Chapter 32 Aurora #2
“Let’s get you in the shower and patch up anything still healing,” I say, sniffling as I peel myself out of his hold and reach to turn on the shower.
I help him to his feet and once I’m sure he won’t fall, I head to the closet to grab him some sweatpants.
When I return, he’s struggling to unbutton his shirt.
“Here, let me,” I say, setting the clothes down.
“Hm.”
Someone wrapped Ezra’s injured arm with great care, but it’s wrapped around his clothing, too.
“We should probably take the sling off first. Do you think you’ve healed enough to do that?”
Ezra flashes a wicked grin and pulls me in. His free hand drags down my spine, stopping at the small of my back.
“Can’t wait to get me naked again, can you? Screaming stars, you’re insatiable. Such a naughty little thing.”
He leans in, voice smooth and unbothered, like he didn’t just nearly die on his own doorstep.
“I believe I’m well enough to remove the bandage, but I’ll need your help to clean my body. I’m still feeling quite weak.”
This cocky motherfucker.
“You’re giving me goddamn whiplash. I was mad, then crying, now horny? What the hell, Ezra,” I mutter as I stomp toward the shower.
I try to shake it off, but my heart’s pounding so loud I’m certain he hears every frantic beat.
When I take another deep breath, trying desperately to convince my body that everything is fine—that Ezra isn’t staring me down, deciding whether to savor or devour me—I suddenly feel him at my back.
His pine-and-cinnamon scent hits first. Then his hands find my hips, dragging me back against him.
Somehow, he’s already out of the sling. Both arms fully functional, sliding down the front of my bare thighs.
I’d almost be annoyed if I weren’t so fucking turned on.
“You couldn’t even stand two minutes ago, and now you’re pulling this shit? Were you just milking it for sympathy?”
Ezra chuckles against my neck.
He gathers my hair in his hand, sweeping it out of the way before kissing up one shoulder, then down the other. He pauses at the nape of my neck, his hot breath making me shiver. Ezra licks up the side of my throat before nipping at my ear.
“Do you remember our text exchange, Aurora?” he whispers.
His shadows curl tighter, slithering around my ankles, pressing against the back of my knees as if urging me to sink down. Another glides up the inside of my thigh, just short of touching exactly where I need it most.
They’re reacting to him. To me. To all of it.
“Do you still want to come with my cock buried deep inside of you? Do you still want me to fuck you so hard you scream my name? Do you want to beg me for it, little lupine? Say the words I need to hear, darling.”
I dreamed of this. Touched myself to the sound of his voice in my head. Woken up panting and aching for him. Wanting to crawl inside him just to feel close. To make him mine.
Ezra uses my hips to spin me around, then crashes his lips into mine. He kisses me like I’m breath and blood and every filthy thing he’s ever craved.
He feels so real. So here. So mine.
I thought I’d be afraid when this moment came … but all I feel is need.
I try to hold myself together, but it’s useless. I break the kiss just long enough to bite his bottom lip, then drag him back in with a growl.
Ezra’s lips graze mine, but it’s his dark, churning gaze that makes my stomach flip. He grabs my ass and grinds his hips against me.
He’s so fucking hard it makes my mouth water.
“I need you naked, Aurora. Now,” Ezra growls, already lifting my shirt over my head.
I make quick work of his buttons, sliding the tattered, bloodied shirt off his broad shoulders and letting it fall to the floor. My hands drag down his chest and over his stomach, fingertips brushing the fox inked along his ribs, tangled in cinnamon ferns.
Why is he so stupidly sexy?
Leaning forward, I run my tongue along his chest, up his neck, and end with a nip at his chin. He tastes like salt and clover, like memory and want. Like something I should’ve forgotten but never did. Something only mine.
I close my eyes, savoring it. Savoring him.
Ezra gently grabs my chin between his thumb and forefinger, forcing me to keep my eyes on him. It’s so possessive and controlling I forget how to breathe for a second.
“I need you, Aurora,” Ezra pants as he slides his hand into my underwear.
He curses under his breath as his fingers slide deeper, the words older than language, crumbling at the edges.
“Mo chroí. Mo anam …” he whispers, his breath shuddering against my neck.
“Consume me, Aurora. Flay me open. Strip my skin away, layer by bloody layer, until you see every dark, devoted part of me. Everything I’ve been. Everything I am. Everything I will ever be. It all belongs to you,” he groans while he nuzzles into my neck.
His thumb makes lazy circles around my clit as he slides a finger inside me.
I can’t help it. I grind against his hand, chasing more. Chasing everything.
I’ve been thinking about this moment since he left.
I’m so ready to give him everything.
This is my choice.
Ezra begging me for permission is literally the sexiest thing I’ve ever experienced.
Because I know that’s not him.
His restraint, his newfound respect for my boundaries, makes every nerve in my body crackle and fizz.
When I roll my hips again, Ezra chuckles into my neck before adding a second finger.
With a loud, desperate moan, I move against his hand, hips grinding as his fingers curl perfectly inside me.
I run one hand up his smooth, muscular back, over the nape of his neck, then tangle my fingers in his hair.
“Ezra …”
“Yes, little lupine?” He tilts his head away from my neck to nip along my jaw while his fingers continue their beautiful torture.
“Shit. You should—fuck. You should probably clean up. I didn’t realize how bad some of those cuts are.”
Ezra cocks his head and laughs. He’s devastating when he laughs.
I should have kept my stupid mouth shut.
Ezra leans forward, his breath tickling my ear.
“Whatever you wish, Aurora. But don’t pretend seeing me covered in blood doesn’t make that sweet little cunt soaked. There’s a dark, primal side of you begging to be released. I want to see it. I want you to unleash it on me.
“Deep down, you want me to fuck you this second—just as I am. Covered in blood and sweat, battered and beaten. Because I didn’t stop. Didn’t rest. I bled and kept going. All so I could come home to you.”
His mouth twitches against my ear. So small I almost miss it.
“Because you, little lupine, are the only person who’s ever made me believe I could have one.”
My chest tightens. It’s not just lust. Not just hunger. It’s him. All of him. The monster I called to in the dark. The monster I’d burn for.
I don’t say a word. I just … stay. Right here.
Letting the silence between us say everything.
“I will always return to you, Aurora,” he murmurs. “Nothing will keep us apart, little goddess. Not Heaven. Not Hell. Not Death. Not the Disciples. No one.”
He draws back just enough to meet my gaze, his voice trembling with something sacred and selfish.
“And make no mistake … I will rip the planes of existence apart with my bare fucking hands and shred anyone who dares to stand between you and me. Because you are mine. And I am yours. Forever.”
Jesus Christ.
My body shakes with the force and conviction of his words.
I should say something—do something—but all I can think about is how badly I need him. How badly I want to feel him under my hands, in my mouth, inside me.
“Take your clothes off,” I whisper, pushing him back. Ezra’s mouth pulls to one side in a devious smirk.
I remove the rest of my clothes and kick them aside. His gaze travels down my body before he undoes his belt and removes his pants.
As I step out of my underwear, my entire body goes numb.
Blood still streaks Ezra’s chin and neck. I didn’t notice it when I tasted him earlier—just salt and clover. But now? I can’t stop seeing it. Sticky and red and real in a way I didn’t let myself see before.
Ezra notices my unfocused gaze when he looks up from carefully stepping out of his boxer briefs.
“Aurora? Are you well? You look … confused,” he says as he wraps his arms around me.
“I … licked your neck and chin. I-It’s covered in blood. But that’s not what I tasted. Why did it taste so …”
I don’t want to finish my sentence.
Ezra’s pupils blow wide, but I don’t miss the way his shadows tighten. As if thrilled by my revelation. As if they already knew.
“Good?” Ezra finishes for me.
He runs his hand up my back, fists my hair, then gently pulls my head away from him, exposing my neck. A dark chuckle vibrates against my skin as he runs his nose up my throat.
“What did it taste like for you, little vixen? For me, it tastes like spring onions and cucumbers. Have you ever picked a cucumber on a hot summer day?” he asks, his tone soft but so, so wrong.
“The flesh is … mmm. Warm and sweet. Almost soft enough to melt on your tongue.” He pauses, eyes burning into me. “I’ve heard it’s different for everyone. So … tell me. What did it taste like, Aurora?”
“S-Salt and clover,” I whimper.
Ezra tightens his grip on my hair, sending tingles racing down my spine.
“Good girl,” he whispers, voice thick with pride and hunger.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
Not those words again.
When he releases my hair, I lift my head and immediately get lost in his dark, predatory gaze. Dried blood still stains his chin and neck. Ezra’s eyes lock onto mine, heavy with something unreadable. Something that makes my stomach flip.
He’s wondering what I’ll do next.
Me, too.
Thankfully, I don’t have to decide.
Some desperate thing in me takes over. And I don’t even try to stop it.
I throw my arms around him, pulling him close as my mouth finds the dried blood still clinging to his battered skin.
Ezra violently shudders beneath me, a soft whimper slipping from his parted lips. He places his hands at the back of my thighs, easily lifting me. My legs wrap tightly around his waist, while I continue to lick and suck at his neck.
My brain hits eleven-fifty-nine, takes one last look at the data, and whispers, “God help us all.”
But my body’s already riding the nuke like Major Kong screaming, “Yeehaw, baby!”
Sorry, brain; body wins.
I should find it disgusting. I should stop.
But there’s something so filthy, so perfectly animal about licking blood off his skin.
I’ll deal with what that says about me later.
Right now, all I want—all I see—is him.
Ezra carries me to his bed, lays me down, then leans over me, my legs still tightly wrapped around his waist.
“Fuck, yes. Mark me, my brutal little lupine, so everyone knows I’m yours.”
His shadows shudder, coiling up the headboard, inky flames licking at the dark wood.
Watching … waiting.
And then … they reach for me.
A tendril curls up my wrist, slipping between my fingers, begging to be held. Others slither up my stomach, wrapping around my waist in a desperate embrace. They want me too.
Ezra hums, a quiet sound of contentment that reverberates through him.
“Ah,” he purrs, watching the way his shadows cling to me. “So, you’ve finally decided to worship her properly.”
I suck hard on his neck, the taste of salt and clover flooding my tongue.
Ezra was right. I want him to fuck me while he’s still covered in blood and sweat. I want to be the reason he forgets to be gentle.
I rock my hips against him, greedy for friction, for anything, but he grips my waist and holds me still.
“Christ, Aurora. I want to feel you wrapped around my cock. I need you. But you have to say it. Please. I need to hear it,” he growls, moving one hand back to fist my hair.
When he pulls me away from his neck, I pout.
“I know, sweet girl, you’re so hungry. Next time, join me when I hunt. Show them your fury. Make them suffer like they’ve made others suffer. Then I’ll bathe in their blood. Smear it across my throat. My chest. My cock. Fucking cover myself, little goddess, if it means you’ll lick me clean.”
He pulls my hair roughly, making my back arch and my pussy throb.
“Say the words, Aurora. Make me yours,” Ezra growls.
I meet his heated gaze and lick my lips, tasting the last of the salt and clover.
“I need you, Ezra. So fucking bad. Fuck me. Please. I’m yours.”