Chapter 26 – Kalista
Chapter Twenty-Six
Kalista
We entered Tristan’s bathroom, and I was relieved that it wasn’t decorated in the dark colors of his bedroom, which were grey, red, emerald-green, and black. The bedroom seemed the same size as my entire apartment in Las Vegas.
It had a huge four-poster bed with black, silk sheets and a black comforter accented with grey, red, and emerald-green. There were a few accent pillows with emerald-green and red designs sewn in, but otherwise, the room was a sea of differing hues of black and grey with rich mahogany furniture. The heavy drapes were grey with red and emerald-green sheers while the walls were a textured dark marble with a thick dark grey carpet on the floor. There was a huge fireplace with several large logs lit in a crackling fire surrounded by a comfortable-looking sofa and armchairs in one corner of the room. Another corner had a similar furniture setup with a coffee table in the center, but a large-screen plasma on the wall instead of the fireplace. There was no way that fireplace served any purpose other than decorative because temperature for a vampire was nonexistent.
There were several large potted plants throughout the room, giving it a very airy and soothing ambience. The drape on one side of the room was open to reveal an entire wall of glass that had an amazing view of a snowy mountainside. I only realized that it was artificial when Tristan pressed a remote on our way to the bathroom and the scene changed to a view of a white sandy beach with clear turquoise water and lapping waves, which instantly extinguished the fire out in the fireplace, as the sound of the waves came with a cool breeze and the fresh scent of the sea.
His bedroom was incredible, and I could easily see myself curling up in one of those comfortable chairs and reading a book.
The bathroom, astonishingly, was almost as large as his bedroom but had light color tones and was refreshingly airy. The room had a massive shower stall that had two shower nozzles on either end, a massive sunken hot tub, spacious granite-top counters with oak wood cabinets, comfortable cushioned benches and armchairs, chrome fixtures, and textured cream marble floor and wall tiles.
“I’ve got it from here,” I mumbled, stepping away from Tristan and hoping that he would leave so that I could take a long hot bath. “Look, Tristan…” I continued because he didn’t so much as blink. He just kept staring at me as if he couldn’t quite grasp the concept that I was there with him. “I’m so tired and want nothing more than to take a bath, so I’m not even going to complain about you bringing me to your lair instead of taking me home.”
Tristan ignored me and moved toward the bathtub.
I turned to one of the cabinets above the sink. I found a new toothbrush and toothpaste. My mouth tasted dreadful, and I was probably feeling sick because of it. I brushed my teeth as Tristan wordlessly turned the tap on, tested the water temperature until he was satisfied, and then left the faucet on as the tub began to fill. He poured some dark-colored liquid into the water and immediately the room smelled like lavender. He then moved back to me and started pulling the hoodie over my head.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea. I seriously stink.”
“Humor me,” he murmured. “I need to do this. I need to touch you and to see you.
“But—”
“But nothing,” he admonished. “Baby, I can’t see anything but how beautiful you are. I can’t smell anything but your sweet scent. And there is nothing about you that I don’t absolutely adore.”
“God, what can I possibly say to that?” I breathed in shock. Tristan was my mate, so of course, I knew how he felt, just as he must know how I feel. However, his words still stunned me. I didn’t even protest when he stripped every piece of clothing from my body and dispensed with my boots with easy efficiency.
He lifted me again and gently placed me in the sunken tub, which was now filled with warm water and scented suds. The water felt amazing on my skin, and I couldn’t help the deep moan of pleasure from crossing my lips.
For the second time within mere minutes, Tristan fell to his knees, and he gently started bathing me. He even washed my hair, patiently ensuring that no soap got into my eyes. He was so careful and tender that I didn’t even protest as he washed every inch of my body.
He stood and slowly stripped his clothes off. God, I will never get tired of looking at him. And as he turned to push away his soiled clothes, it was only then that the significance of the long scar at his back registered. It was the wound he had sustained helping me as a child. This man has saved my life four times now. I giggled at the thought of how pissed off Tristan got at even the possibility of danger to me.
“What’s so funny?” he murmured as he slid into the tub with me. He sat behind me and then pulled me to lie back against his chest.
“I was just thinking that my job requires me to face danger every day, but you go stark raving mad at the thought of me doing my job.”
“And you find that funny?”
“Yes, actually,” I whispered. I took his arms and wrapped them around me, gently stroking the wet skin of his sinewy arms. “As much as you may want to keep me safe, I will never be safe, babe. My life is surrounded by danger. And you are the most dangerous thing of all.”
“I get that your life is surrounded by danger, piccola tigre, but so is mine. And yet, as strong as I am and despite the impenetrable shield protecting my body, I am still surrounded by bodyguards. I still need the wolves, my nephews, or my brothers to have my back.”
“I get it…”
“No, you don’t get it,” he said gutturally. He tightened his arms around me and whispered close to my ear, “ Tu s ei l’amore della mia vita. Il mio unico amore. Il mio tutto .”
“What?” My brain was pure mush. His scent filled my senses, and all I could think of was his hard body surrounding me. There wasn’t a chance in hell of me understanding Italian with his sexy, virile body pressed against me. Hell, I was barely following the English he spoke.
“Sorry,” he whispered hoarsely. “I can’t…” His voice cracked. “I lost Papa. I lost him, and I can’t…”
I wiggled out of his hold and turned around to straddle him and wrap my arms around his neck. His eyes were blood red but glassy with despair.
“If you haven’t noticed yet, I’m difficult to kill,” I joked.
He swallowed hard but didn’t return my smile. “Alexi was surrounded by all of us, and our enemies still killed him. All of us are difficult to kill, yet none of us are impossible to kill.”
“I don’t take what happened to Alexi lightly, nor do I deliberately put my life in more danger than it needs to be. Ever since I was almost abducted, raped, and sold into child prostitution when I was eight years old, Alexi ensured that I always had the wolves guarding me. You do remember my near abduction, right?”
“You know?”
“That you saved my life back then?” I smiled at him with all the gratitude that suddenly filled me. This man had saved my life when he could have so easily ignored such an insignificant and, most often, routine event in his criminal world. “Yeah, I know. And thank you,” I said softly. “I’ve always wanted to thank you for saving me that day. So did Alexi, by the way. Do you think he knew?”
I finally got that smile that I had hoped for.
“I am all but certain that Alexi knew.”
I sobered and held his gaze steadily. “You bear a vicious scar on your back because of me.” I reached up and held him to me as I kissed him softly. “And tonight, you saved me again.”
“ Tu sei la mia vita ,” he murmured before kissing me again.
I lifted my lips from his. “Tell me what you said in Italian, now and before.”
“I told you”—he kissed my lips gently— “that you are the love of my life”—another light, feather kiss— “my only love”—another kiss that conveyed his adoration— “my everything.”
“Oh God,” I breathed, incredibly happy and loving every bit of his declaration.
“I also said that you are my life. You have to know that I will always be here to protect you because you are mine to protect.”
“You gave me a mating bite, didn’t you?” I asked him.
“You know I did,” he murmured. “You know that our connection is complete. We are one body, one breath, one soul.”
“I feel it, and I suspected it, but I didn’t know for sure,” I whispered. “Is that why I can read your mind and you can read mine?”
“ Si, amore mia .” Tristan fused our lips and kissed me deeply. It was the most intense kiss we had ever shared. It was filled with his dark emotions, filled with dominance and fierce passion. I could do nothing but return his kiss.
I closed my eyes as his emotions, his needs, filtered through our link and ratcheted up my desire to such intensity that I shivered helplessly. Our tongues dueled, and we sucked, nipped, and reveled in each other. We kissed endlessly, our exploration of each other reverent and urgent. He knew just how much to squeeze my breasts and pinch my nipples because he could feel how it affected me, same as I knew how to touch his chest, how to grip his cock. The passion between us reached an unimaginable zenith even without his length being buried in me. Our pleasure in each other’s taste, in our sensual caresses, and even in our scent all melded and converged until we climaxed, our bodies wrecked by the tsunami of crushing pleasure.
I was languid and relaxed when he lifted me in his arms again and took me to the shower. I didn’t bother opening my eyes as he rinsed me off. I was barely conscious when he placed me in the cool sheets of his bed, naked and so sated that I only wanted to snuggle in the covers and sleep.
But Tristan didn’t let me sleep.
Instead, he pulled the softest material I’ve ever felt over my head and pushed my arms in the long sleeves. I was too lazy to open my eyes, but the material felt like cashmere, making me feel cherished and oh so spoilt. He moved away for a few minutes, and I grabbed the time to snuggle into his bed and savor his scent saturating the pillow and the sheets.
Too soon, he lifted me again and placed me in his lap.
“You need to eat,” he admonished gently when I laid my head on his chest and snuggled into him.
“Too sleepy,” I murmured.
“Open your mouth.”
I didn’t have the energy to argue. I opened my mouth, and he slid the spoon in. I hummed with pleasure as the most delicious soup I’ve ever tasted coated my tongue. I didn’t know what the hell it was. I couldn’t even tell when I finally pried my eyes open to look. It was dark brown, filled with chunks of vegetables, meat, and some kind of beans. He placed a piece of warm bread on my lips, and I bit into it wordlessly. I was rewarded for my obedience because the bread was delicious too. Tristan continued to feed me, and I ate until I was filled and pushed the spoon away.
I found myself airborne again as Tristan took me to the bathroom to brush my teeth, which I did without protest.
“Your version of taking care of me is nice. You’d better be careful that I don’t expect this every day,” I said as he placed me back on the bed.
He chuckled. “I intend to take care of you like this for the rest of our very long immortal lives.”
I must have slept, because when I opened my eyes next, it was pitch-dark in the room and I was on my side with Tristan spooning me from behind. We were decadently naked. Before meeting Tristan, I never knew that sleeping naked could be so liberating.
I was aching with lust. Sleeping naked next to him had my breasts taut and my nipples pebbled to hard peaks. My clit was pulsing madly and my core dripping wet. It didn’t help that Tristan’s cock was like a hot steel pipe between us. The hard column was nestled in the crack of my bottom and extended to the middle of my back. God, I loved his erect cock.
“Part your thighs.” His gravelly voice made my insides twitch and tighten with desire.
I wanted whatever he was offering, so I wordlessly widened my thighs by throwing one of my legs over his hard thigh behind me.
He lifted his hand to my face and showed me fire shooting from his fingertips.
I gasped.
“No part of me can ever hurt you,” he murmured.
I stared at the fire, for a moment not comprehending where he was going with this.
“I want to caress you,” he said softly.
“Are you crazy?” I was tensed with doubt because I couldn’t see how fire wasn’t going to burn my skin. However, even as I watched, the flames continued to flow out of his fingertips and seemed to be constantly changing, smooth waves of blue, green, and silver light.
“Trust me, amore mia .”
His fingers dipped between my pussy lips, delving into the wet, silky folds, and slid over the sensitive flesh of my clit. I was already hard and pulsing, and his caress only made me pulse harder. Instead of feeling five fingers delving into my pussy, it felt like ten, tormenting, skillful fingers that worried by clit, sliding over and around the sensitive flesh, several probing my dewy opening, sliding in and out of me, hooking inside and thumping against the tight cluster of nerves in my depths. And then his other hand gripped my breasts, with, yet again, ten tormenting fingers pinching and plucking at my flesh.
Sensations rocked through me that I never dreamed possible. And then I felt the flames licking through me, and it was fucking glorious.
Tristan slid his big cock into me from behind. He fucked into me hard and fast, while his exquisitely torturous fingers remained on my breast and clit. He sank his fangs into me and drunk deeply. The pull of his lips, the steely glide of his cock into my sensitive walls, and the sensual caress of his fire-fingers sent mind-numbing passion coursing through me. His pleasure blended with my pleasure, every sensation so excruciatingly intense that my brain fractured as my body combusted into blissful oblivion. I trembled, my heart stuttered and stopped and jolted again, only to do the same staccato rhythm again and again. My breathing was shit because there was no air to my starved lungs, and a scream ripped from me as I climaxed so fucking hard that my body imploded into millions of microscopic particles.
Tristan’s roar of completion mingled with my scream, only making me climax again and again in a seemingly endless loop of ecstasy.
When I woke next, the snowy mountain scene was back on the wall and the fireplace was ablaze. I was laying on my stomach but was also spread eagle because Tristan was leaning over me, tenderly trailing his lips and fingers over me, caressing and kissing along my body from buttocks to neck, softly, reverently. My skin tingled with searing pleasure.
“This is the sexiest back and ass,” he said gutturally. “Fuck, you have the sexiest body I’ve ever seen.”
“You like my body? I couldn’t tell.” I grinned because his cock was already hard and pulsing against my smooth ass cheek.
“Don’t think that I haven’t noticed that you are just lapping up my declarations of admiration and love but haven’t once hinted that you even like me.”
I smiled. “I haven’t? That can’t be true,” I teased.
“You mock me?”
“Never, my love.” I couldn’t help but hear the hurt and uncertainty in his voice, even though I could only read his surface thoughts. “I am simply relishing the secrets of my heart.” I flipped over to my back, reached up, and kissed his lips tenderly before trailing my lips along his cheek and then his neck. “I think I have loved you since I was eight years old, Il Carnefice . No man has ever compared to you, not even Alexi or any of the wolves. No man was ever handsome enough, strong enough, tough enough, or dangerous enough. You were everything my heart desired. And then I met Tristan, the vampire. Again, my protector, but he was also my lover, my mate, my life. Tristan feeds every sensual cell in my body. How can you doubt how I feel about you?”
“I knew that you desire me. You are obsessed with my cock,” he teased.
I laughed. “Well, that’s true. That cock earns at least eighty percent of my affection.” I laughed again, and he laughed with me.
I sobered and held his gaze.
“I didn’t hesitate to say it because I didn’t feel it. No. As my mate, you can sense my emotions just as easily as I can sense yours. However, what I feel for you is so big, Tristan, so damn overwhelming that I can’t seem to find the words to express it. You have always been in my heart, even when I didn’t know it. I love you today more than I loved you when you emptied an entire restaurant for our date. I love you more than when you saved my family and kept them safe. Love you more than I did yesterday when you saved me from the Chamber, and I am certain that I will love you tomorrow more than I love you today. I can’t seem to help it. You are everything to me.”
“Oh God, baby, I adore you.” His voice was husky with emotion. “I won’t lie and say I loved you from when you were eight years old, because I didn’t, and I would have been a perv. I admired your strength and your bravery then. But meeting you on the streets of Vegas… Kali, you owned me from that day to now, and I can’t imagine spending one moment of my life without you.”
“When you say life, how long are we talking here?”
“Nine hundred years or so, give or take. I am a young vampire, after all.”
I gaped at him. “What?”
“When we mated, your life became tied to mine. You will live as long as I live.”
“You mean that I would die if you do?”
“Not instantly. You will become mortal again, susceptible to old age and illnesses as any mortal are and you will die a mortal death.”
“What happens if I die first? I was almost killed in the Chamber only a few hours ago.”
‘Don’t even joke about that shit.” He stared at me in horror. “If you die, I cannot live. I simply cannot.” His eyes were bright with emotions.
“Okay,” I told him gently. “I understand. I won’t want to live without you either, so you’d better not do anything to get yourself killed,” I warned him and then sighed as I considered what had been our biggest obstacle so far. “We are going to have to work out how I continue to work, while simultaneously being in the immortal world.”
“You will take the bodyguards I assign to you,” he said in an uncompromising voice. “If you insist on living in the mortal world, we will have to think of how to keep the mortals in your life safe. Your mother, your siblings, your coworkers, and your friends. As my mate and a family member of the Petrovs, you will have mortal and immortal enemies who will try to use them to get to you and therefore get to me. So, our plan has to be solid. And you will stop working whenever you become pregnant with my child. That’s nonnegotiable,” he muttered when I started to protest.
I sighed in resignation and bliss because the thought of his baby, our baby, in my arms made my entire body tingle with sudden need. “Can we work on that baby now please?”