15. Maya #2
That wasn’t the only relief I felt. No, I couldn’t properly describe how I felt in the face of these men not only being my mates but accepting me despite my past. My life was shifting and changing, and while a small thing, I felt a pure surge of contentment at the idea of going to bed upstairs tonight and starting tomorrow with a completely fresh mindset.
One that included my mates.
I woke up to a room bathed in darkness, and I panicked for a moment, only to have a true sigh of relief leave me once I gained my bearings. My head was surrounded by the softest pillows, and the blanket over me sheltered my freshly washed skin.
Earlier I’d stood in the shower for at least an hour before even washing my hair, using a rosemary mint shampoo, and then proceeded to shave, like, everywhere.
That sounded weird, but my mother had no reason to teach me how to shave, so before school started I’d done a botched job of it after seeing all the women in Cosmo.
This time around, everything was far smoother—even down there. Vogue called that ‘trimming the lady bush,’ which I had to admit, made me laugh so hard I nearly cried. Who the heck came up with these things? Maybe I needed to work for Vogue.
My body was cocooned in warmth, and I was glad I’d asked the twins to stay with me.
I wasn’t sure why, but something about what I’d gone through had really messed with them.
Both were shirtless and lay facing me, their dark lashes brushing against their skin.
I could see their tattoos now, and holy smokes were there a lot of them.
I wanted to touch them, but I worried I would never stop, which was a problem because I was really thirsty.
I unwrapped myself and crawled towards the end of the bed, letting my toes press against the floor. Before leaving the room, I walked to the massive panel of windows and looked over the forest, highlighted by moonlight. I was surprised my mother and Jed had yet to show up with the cops.
Well, actually…my mother didn’t really surprise me.
My feet barely made a noise as I walked downstairs, and I was surprised to find a figure in the living room. Sai. Was he having issues sleeping?
“Sai?” I asked softly as I tiptoed into the living room. I could tell it was his dark head tilted down, and a bottle of something sat in front of him.
I tried again. “Sai? Why aren’t you in bed?”
He groaned in a pained voice and looked up, his dark eyes red-rimmed and jaw tense. I froze because he seemed angry, and I couldn’t gauge at what.
“Maya,” he said softly. “You should go to bed.”
I ignored him and approached carefully, a shiver going through me as I walked toward him, my arms wrapping around my center. I was glad I had put a robe on over my gown now.
“Are you okay?”
“No,” he admitted. “I had no idea you’d been living like that…”
“Sai,” I whispered, “how could you have known? It doesn’t matter anymore, anyway, I’m here, and I’m okay.”
He braced his arms on his knees and looked up at me, his gaze starting at my toes and moving methodically up to where my hair laid in a messy bun. He grunted. “Fuck.”
“What?” I asked, authentically concerned as I sat next to him. He instantly lifted me to sit on his lap, nuzzling into my neck and taking a deep breath. I turned into him and grasped his face, my chest meeting his. I felt my legs clench at how hard he was underneath me.
“This is dangerous,” he said, almost to himself. “You aren’t ready for any of this.”
I wasn’t one hundred percent positive what he was talking about, but my guess was his physical form of hitting on me?
I mean, his erection was pretty freakin’ apparent, and a small shiver of desire began to crawl through me.
I could still imagine how freakin’ big he was, and I’m sorry, but that was just interesting to me. I was curious.
“You don’t know that,” I said slowly, and he met my eyes in disbelief.
“Maya…”
“I don’t know a lot, Sai, and I’m not ashamed about it. I know I like you, though, and I just thought…”
I paused and realized what I wanted from him.
“What?” he asked softly.
I smiled. “Will you be my first kiss?”
I mean, they said we were mates, right? I’m assuming mates would want to mate eventually? So I should probably get that kissing part thing down. I was really interested in getting to that other part, but this seemed like a good start.
An indecipherable look crossed his face as his eyes melted to a warm pool of midnight water. He hesitated for a moment, looking over my face and then my lips.
“Are you sure?” His voice was husky.
I nodded. “Please.”
“Maker,” he mumbled before pulling me closer to him so we were nose to nose.
“I don’t know how?—”
But then I did. His lips met mine, and a content sound came from my throat at how right this closeness felt. On instinct, I leaned in closer, and he deepened the kiss, his hands grabbing my waist in a solid hold. I was very glad I’d asked for what I wanted.
My first kiss was amazing. I didn’t have a comparison chart, but I could feel my entire body growing warm as that burning ember grew, my body urging me closer.
I wanted to taste more of him, and my tongue swept across his lips as he let out a low rumble.
I found myself tangling my hands inside his hair, completely lost in the kiss, until he finally pulled away, his cheeks flushed and eyes dark.
“Shit, Maya,” he whispered.
I blushed. “That was amazing. I mean, at least for me…”
He kissed me again for my answer, and this kiss had a slightly different feel.
I could almost feel the tension under his skin, and I was shaking from excitement.
My body was keyed up for something, more than just my need for him, but I had no idea what.
It was like someone had filled my veins with gasoline and set fire to it.
“Sai,” a warning voice called from the kitchen. I blushed and looked up, unashamed, to see Marco leaning against the doorframe. Sai groaned and put his head against my neck, and I brushed his hair gently.
“Maya, kitten, I’m going to go to bed. I don’t trust myself right now,” Sai whispered, his eyes dark.
Trust himself? Well, I trusted him. If he thought that was best…
I kissed his lips in a barely there movement. “Thanks for my first kiss.”
He pulled me closer before placing me down on the couch and striding away. I could totally see how much he liked me from here. My lips curled into a smile, and that was how Marco captured me.
“Hi,” I whispered as he lifted me up, wrapping my legs around his waist. I could still feel the weird energy under my skin, and Marco groaned in response to it.
“I feel…” I mumbled, not knowing how to describe it. It was an odd feeling, like heat was trying to burst from my stomach, but at the same time, my core was tightening with need.
He placed me on the kitchen counter, looking into my eyes. “How do you feel?”
I bit my lip, shivering when his hand brushed my leg. His body stilled as he looked at me with some type of realization I didn’t understand. My toes curled as he stepped closer to me, running his nose along my collarbone.
“Fuck,” he mumbled.
“What?”
“You’re starting to go into heat with your birthday so close,” he groaned, holding me close. “It will be really…interesting when it fully sets in.”
“What’s heat?” I frowned. “Isn’t that for animals?”
“Yes,” he said. “Or shifters. We don’t know what you are, so I have no idea how this will work. We need to work on that today…”
His hands smoothed up my legs distractedly as he gazed out the window in thought, and the movement had a hot rush flooding through me. A whimper came from my throat, and Marco’s head snapped toward mine.
“Do you think you can go to sleep right now, baby girl?” he asked, his chest doing that odd rumbling again. My skin was prickling, and I felt antsy, shifting as my nipples tightened painfully. I felt my nails dig into his forearm lightly as his eyes darkened to nearly black.
I frowned. “I’m not sure—I feel very warm.”
He nodded and pinned me with a look. “How bad is it?”
I didn’t know what he was talking about, but the word “bad” leapt from my mouth. I just knew that if he would touch me, it would fix some of this.
I leaned forward into him, and Marco seemed to snap to some decision because he lifted my body up and walked the two of us towards the living room. I let out a small sound at the feeling of our pelvises connecting as I straddled him—holy crap, he was hard.
“What can I do to make it better?” he whispered, looking pained.
I shivered and pressed my body close to him, rolling my hips forward and letting out a whimper as his large hand floated from my hip to cup my butt.
“Shit,” he groaned. “Maya, honey, you need to give me some direction here, because I don’t trust the direction I’d take.”
My toes curled and I wiggled closer to him, my hips rocking of their own accord. Oh wow. I gasped as his hardness pressed against me, the apex of my thighs warm and wet. Marco continued to hold me close, but his other hand tilted my chin to look him in the eye.
“I’m going to do something, and you tell me at any point to stop.”
I was totally okay with that because let me tell you, I had no idea what I was doing here. I just felt needy, and my heart was going a million miles an hour. A fluttering, like wings, sounded from within me.
I nodded, and he closed his eyes with a deep breath, like he was searching for some level of control.
My eyes fluttered shut as his mouth met mine in the barest of kisses, his free hand grazing up my ribs and across my silk robe and gown underneath.
My breasts felt tight and heavy as he teased the underside of them.
I wanted…I wanted him to touch me there. I took one of my hands and grasped his, encouraging his hand to move to my very hard nipple as he deepened the kiss.