Chapter 32 Alabaster
ALABASTER
My eyes trace Calli’s body as she paces, the phone pressed to her ear, her bare feet padding across the floor. I catch the relief softening her face.
“When will you guys be home?” she asks, her voice tight, her nail between her teeth. A pause and then her shoulders finally ease.
“Okay… please be safe.”
She lets out a long sigh as she lowers the phone, her hand pressing to her chest. She smiles up at me, eyes teary.
“They’re safe,” she breaths, “but they won’t be here until late tomorrow.”
Thank fuck that little shit survived. His death would’ve been thoroughly inconvenient for me.
“Perfect,” I say, drifting closer, my voice dropping into a purr. “We can have some fun in the meantime.”
I brush her hair aside and press a kiss just beneath her ear.
“I can’t believe I get to see Genni again… it’s been so long. I wonder what she’s like now,” she says, eyes fixed on something in the distance.
Right. The witch.
She’ll be a thorn in my side. I know that girl and I know she knows about me—knows enough to give me away.
I could always kill her. Now, that’s a thought. Not a bad idea.
But that would hurt her…
Fuck. This woman.
I slide my arms around her waist and bury my face in her neck, breathing her in. She smells like flowers and honey: sweet and maddening. My cock stirs instantly.
“Hey. Chill. We need a plan,” she says, turning toward me.
My ears flick as I hum against her skin, not bothering to lift my head.
“For what?”
“She’s going to know you’re here. There’s no way she won’t. So we need a plan to hide you in plain sight—seeing as I’m stuck with you,” she says with a half smile.
My clever little witch. Perfect in every way.
“What did you have in mind?” I lift my head, just slightly.
She turns to face me fully—and grabs both of my horns.
“Can you hide these?” she asks, eyes flicking over them. “I mean… Can you look normal?”
“Normal to whose standards?” I grin, clapping back with a devious smile.
She shoves me, laughing.
“Are you able to suppress your presence?” she asks with a giggle.
I stand up straighter and smile down at her, cupping her chin as I pull her into a deep kiss. I guide her hands to my neck, keeping them occupied while I begin the shift.
My horns retract slowly, clipping through my scalp with a tingling pressure.
My hair and skin dull with pigment, the sigils carved into my flesh fading into nothing.
My fangs begin to reshape as I kiss her deep—tongue sliding between her lips, tracing the inside of her mouth while it rounds and softens into something more… human.
She freezes. Pulls back. Stares.
“Whoa,” she whispers, wide-eyed.
I let out a deep, rumbling chuckle.
“Other than the fact that you still look like a God… you almost pass for human,” she murmurs, fingers combing through my now-black hair.
She quirks a brow. “Can I cut this? It’s beautiful, but we should try and make you look as normal as possible.”
“Whatever you want, pretty girl,” I say, smiling.
She does a little dance and darts to the hallway closet. Pulls out a small box and carries it to the kitchen table.
She’s so fucking cute.
“Please—take a seat.” She bows, dramatically gesturing to the chair.
I roll my eyes, smiling as I sit. She immediately starts shifting my head around like a damn rag doll.
“We’re going to have to give you a different name,” she says, pulling out a pair of scissors and lopping off a massive chunk of hair.
“How exactly do you see this working?” I ask, turning my head—only for her to grab it and snap it back into place.
“Stay still,” she mutters, focused. “I’ve been sneaking into town to see you. Jack’s already met you, so that helps.”
Snip.
“So what’s the excuse for me living here now?” I say.
“Right…” She pauses. “You lost your job at the corner store and got evicted?”
I slowly turn and give her a flat, unimpressed look.
“It’s good enough. Cade will already be suspicious. Oh fuck—Cade,” she says, the realization hitting her. “He’s gonna kill you. Or me. Or both.”
She has a point. That little fucker is wildly protective of her. Watching his big brother complex kick in will be hilarious. My connection with his sister is going to wreck him—especially once he realizes I understand her in a way he never will.
Oh, that’s perfect.
“We could say I’m a witch, too. I have been helping you hone your magic. That you told me your situation—but not Cade’s part.”
“So you know I’m hiding from a creepy cult, but not that my brother is out there trying to murder them all?” she says, thinking it over. “Do you really think this could work?”
“Clearly you underestimate me. Fooling a mortal witch is nothing.”
“Well, I could feel you,” she says, and I smirk, hand reaching up to grip her biceps.
“I wanted you to.”
She smiles down at me, and I bring my lips to the top of her forehead. “If I didn’t you never would have seen me coming.”
She pulls out an electric razor at that and flips it on, pressing it to the side of my head without warning.
“It would also explain the magic I still give off,” I add. “I’m limited in this form—but not completely useless.”
She finishes trimming around my ears, then grabs me by the wrist and drags me to the bathroom—shoving my head toward the sink and turning on the water.
“You really love manhandling me, don’t you?” I say, head bent into the basin.
“Maybe,” she replies, and I can hear the damn smile in her voice.
She towel-dries my hair and steps back. I lift my head and catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror. Jet-black hair. Shaved sides. Longer on top.
Aside from the hair?
What a fucking downgrade.
“About that name. Any ideas?” she asks, eyeing me like she just finished an art project and nailed it.
“My friends call me Kai,” I say plainly. It’s true. Where I’m from, names aren’t shared freely, they’re sacred—but it’s the name I’m known by. My given name? Too many humans know it already. It’s almost embarrassing.
I look forward to her brother correcting that.
She squints at me. “You have friends?”
I chuckle and scoop her up, setting her on the edge of the sink. I nip at her collarbone, then trace a line up her neck with my mouth. She laughs softly into me, melting just a little.
“Kai is perfect,” she says, her eyes heavy and full of hunger.
I hear her heartbeat stutter, then race. She pulls me into a kiss, hands already tugging at my shirt, clumsy and impatient. I break the kiss just long enough to rip it off and toss it to the floor, then lift her and carry her to her room like I already own it.
I lay her down and lean over her, kissing her neck—slow and greedy. She lets out a soft moan, the sound driving me insane. My dick is already standing at attention, ready to ruin her.
She grabs my neck and pulls me closer, rolling us so she’s on top. I grin up at her as she straddles me. My hands slip under her shirt and tear the fabric clean down the middle.
She’s already unbuckling my belt—quick, practiced fingers—before she pauses. Holding it up.
“May I?” she asks, sweet as sin.
I groan softly, cupping her breasts and rocking my hips against her. “Yes, please.”
She loops the belt around my neck and pulls—tight but careful. Just enough to claim me.
I unfasten my jeans, sliding them down enough for my cock to spring free. She glances down and grins.
“At least that didn’t change.”
That wicked little smile is going to ruin me.
I reach beneath her skirt and grip her thighs, pulling her closer. My voice drops.
“Take it off.”
She drops the belt, backing up with a slow, deliberate sway. Her shirt, already ruined, falls off her shoulders. Her bra joins it. Then she hooks her thumbs into the waistband of her skirt and peels it down—inch by inch—never breaking eye contact.
Fuck.
My head tips back as I bite my lip, hips shifting—desperate to feel her.
“Eyes on me,” she commands, sultry and sure, looking down like she owns me—and fuck, she does.
She strips the rest of the way down, then drops to her knees.
I push up onto my elbows as she crawls to me across the floor, slow and deliberate.
“You’re so pretty on your knees,” I murmur, breath catching.
She slides between my legs and wraps her fingers around my cock, stroking me with an achingly soft touch. I twitch in her hand, groaning.
“Fuck, that feels good.”
She circles her tongue around the head—slow, teasing. Just enough to drive me insane.
I moan into the open air as she reaches up, grabs the belt around my neck, and pulls. She rises from her knees and straddles me.
Grinding against the length of my cock, soaking my dick before lining me up—then she drops her hips.
Fuck.
My hands fist in the sheets. Every ridge along my cock catches on the soft, wet heat of her as she takes me inch by inch.
I inhale sharply. She’s so fucking tight. So fucking perfect.
My jaw clenches. I try to hold still, to let her move at her pace—but it’s agony. The way my ridges rub inside her, snagging gently against all the right places—it’s too much.
She sinks all the way down with a choked moan, and I swear I black out for a second.
I stay still, savoring it—until she tightens the belt, pulling slow and hard. My throat constricts, just enough. My hips move on instinct, thrusting into her.
Her moan tears through the silence, raw and beautiful.
She places her other hand on my chest and works herself on me. Dropping down, bouncing up, holding herself just above me before sliding back down slow.
I grip her hips, guiding her—pulling the best fucking noises from her pretty mouth. She looks down at me, pupils blown, eyes dark, tugging the belt tighter.
A feral grin curls my lips.
“Yeah?” I say, then move.
In one motion, I lift her off me and toss her to the bed. Her giggle is cut short as I flip her over, pulling her hips up and spreading her legs. I smack her ass, hard—skin meeting skin with a sharp crack that echoes.
“Fuck—” she gasps, but I’m already sliding back inside her.
She screams into the pillow, and I groan at the sound.