Chapter 14 #2
I'd finished the basic map hours earlier. Now that I had all those fun-colored sharpies, I was in the process of color-coding everything.
The orange lines were the good spells that needed to stay.
The red was the shitty magic that I needed to fix.
The purple was questionable.
And the pink was everything that needed to be added.
There was a lot of pink and red. I was about to tape another ring of paper around the outside of the map, so I had enough space to detail it all out, because more ideas had been coming to me.
"Ophelia." Dante said, and I finally looked over at him.
I got the vibe he'd repeated my name a few times.
My eyes grazed the drool-worthy male before zeroing in on the coffee cups in his hands. Two of them.
"Is that for me?"
"Did you sleep?" he repeated.
"Oh. No. I'm busy."
I reached for the coffee.
He set it down on a shelf, out of my reach. "You don't need more caffeine if you've been up all night."
"That's exactly what I need after being up all night."
Dante's disapproval didn't budge.
I eyed the coffee cup, but decided I'd rather finish my map than fight him for it.
In the blink of an eye, I tipped back the rest of my questionable bottled drink and set it back down on the floor.
Then, I reached for the tape.
Dante sent it sailing across the room with a tap of his toe against the side of it.
I reached for another roll.
He grabbed before I could. Followed by the other rolls. They all went into his pockets.
I flashed him a look that I hope portrayed my irritation. "I need to finish this."
"You need to sleep."
"I'll sleep when it's done."
"No. If you're keeping me alive, you have to take care of yourself. I bit you twice yesterday; you need to give your body time to recover."
"The mate bond will take care of me." I slid across the floor and snagged a roll of tape he hadn't noticed.
He plucked it out of my hand. "The bond can't replace eating and sleeping."
"I won't know that for sure unless I try."
"We're not trying."
I gave him an exasperated look. "I'm almost done. Just give me the fucking tape. You can bite me afterward."
"I'm not biting you when you haven't slept. And I have a meeting at noon."
"You say that like I know what time it is.
"It's 10 AM."
Damn. I'd been working for a while.
"Well, I can't stop now," I stated.
"You can."
"Do you know how angelic magic works?" I asked. It wasn't super applicable, but I needed a way to get him to think he didn't understand.
He didn't answer. Because he didn't know, obviously.
"I can't stop now. You can bite me when I'm done, and I'm almost done," I said.
Dante let out a long breath, and silently handed me one of the tape rolls.
"Not that one," I said.
He handed me two more.
One of them was my favorite.
I got to work taping another line of papers on the outer border. The map had grown significantly, so it required a significant amount of paper and tape. Dante reluctantly sat down on the other side of my map, and started taping the sheets the same way I was.
It went way faster with his help. Especially since he'd actually slept.
When our papers nearly met, he dragged my pottery wheel and tables back a few feet to give us more space, then disappeared.
When he came back, he tried to hand me a plate of pancakes. I refused it.
He proceeded to cut a piece, and tried to feed me a bite with the fork he'd brought up. I refused that too, so he shoved the bite into my mouth unceremoniously.
I wanted to avoid syrup drips on my map, so I stole the fork the next time he acted like he was going to force-feed me.
I worked on the map.
He made me eat until the plate was empty.
I eventually stood up, stepped back, and took in the map.
It was missing things. So many things.
But it was a good start.
I finally nodded, and looked at Dante.
He was studying it, too, but he was still sitting on the floor. The empty plate of pancakes was at his side and his legs were sprawled out in front of him.
His locs were still up in their bun, I noticed. I liked the look a lot, especially with his button-up shirt.
The sweats were still better, though.
"I know it's missing things. I'll figure it out after I sleep," I said, crossing the room and sitting down on his lap. "Bite me."
His hand immediately went to my lower back. "You need to sleep before—"
I grabbed the back of his head and dragged his face to my throat. He inhaled deeply, and a guttural groan escaped him.
My body flushed in response.
Maybe he liked how I smelled, even if my blood's taste wasn't top tier.
His fangs sank in, and I took an unsteady breath, digging my fingers into his shoulder and the back of his neck. He pulled me closer, dragging me against his erection a little harder, and any desire I had to leave distance between us had officially shattered.
I had his belt undone in a clumsy heartbeat. His zipper followed while he tugged my overalls down my hips, lifting me long enough to push them down my thighs—and rolling me to my back so he could tear them away.
He released my throat, dragging his tongue over the wounds, and worked his way down to my belly button.
And lower.
His eyes met mine, blazing, and I nodded.
My bright red boyshorts met the same fate as my overalls, tossed aside as he lowered his face to my core, and licked me.
A loud cry of pleasure burst through my lungs.
I hooked a leg over his shoulder. He lifted the other one to join it while he devoured me the way he had in the prison, but better.
So much better, because we weren't trapped, and because every time his fangs nicked me—and they nicked me so fucking often—it sent a bolt of fiery pleasure blazing through me.
I came.
And came again before I was yanking on his hair, wrecking his bun as I pulled him closer.
"I want your knot," I breathed.
"We don't have time," he growled back.
"I thought you were the king."
"I am."
"Then make time, Dante."
He was filling me moments later, his cock hitting the end of my channel and making me cry out in bliss as he took me roughly.
I shattered.
Immediately.
Dante shifted forms as he came with a snarl. His horns and tail appeared, his body shifting as he tried to pull out—but failed.
He bit me again instead.
I arched against him harder as his knot lodged in place, stretching me, and locking us together.
We panted, our eyes wild as we tried to recover from the intense pleasure that had only just started.
"I need to postpone my meeting," he said, his chest rising and falling heavily.
"Unless you want to go like this."
A harsh laugh escaped him, and his lips stretched in what almost looked like the start of a grin.
I'd never seen him grin before. Not at me. The only time I'd seen the expression on his face was when he saw Grayson for the first time, and I hadn't looked closely.
Somehow, Dante was even sexier when he grinned.
"That's not happening, Angel."
"Didn't think so." The last word escaped on a breath as his knot started throbbing a little.
I arched my hips.
Dante sat up a little, changing the angle slightly and finding my clit with his fingers.
I came again moments later.
And again, a few minutes after that.
And again.
And again.
Until finally, his knot softened, and he carried me to the master bedroom.
Where he kissed me lightly.
Told me to sleep, too.
Then left me.
I sighed quietly when the door shut behind him, my eyelids already drooping shut and loneliness sweeping through me.
Right.
That was why I didn't do casual sex anymore.
Because I was no longer capable of having casual feelings for the person I was fucking.