be as sinfully delicious as her mate.
And she planned to feast on him for the rest of her undead life.
“Please tell me this is not going to be a thing,” Baylin grumbled shortly after Tressa landed back in the chair beside him.
She and Ethan had gone another three rounds after the first one.
‘Scientific research,’ he’d said. Told her he needed to test how many times he could orgasm now that he was a vampire.
The refractory period was still a thing, but she would never forget the look of joy on his face when he realized it was barely a minute or two now.
He was still adjusting to his body, though, so he eventually passed out from sheer exhaustion after a short but awkward lesson on how to consume blood from a bag.
She’d let him sleep, not wanting to spoil the real surprise waiting for him.
He would soon find out that once he was strong enough, they could fuck for days without stopping.
Well, as long as they had plenty of blood and water, anyway.
She blushed at the idea of taking Ethan away from the compound for a few weeks. Just the two of them, alone, maybe on a private island. She’d never asked, but Marquin probably owned one somewhere. He had dozens of mansions scattered across the globe and more than one castle. Why not an island?
“What are you talking about?” she asked Baylin, pleased to see it was a Rockstar in his hand, and his words no longer sounded like he was in an episode of Peaky Blinders.
The glare on his face, however, was a disappointing change from his normal jovial attitude. “You coming in here reeking of sex.”
“Hey! I showered,” she protested.
“Not enough.”
In all fairness, she had joined Ethan in his shower and not gone to her own, meaning she hadn’t used the extra-strength antiseptic soap that was needed when you lived in a house of vampires that could smell everything.
“Sorry,” she said, blushing. “I’ll go shower again.”
Baylin waved a hand. “Don’t bother. My nose has already suffered. Damage done.”
“Then I guess that makes us even since that noise you call music is destroying my hearing.”
Baylin rolled his eyes but reached over to his speakers to turn the heavy metal down slightly. It was still a low-level assault—most things were when you had supernatural hearing—but he told her once that was why he liked it. The screaming music drowned everything else out so he could focus.
“Happy now?” he asked. “Wouldn’t want to upset your fragile vampire senses. What with you being such a delicate flower and all.”
“Funny,” she drolled.
“Not lately,” he muttered before running a hand through his thick auburn hair. “So what’s up?” he asked. “The minute you stepped out of his room, the whole cadre became more than aware that you and Ethan patched things up. I doubt you came to gloat, though.”
“I would never,” she said, feigning shock.
He rolled his eyes and took another chug of his drink. “What brings you in, then?”
She propped her bare feet up on the table holding his monitors. “Can’t I stop by and see my favorite cousin?”
He promptly knocked her feet off the table. “You can, but Saiden’s on a date with Cora.”
“Ha. Ha. Ha.” She gave him an unamused look. “But seriously, Bay. I’m a little worried about you. Now that Ethan and I are good to go, I wanted to check in. He’s resting for a bit, so I have some time to chat if you want.”
Baylin downed the last of his drink, crumpled the can, then banked it off the back wall to land in the trash bin with ease. “So how is the plant boy?”
Tressa grinned. “Oh, he’s amazing.”
Baylin reached under his desk and grabbed another energy drink. “That’s not what I meant, and you know it,” he replied, cracking it open.
Tressa shrugged. “I mean, payback’s a bitch. I never want to hear about your sex life either.”
“Touché. But seriously, how’s he doing post transition?”
Tressa watched Baylin throw back half of the drink in one massive slug and frowned.
Her cousin’s caffeine addiction was no secret, but even for him, it seemed excessive.
She made a mental note to ask the cadre about it, but thoughts of Ethan quickly chased away the concern for her cousin’s adrenal glands.
“It’s incredible, Bay,” she gushed. “I mean, we had a rough start with the whole stabbing me thing, but—”
“What?” Baylin demanded, slamming the can on the table and sloshing amber liquid over a keyboard. “He stabbed you?”
She waved a hand. “It’s nothing. Water under the bridge. He healed me. Seriously, not even a scratch, Bay. His power is… It’s amazing. I’m just worried he’s going to want to take up hunting with Saiden now since he has such a useful ability.”
“I doubt it,” Baylin replied, wiping up the spilled drink.
“Saiden told me Ethan never seemed much into the combat part of training. That it was more a thing he was pushing himself to do, as opposed to genuinely enjoying it. I’d say you’re more likely to lose your mate to a laboratory than a battlefield. ”
Her cheeks ached from the massive smile she didn’t even try to contain. “My mate. Damn, I’m never going to get tired of that. Saiden was right. It really is the most incredible feeling. I can’t believe I found my mate.”
“I’m your what?!”
They both whipped around to see Ethan standing just inside the doorway of Baylin’s room, his jaw stretching toward the floor.
“Ummm…” Tressa’s heart started pounding, and it only got louder when Baylin hit the switch to kill his metal music entirely.
Shit. Shit. Shit.
This was not how she wanted to have this conversation. “Ethan, look. About that…”
She hopped out of the chair and took a step toward him, but he held up a hand. She waited as his face cycled through a dozen emotions, praying to Lilith that he would at least give her the chance to explain. Their story just started; it couldn’t be over already. She wouldn’t let it be over already.
“When did you know?” he asked, his voice cautious, wary, and simmering with an undercurrent of pain.
“When did I know…?”
“That I’m your mate,” he bit out. “How long have you known and hid it from me?”
Tressa swallowed roughly, and her eyes dropped to the pristine marble flooring. She was almost embarrassed that she briefly debated lying again. But she couldn’t. Not to Ethan. Not ever again.
Her eyes lifted to his. “Since the moment I first met you,” she said, her voice barely audible in the painfully silent room. His eyes widened, and her heart nearly shattered at the betrayal on his face. “But, Ethan, you need to know—”
“Don’t,” he snapped, the anger she’d thought gone from his soul flaring to life in his eyes once again.
“I first thought you only wanted me because of my research secrets, and I believed you when you said it wasn’t that.
But now I see it’s much worse. You’re only interested in me because you believe in some mythical fairytale about fated mates.
” He scoffed, the dismissal a dagger in her heart. “Do you even like me, Tressa?”
She opened her mouth to argue that she didn’t just like him, but she had fallen head over heels in love with him. He didn’t give her a chance to utter a single word, though.
“No,” he said, huffing out a weak laugh.
“Actually, don’t answer that.” He shook his head sadly.
“I thought… I thought we were done with the lies. But now I’m wondering if that’s just who you are.
You’re the centuries-old vamp, and I’m the newly turned human who couldn’t possibly understand your world.
Which means I don’t get to know anything until you decide it’s the right time.
You literally promised me a few hours ago that you would be completely open and honest, and the whole time you were what? Hiding yet another monumental secret?”
“It’s not like that,” she said, cautiously inching forward like she might spook him if she moved too fast. “I can explain everything.”
He backed away from her, bumping into the door frame. “No. I just…”
He stared at her for a second, and the anger in his eyes started to fade to something much worse. She would have gladly endured a million botany lectures if it wiped that new expression off his face—disappointment.
Or worse, heartbreak.
He sighed. “I think… I think maybe this is all happening too fast. I got caught up in the dying, and the killing, and the sex. This isn’t me, Tressa.
I don’t do things like this. I’ve been so consumed by anger for the past thirteen years, and now that I’m seeing things clearly again, maybe I need some time.
” His voice dropped into a low, sad whisper, and he added, “Maybe I made a mistake.”
“Ethan, wait,” she protested, taking a hesitant step forward, then another when he didn’t immediately flinch. “I told you we would sit down and go over everything. I was going to tell you about the mate bond when we had that conversation. I swear I was—”
“Save it,” he said, but his tone wasn’t cold. Wasn’t vengeful.
It was broken.
“I need some space, Tressa. I’ll see you around.”
Ethan blurred out of the room, and Tressa started to chase after him, but a strong hand clamped around her wrist.
“I wouldn’t do that,” Baylin said. “He asked for time, and you need to give it to him. He cares about you, Tressa. Everything will be okay, but maybe allow him some space to process what he’s been through.”
She curled her hands into fists, suppressing the urge to reach for the doorknob so she could hunt her mate down and beg him to talk with her. “Fine. I guess I can let him go hang out in the gym for a bit.”
Baylin’s computer emitted a harsh beep, and they both glanced over.
“Well, shit,” he said after hitting a few keys and pulling up a security feed.
“What?” she demanded, stalking over to his side.
“When you gave him a tour, did you show him the garage?”
She frowned, trying to make sense of what she was seeing on the camera. “Yeah, I showed him everywhere except the blood storage. Why?”
“Because I’m pretty sure he just stole Saiden’s McLaren.”