Chapter 22
VALEN
I can’t sleep.
I wish I could blame it on the lumpy mattress. Or how the bed is too short for my long legs. But while all those things are true, it’s not the reason I’m awake right now.
Though I hate to admit it, I’ve gotten used to sleeping near Ava. Her even breaths and the steady beat of her heart help lull me into a peaceful rest. Something I went way too long without.
Even knowing I’ve escaped that hellhole, I’m reluctant to fully surrender myself to being by her side every night. It feels too good to be true. What if she’s ripped away from me like my sister was?
Disgruntled, I shove the blankets off myself and stand.
I don’t want to wake her and disturb her, but I also know Ava wouldn’t like to find out that I struggled and didn’t go to her for help. She’ll ask me how I slept in the morning, and I find it impossible to lie to my mate.
Easing the door open, I nearly fall flat on my ass when I find Zavier standing there with a shit-eating grin. He leans casually against the wall across from me, arms crossed over his chest, fangs on full display.
“What are you doing?” I ask, looking around. “Why aren’t you downstairs with Celine?” With the way he follows her around, it’s hard to believe he left her side.
He bounces on his toes. “I was waiting for this.”
“What’s this?” I ask dumbly.
“For you to sneak out and go to Ava’s room.”
“That’s not what I was doing.” It’s exactly what I was doing, and his smile tells me he knows I’m lying. With a sigh, I grumble, “I sleep better near her.”
“Whatever you say, Valentine,” he chirps. I wish Ava would’ve never let my full name slip to the obnoxious vampire, but it’s too late now. He slips his hand into the pocket of his sleep pants and holds something out to me. I open my palm, and he drops the square object into it.
“What is this?” I ask, staring at the weird square object.
He pats my shoulder. “Ava will know.”
Still sporting that shit-eating grin, he slowly strolls down the stairs. For a moment, I almost turn back around and decide to tough it out, but no, I’m not going to let Zavier chase me away from my mate with his nosiness.
Taking a deep breath, I ease down the hall to Ava’s room.
Standing in front of the door, I hesitate but can’t fight the temptation any longer and push it open.
The hinges creak, and I stop, listening to the even sounds of her parents’ breaths down the hall to make sure they don’t wake.
Letting myself into her bedroom, I close the door softly behind me.
Her room is still that of a young girl. Pink walls and a white desk with a mirror above it.
A frilly pink chair sits in front of the desk.
Beneath the window is some sort of skirted bench with a floral print.
Glancing around the rest of the room and taking in all the little details, I find her curled up in a delicate ball within the wrought iron bed. Pink hair is splayed over her pillow in a cascade of glossy waves.
I don’t want to startle her, so I tiptoe closer and gently place my palm against her cheek. She snores softly. I haven’t dared tell her she does, I think she’d either vehemently deny it or be embarrassed, but I find it endearing.
“Ava,” I whisper softly. She stirs a little. “Ava,” I say her name again, and this time her lids flutter.
“Valen?” My name is a groggy murmur, and I smile at the fact that she knows it’s me even half drunk on sleep.
“Is it okay if I sleep here? I’m struggling to get rest alone.”
“Mm-hmm,” she hums. She holds the sheets up as she scoots over to the opposite side of the bed.
I hesitate since I normally stay on top of the covers.
It feels safer that way. This is a barrier I’ve miserably tried to hold up, but it is slowly crumbling.
Perhaps I’m feeling bold tonight after running into Zavier, and I slip onto the soft sheets and let the blankets fall over me.
“What is this?” I ask her, holding up the item Zavier gave me.
She squints in the darkness and takes it from me. Arching a brow, she asks, “Where did you get this?”
“Zavier,” I answer. “I ran into him in the hall.”
She giggles and somehow ends up with her face pressed into my arm.
“What is so funny?”
I feel like I’m being laughed at, but I am not sure why.
“It’s a condom,” she answers.
“A condom?” I repeat the foreign word. “Should I know what that is?”
The room might be dark, but my vision is far better than a mere human’s, so there’s no denying the redness in her face. Ava comes off as confident when it comes to everyone else, but with me she seems to let her guard down more. She’s almost vulnerable, and what a treasure that is to witness.
“It’s … um … when you have sex. It goes on your…” She pauses, scrunching her nose. “Penis. Dick. Cock. Disco Stick. Whatever you want to call it. And that way it catches the…” Impossibly, her face gets even redder. “The cum,” she finishes. “So that I … wouldn’t be able to get pregnant.”
I quickly snatch the packet back from her and toss it across the room. “I’m going to kill him.”
Ava dissolves into a fit of giggles, and I can’t help but join her.
“Zavier is such a nosy butthead. He’s our biggest cheerleader, and if I wasn’t annoyed, I’d be flattered.”
“He’s … something,” I agree.
She lays her head fully on my chest, her fingers idly tracing the ridges of my stomach. I’ve finally started to put on some weight and muscle now that I’m not being starved of blood.
“Why couldn’t you sleep?” she asks softly.
“My feet hung off the bed,” I grumble. “And your scent wasn’t strong enough.”
I feel her smile before she raises her head and fully bestows the sight of it upon me. Her pink hair falls over her shoulder, and I shiver when it brushes against my pectoral muscle.
“You like being close to me?”
You have no idea.
“Yes,” I answer. My stomach flips when she hooks her leg around me and settles in my lap. I sit up, groaning when her core rubs against my cock.
She traces the shape of my lips with her finger. “Can I kiss you?” she asks so fucking sweetly that I groan.
“Yes. God, yes.”
My hands find the curves of her bottom, pulling her fully against me at the same time her mouth is on mine. Her lips are so soft, so sweet, so perfect.
She makes a tiny sound in her throat, and I swallow it, making it mine.
Her tongue finds mine, and I follow her lead. All of this is new to me, so I’m letting her take me along for the ride.
Her hips rock against me until I’m fully hard.
I slide my left hand up to cup the back of her head and give the strands of her hair a slight tug until she groans my name.
I want to hear her say it again, so I nip her bottom lip slightly with my fangs.
Her blood tastes sweet and slightly floral. “Valen,” she gasps, arching against me.
I’m not sure exactly what is happening, but I do know that I like it.
Letting go of her hair, I snake my hands beneath her sleep shirt and find smooth, bare skin.
I’ve never done this before, felt her this way.
I almost stop, but the noises she’s making encourage me to keep going until I’m palming her breasts.
They’re round and soft while her nipples are pebbled hard.
I rub my thumbs over them, trying to memorize the feel.
“Yes,” she gasps. “Just like that.”
Encouraged, I keep at it while she rocks against me. My poor dick is hard as a rock and screaming for release.
“Take my top off,” she begs.
“Huh?” I ask dumbly, my brain fogged from lust.
With a groan, she reaches for the bottom of her shirt, yanking it off and tossing the fabric behind her on the bed.
Boobs.
Ava’s boobs are right there in front of my face. God, they’re gorgeous. Pale with rosy, pink nipples and—
She giggles. “You’ve never seen tits before, have you?”
“No,” I gulp, studying the way my hands cup their roundness. They fit perfectly.
“Sometimes I forget you’re so na?ve.” She brushes her finger down the slope of my nose. Such a delicate gesture has me at her mercy. I wish she’d do it again. “Is it terrible of me to admit that I like that? You’ll never know another woman’s body the way you know mine. You’re mine and only mine.”
I growl lowly. “But you’ve been with other men.”
I don’t mean to be accusatory, and she doesn’t take it as such.
“They don’t matter,” she says gently. “I realize now they never did. It was only ever supposed to be you. My sweet vampire.”
“Me,” I agree. God, to think of what might have happened had I never been freed from my prison. My eyes zero back in on her breasts, and she laughs which makes them shake. “Does this feel good?” I ask, rubbing my thumbs over her nipples like I was before.
“Yes.” She splays her hands on my chest. If I still had a heartbeat, I know it would be beating out of my chest. “You can lick them.”
“Lick them?”
“Mm-hmm.” Her eyes are hazy and heavy-lidded.
“With my tongue?” I clarify.
She smiles, cupping my cheek gently. Her thumb rubs in soothing circles. “You use your tongue to lick, so yes.”
I hesitate, not because I don’t want to, but because I don’t want to do it wrong and hurt her. I want everything to always be perfect for Ava.
Lowering my head, I swipe my tongue ever so lightly against the bud.
“More,” she begs. I do it again to the other side.
Growing bolder, I suck at the sensitive bud and scrape my fangs gently against the skin.
She must like it, because she jolts and returns to rocking her hips against my cock. I feel like I’m going to explode. My hips move on their own, meeting each rock of hers.
“I think I might come like this,” she gasps. Her face is flushed and she smells of arousal. “Don’t stop.”
I don’t, because the last thing I want is for her to stop making those sweet noises.
When she shatters on top of me, head thrown back, it’s the most beautiful she’s ever been to me, which is saying something.
“Valen,” she pants my name. “Oh my God.”
The friction of fabric against my cock has me desperate for release. I groan and rock harder against her until wetness dampens my pants. The guttural growl I let out is slightly embarrassing, but that’s what she does to me.
We ride out our highs together, the only sound our pants as we catch our breath.
When she finally comes to, her lids are heavy. She licks her lips and presses her forehead to mine. “That was…”
“Wow,” I finish for her, and she nods.
She looks like she wants to say more, but instead she climbs off my lap and lies down beside me.
I slide down in the bed and pull her closer until she’s splayed on top of me.
If I had a change of sleep pants I would get up, but I don’t, and frankly I’m not sure my legs would work.
This pink-haired witch has once again brought me to my knees.
I stroke my fingers through Ava’s silky hair. I’m certain she’s gone to sleep, but she surprises me when she says, “Ten out of ten for our first dry humping session.”
“I do not know what that means.”
Her hand that’s splayed on my stomach gives a gentle pat. “It’s a good thing. Trust me.”