54. Summer
Chapter Fifty-Four
Summer
Unknown
Good girl.
H is message comes through seconds after I reach my own disappointing orgasm, taunting me, the screen of my phone casting the only light in the room.
I thought he had stopped watching, assumed that he had looked away when I had pretended to go to sleep, but the lie curls in my stomach.
I close my eyes, trying to force myself to believe it, to believe that it hadn’t turned me on to feel his eyes on me, knowing what he must be doing at the same time.
My lips tingle, and I know that he’s painted them again with his cum.
Summer
Stop.
I won’t take it. I won’t succumb to him. My tongue slides along my bottom lip, and my eyes roll from the taste.
Unknown
Stop liking it, then.
As I am trying to decide how to respond, he sends me a video.
I hesitate, knowing I am not going to like whatever it is, but curiosity gets the better of me, and I click on it.
I watch as I touch my dripping cunt and moan his name.
The second clip comes through, and I don’t even bother to pretend I don’t want to see it.
Opening it, there is no denying the pleasure on my face as I lick my lips, savoring the taste of his cum.
I scrub at my lips, trying to wipe away residual traces of his release, but I can still feel it there, still taste him on my tongue.
Unknown
You knew I was watching, and you performed for me. What a good girl.
Summer
I didn’t.
The lies are smothering me.
Unknown
You loved the feeling of my eyes on you as you touched yourself. I bet you’re lying in a puddle of your own arousal.
Summer
You don’t know me.
I want it to be true, but I don’t know how accurate that is anymore.
Unknown
Check for yourself.
I try to ignore him, wanting to disobey, but I can’t. I turn the lamp on and shove the covers down, revealing the damp sheets between my thighs.
Unknown
You checked. My soaking-wet
good girl .
I growl and turn my phone off, shoving it into the bedside drawer.
Turning the lamp off again, I flop back onto the bed and pull the covers up to my chin.
I lie there in the dark, willing myself to go back to sleep, but now that my attention has been drawn to the damp patch, it is irritating my skin.
I am deciding if I want to get up to change the sheet when Alice knocks on the door and pops her head in.
“You okay?” I ask, sitting up.
Alice nods. “I need to go check on my plants. Are you good to watch the baby?”
“Sure. But it’s like four in the morning?.?.?.”
Alice yawns. “I know, but they need to be watered and fed every five hours.” She groans, but I can see the sparkle of joy in her eyes. She is really enjoying this class. “Rafe’s awake too. He’s trying to work out, but he keeps busting his back wounds open.”
“I’ll handle it,” I say, slipping out of bed.
Alice nods and leaves as I pull on one of Connor’s hoodies.
It is huge, enveloping me in softness and warmth.
I lift the collar to my nose and inhale deeply, imagining that I can still catch the faint scent of him.
A smile tugs at my lips, feeling as if he has wrapped me in a hug.
The floor is cool against my feet, and I wish I had slipped on socks as I pad down the hall to Rafe’s room. Pushing open his door, I find him stretched out on the floor doing push-ups. His arms shake as he presses his chest off the floor.
“Rafe. What are you doing?”
He glances up at me, his face glazed with sweat. “Working out.”
I roll my eyes. “Barely. Bed now.”
“It’s fine,” Rafe grunts, slowly lowering himself back to the floor.
“Now, Rafe,” I demand as he attempts another painful push from the floor.
His entire body trembles, and he collapses back to the ground, panting.
“Rafael,” I warn, and he narrows his eyes at me before conceding. Moving with the care of someone who is in extreme pain, he gracelessly shifts to his knees and climbs onto the bed.
He collapses onto the mattress, tracking me as I walk to his bedside table and pour him a glass of water from a stylish carafe. I hand it to him, and he downs it in two large gulps .
“Are you hungry?” I ask, scanning his body carefully for any obvious damage.
“Why won’t you let me work out?” he asks, clearly irritated.
“You’re still healing, and you’re prolonging the process by pushing yourself like this. Now answer me. Are you hungry?”
He pouts but nods.
I fill his glass again and set it on the bedside table.
“Okay, I’ll grab you a steak.” I can tell by the defiant tip of his chin that he’s planning on continuing to work out the moment I leave the room.
The stubborn asshole that he is. I roll my eyes and sigh.
“Don’t move or I’ll find out how to do an Infernal rune to hold you here. ”
He glares at me but then relaxes into the bed, grimacing a little as his back brushes against the pillow.
I round the bed and help him sit up so I can arrange the pillows, making him as comfortable as possible before I head downstairs to get his food.
Alice and I finally made peace with the fact that there is no point in warming it.
He enjoys it just as much, if not more, completely raw.
I pull it from the fridge, and the red slab of meat makes a wet noise as I slap it down on the plate.
Alice has portioned out a whole week’s worth of brimstone into little baggies, and I sprinkle one onto his meal.
I return to his room barely five minutes later to find a still-pouting Rafe lying on the bed, his arms crossed.
“I’m healing fine,” he grumbles.
“Will you stop being an asshole and just give yourself time?”
“How am I being an asshole?”
“You’re transitioning from an angel to a Fallen. You need rest.”
“Demons heal faster,” he says petulantly.
I glare at him. “Yeah, demons do. Not freshly Fallen.” There is very little research on Fallen, given how infrequently it has occurred, but I did find one transcript that mentioned the last Fallen was hidden within the palace of Hell for three months while his body underwent painful changes.
Compared to that, Rafe is breezing through it.
He’s sore, but he’s not writhing in constant, excruciating pain.
“Since when did you become an expert in demonology?” Rafe scoffs.
“I’m not an expert,” I say, picking up the textbook that I’d placed under the bed, just below where I usually sleep. “I am an intermediate in demonology, and I have been ever since my brother became one. ”
Rafe rolls his eyes, but I can see a hint of gratitude there. I help him sit up a little and hand him the plate.
“Thanks,” he says, some of his stubborn energy dissipating. I nod and climb into bed next to him, picking at the sandwich I made for myself.
“What’s up with you?” Rafe asks, wiping the trail of blood that is tracking down his chin from his first bite of steak.
“What do you mean?”
He nods at the sandwich that I’m playing with. “You’re not eating again. I thought you were working on that.”
“I’m trying,” I say with a sigh. It’s the truth.
I am trying to eat more, and my appetite is even coming back, but sometimes when I’m particularly down, I struggle with it.
I don’t think I am feeling down at the moment, but the emotional upheaval of the last couple of days has my stomach turning at just the idea of food. Plus, it’s not even 5:00 a.m.
He nudges me. “Eat, then.”
I take a bite of the sandwich, and as if that’s an invitation, Rafe rips into his steak ravenously. I manage to eat half of my food before I need to stop, but he smiles at me, seemingly satisfied. Gathering our plates, I set them on the bedside table before we both settle back in the bed.
“I won’t be injured forever, you know.”
“I know.”
“So you’re going to have to stop babying me.”
I sigh. “Just let us take care of you for now. Please?”
“Fine,” Rafe says reluctantly.
“We also need to discuss your going back to school,” I say, and Rafe tenses.
“Not yet,” he says. “We should try to sleep more.”
I nod.
“Where’s Alice?”
I shrug, my eyes already growing heavy. “Watering plants or something.”
Rafe chuckles. “Who’d have thought she’d be able to nurture anything?”
My lips twitch, and we both drift off.