Chapter 27
TWENTY-SEVEN
If you leave emotion out of your decision-making, you can survive anything.
LUCA
I’m buzzing. This is better than any high. As if my orgasm just happened, is still happening, and is about to happen all at once. Even the drops of water from Alistair’s shower feel better than normal. Warm, wet trails licking my skin.
Ali curls against my back. I can feel his heart beating. If Celine comes within arm’s length—I’ll have everything I want.
She wants to torment me first, though. That’s Alistair’s fault, obviously, but I’m caught in the crossfire. Her red underwear begs me to tear it off with my teeth. If I don’t get my hands on her in the next thirty seconds, I may scream.
As he watches her, Alistair vibrates with tension. Grinning, I grind against his erection. If I’m going to get teased, I might as well make things harder for Ali while I’m at it.
Smirk firmly in place, Celine laps his desperation up, licking her lips.
It’s too much for me.
“Baby,” I beg. “Please, come here.” I don’t give a shit if I sound needy. I need her, don’t I? I wasted years hiding my feelings, and I won’t make that mistake again.
Celine dips her fingers beneath the red lace slowly and rolls her bottom lip between her teeth. When she lets it pop free, it’s plump and pink, begging for me to devour.
“Why should I?” she asks. I groan as she slips one finger inside herself. “Do you think you could do a better job?”
That’s a loaded question. It’s her body. It gives her constant feedback. I have to read her reactions to know if I’m doing it right. Honestly, I need to think about that for a—
“Yes,” Alistair hisses. “We can steal the breath from your lungs and drag so many orgasms from you, you’ll lose count. You’ll beg for our cocks before the water runs cold.”
My eyes flutter closed. Fucking fuck. Why do they have to make everything a competition? And why does it make me hard every time?
Celine yawns. Deliberately. The challenge in her brown eyes is impossible to miss.
“Boring,” she taunts. “Predictable too. I’m not sure you’re worth the steps it would take to get over there.”
“I would worship you,” I whisper, trying to sweeten the deal before Alistair fucks everything up by being a competitive bastard.
“You can put me on my knees for as long as it takes, baby.” I’m not a submissive guy by nature—but I like to think I’m a quick learner, and if Celine wants to be in charge, only an idiot would try to boss her—
“Come here now,” Alistair demands.
I elbow him in the gut, hoping he takes the hint.
He has no idea how to grovel. It’s shocking. Maybe the transition to vampire destroyed his common sense. Or maybe it’s the blood loss . . . I don’t give a shit, but if he runs Celine off, he’s going to have to deal with the massive erection digging into my lower back on his own.
“You’re doing it wrong,” I say.
“If she would come closer, everything I do to her will feel bloody perfect.”
Celine leans against the mirror and slips her fingers out of her underwear. “You know, I’m not sure I’m in the mood anymore.”
The heat behind me vanishes as Alistair climbs dripping from the shower and grinds to a stop in front of her. Soaked, his black hair curls at the ends. Water runs along the muscles of his back, quickly creating a puddle on the floor.
“Would you have me on my knees, angel? Or would you rather I beg?”
They stare each other down, and I hold my breath. So stubborn. So sexy. At this point, I have no idea who will break first.
Celine lifts her chin defiantly and drags the finger she was using to play with herself up Alistair’s chest. “I want you to watch Luca have every inch of me—quietly and without complaint, knowing there’s no relief ahead for you.”
I shiver. Her voice is cold except for the slight hitch at the end, which tells me she’s not nearly as unaffected as she pretends to be.
Alistair’s shoulders tense. “Angel, I’m sorry for what I said that night. I never meant it, not even for one second. I swear it on my life.”
“Prove it.”
The steam in the bathroom swirls angrily around us, as if it senses the boiling tension too.
I want to comfort them both, but they have to fix this on their own in a way that makes sense to them.
Celine is fierce. She’s far from emotionless, though.
Alistair hurt her pride when he cut her down at the Fang in front of everyone, and this .
. . gods, this is her way of showing him how it felt.
Slowly—like it’s killing him—Alistair nods and backs away from her, one inch at a time, until he’s hunched against the wall, defeated. Water rolls down his chest. His cock is fully erect, and I wince. I can’t believe he’s going to try.
Celine pulls her thong off and offers the lace to him.
He snatches the red fabric from her, nostrils flaring.
“Can he get back in the shower to watch, baby?” I ask, feeling bad for the guy. “It’s cold out there.”
Celine nods as she steps into the shower with me, but Ali shakes his head. “I’ll stay away until she wants me with her.”
Gods, they’re killing me with the loaded statements.
I pull Celine into my chest and drop my lips to hers. She melts against me. She needs this kiss, this hug, this reminder that I’m not going anywhere—and I have no problem giving her all the reassurance she needs.
Her mouth is soft and sweet, the opposite of the tense standoff I witnessed. When her bottom lip quivers against mine, I kiss her harder. Your secrets are safe with me, baby.
Bending over, I hook my forearms under her ass and lift her, teasing the head of my cock against her wet pussy. The urge to thrust inside her is hard to ignore, but we have a show to put on, I have a role to play, and Alistair has a lesson to learn.
I scoot to the side until he can see exactly what he’s missing. Slowly, with my eyes locked on Celine’s, I push inside her and gasp. She feels amazing. Every time I think I’ll get over how good it feels to be with her, she surprises me all over again.
I wedge her tight against the shower wall.
Slow and steady, I ease in and out. My body, riled by Alistair’s bite, has other ideas. Ideas that involve using the shower wall as leverage to fuck her hard and fast.
My breath comes in hungry rasps, and I grind my pelvis against hers on every thrust.
Alistair’s jealous fury adds to the intensity, his predatory stare making the skin on my neck pebble around his bite mark.
When Celine gasps my name, I lose it.
Bringing one hand to her pussy, I rub her clit. Her fingers squeeze my shoulders, gripping me almost frantically.
As she grazes my collarbone with her thumb, I groan and say, “You can break it again if you want.”
Celine frowns with lips swollen from my kisses. “I never want to hurt you. Never.”
Her wet hair is a darker shade of red as it hangs over her shoulders and tangles around us both. When her chin falls, I drop my mouth to her neck. “If you worry about a couple of broken bones, you’ll make me look soft, baby.”
She rolls her eyes, but the sadness disappears.
A strangled grunt reminds me that Alistair is still exiled, watching from his cold, lonely corner. I glance over my shoulder, and my breath catches.
Head pressed against the wall. Blood-red eyes locked on us. Alistair’s jaw is clenched painfully tight. My eyes trail over his naked body, admiring the veins in his forearm as they throb, then tracing the lines of muscle and bone down to his white-knuckled grip on Celine’s red thong.
Alistair shivers, but the heat in his stare . . . it makes me shiver too.
“He’s sorry, baby,” I blurt. “Look how fucking sorry he is.”
Celine’s breath stutters, and her lungs expand against my chest.
I’m not trying to rub his face in anything—fuck, I hope Ali knows that.
I just want us to be okay again. I want to fall asleep knowing we’re watching each other’s backs.
I want to wake up and check the windows for sun sneaking around the shades.
When Alistair inevitably gets prickly over the reminder of what he can’t do, I want to remind him how good the night feels so he forgets how much he misses the sun.
“Get in here, Ali,” Celine says.
Alistair joins us so quickly the curtain flutters and cold air stings my bare ass.
I pull Celine away from the shower wall and jerk my chin toward the now vacant spot. Alistair slides into the space, and I grin. He can be my leverage. I ease Celine back against his chest, kissing her deeply.
“Little help?” I let Celine slide an inch down my waist. “It’s slippery in here.”
Alistair shoots me a wild look, then laces his fingers with mine under Celine’s thighs.
Dropping my mouth to her nipple, I lick and nibble at the tip, increasing the pressure until she makes my favorite sounds. When she bites her lip, I pull it free with my teeth. “Don’t,” I beg. “I want to hear you.”
Dragging my lips back to the curve of her breast, I hear the smile in her voice as she orders me to keep going. All demand. Celine knows what she wants, and it’s my pleasure to give it to her.
“Right there?” I sputter, adjusting my angle until I hear her gasp.
Her answering wail makes the burn in my quads worth it, and when she stiffens in our arms, it’s all I can do not to follow her over the edge.
Alistair’s fingers shake against mine. His eyes flit from Celine’s neck to my lips to the place where we’re all stacked together, warm water trailing over muscles and curves. It’s messy and a little clumsy, but I can’t get enough.
The coil inside me snaps, and I fuck into Celine mindlessly, losing my rhythm as my orgasm crashes over me. Knees trembling, my vision whites out. Blindly, my lips find hers, and I only pull away to bury my face in her neck when I run out of air.
Don’t drop her. Don’t drop her. Don’t drop her. I repeat the command to my malfunctioning brain, grateful for Alistair’s helping hands.
“Holy fuck,” I moan as sensation returns to my body.
Pulling my head back, I look at Celine. Her eyes are glazed. Her perfect tits are a rosy, splotchy pink—from the hot water and my stubble. Lips puffy from my kisses, she rests her head in the crook of Alistair’s neck and smiles. My stomach twists. She’s beautiful.
“Thank you,” Celine whispers.
I blink, unsure if my inside thoughts got loose or if she’s thanking me for the fuck. My exhausted dick twitches at the thought. I focus on Alistair next.
Water rolls down his cheekbones as he blocks Celine’s face from the direct spray. His eyes—blue and shiny—are clear for the first time in weeks. He’s staring at Celine like she’s the answer to every question he’s ever had.
I shudder. Ali notices and aims his possessive gaze my way.
I’m aware of every place we’re touching—from the brush of my foot against his to our fingers grazing around Celine’s thighs. It’s fucking intimate.
I wait for Alistair to break eye contact, but he doesn’t.
It settles the hungry, restless itch inside me.
Maybe we’re sturdy enough to come through the other side of this—if not unchanged, at least stronger. No matter what happens, if they’re with me I’ll have no complaints.
My basilisk and I are in complete agreement over that.