Chapter 32 #2
“Bex!” Valentina greets warmly, leaning in to plant a kiss on each of my cheeks. Then she pulls back with a smile and lifts her gaze. “Eli, I’m delighted to see you’ve finally come to your senses with this one. You two are an item now, from what I hear?”
“We are.” He slides an arm around my waist, pulling me back against his chest.
I sink into him on instinct, giving Valentina a shameless once-over. I’m still struck by how fucking beautiful she is. Her dress leaves very little to the imagination, and naturally, I take full advantage of the view.
She notices.
“Wanna play again, sweet mortal?” she asks.
“Mine,” Elliott snaps.
Valentina’s brows lift as she looks up at him. “Never took you for the possessive type.”
“Oh, he is,” I say with a laugh, settling more of my weight against him.
His fingers splay wide over my stomach, holding me close.
“Noted,” Valentina murmurs, huffing a little sigh of disappointment. “Well, if you change your mind, you know where to find me.”
She winks at me, then wiggles her fingers in a little wave before turning and disappearing back into the crowd.
Heads turn as she passes, attention following her all the way across the room. Somehow, I doubt she’ll have any trouble finding someone else to entertain her tonight.
Elliott’s arm tightens around my middle. “If you really want to, then–”
I shake my head, turning in his arms before he can finish. “Oddly enough, I’m not even a little interested.”
His brow furrows.
“I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m having fun” I say. “And I’m definitely glad we came so I could finally see one of these for myself. But…” I trail off, reaching up to cup his cheek. “I kinda just want you all to myself.”
Something in his expression softens.
“The feeling is mutual,” he murmurs, leaning into my touch.
That tiny movement does something stupid to my heart.
There was a time when every brush of my fingers made him tense. Every attempt at contact was met with hesitation, suspicion, or outright retreat. But now, he leans into my palm. These days, it’s like we can’t touch each other enough.
His hand on my back. Mine tucked into his. His palm on my thigh, my head against his shoulder. Some part of us is always reaching for the other, as if the bond has created its own gravitational pull, drawing us back together whenever we drift apart.
I fucking love it.
James and Taylor are considerably more occupied with each other than when we left them, so Elliott and I find an empty sofa across the room and claim it. He pulls me onto his lap, and we sip our drinks while watching the debauchery unfold around us.
Well, I watch.
Elliott mostly watches me.
The party carries on, the room growing louder as more bodies move, more hands explore, more moans fill the air. I’m halfway through my whiskey when something tugs at the back of my brain– a familiar prickle that I don’t think I’ll ever quite get used to.
I go still.
Beneath me, Elliott does the same.
“Do you feel that?” I whisper.
He nods, his thumb tracing slow circles on my thigh. “Close your eyes. Focus on it.”
I do as he says.
Slowly, the room fades away. The music dulls, the voices disappear. Even the weight of Elliott’s hand on my leg seems to recede as the sensation grows, a static charge gathering at the base of my skull.
Then it hits.
His fangs in my neck.
My legs around his waist.
My hands buried in his hair.
The vision is so vivid it steals my breath.
We’re dressed exactly as we are now, but we’re not in this room anymore.
We’re alone, moonlight spilling through a towering window as Elliott holds me against him.
His mouth pulls at my throat as he drinks, and pleasure rolls through me with every slow pull, venom burning sweetly through my veins.
Then we’re on a piano bench, my dress lifted and his slacks pooled around his ankles. I’m bouncing, moaning with every drag of his thick cock through my tight channel, his fingers digging bruises into my hips as he slams me down over his lap.
Just as quickly as it came, it’s gone.
I gasp, my eyes flying open.
“Piano room,” I blurt, already scrambling to my feet.
He nods, rising from the sofa with a knowing grin.
It’s not the first time this has happened, but holy shit, it’s a rush every time.
Turns out, Elliott and I did get one of those rare bond abilities he told me about: premonitions. Shared ones, apparently.
They come without warning– usually nothing more than quick flashes of the near future. Elliott has been documenting every occurrence like the giant fucking nerd he is, while personally, I prefer using them to get a head start.
We don’t bother with goodbyes. Elliott catches my hand and leads me through the crowd, weaving between bodies as we make our way toward the door. I barely register the curious glances or amused smirks thrown our way.
Let them look.
The second we hit the hall, Elliott sweeps me into his arms. I barely have time to squeak before the world blurs.
A heartbeat later, my heels hit the floor of the piano room and the door shuts firmly behind us.
Another thing I’ll probably never get used to– vampire speed. One second, you’re in one place, and the next, you blink and you’re somewhere else entirely, your stomach still trying to catch up.
Not that I’m complaining in this particular instance.
The second Elliott sets me on my feet, I grab his face in both hands and yank him down into a kiss.
He meets me eagerly, one hand sliding around my waist as I rise onto my tippy toes, trying and failing to compensate for the ridiculous difference in our heights.
His mouth moves against mine hungrily, and I smile into the kiss.
Then I remember what comes next.
I pull back just enough to breathe, turning my head and tipping my chin to expose my throat.
He doesn’t hesitate.
He never does anymore.
His fangs descend, a little shiver of anticipation runs through me as his mouth moves to the side of my neck and he bites down.
Pleasure crashes through my body as his venom floods my bloodstream, my knees immediately threatening to give out beneath me. Elliott catches me before they can, his hands sliding to the backs of my thighs and lifting me up.
My legs wind around his waist. My fingers bury themselves in his hair.
Moonlight spills over us from the towering windows, and a breathless laugh escapes me as Elliott’s mouth pulls against my throat, every detail from the vision falling perfectly into place.
His arms around me, my legs around him, his fangs buried in my neck. Exactly as I saw it.
Everything else fades as I sink into the feeling, my body going slack against his. But beneath the rush of venom and pleasure, another realization settles over me.
I already knew this was coming.
Maybe that’s my favorite part of these little glimpses. Not knowing where Elliott is going to touch me or which room we’re about to sneak off to, but knowing there is a next.
Another moment. Another night. Another tiny piece of our future waiting for us to catch up.
For most of my life, I’ve had no fucking clue where I was going.
Half the time, I barely knew what I’d be doing tomorrow.
I bounced from one thing to another, following whatever felt good or interesting or right in the moment and figuring the rest out as I went.
I always assumed that’s how my entire life would be– just one big question mark.
Now, for the first time, forever is stretched out in front of me. And somehow, it doesn’t feel scary.
Because it looks like this.
His arms around me, his mouth against my skin, his hands finding mine without either of us having to think about it.
It looks like nights and mornings beside him, arguments I’ll probably lose but refuse to concede.
Places we haven’t been yet, things I haven’t seen, and a thousand stupid ways to irritate him that I haven’t even thought of.
A million more moments I can’t see yet, but I know they’re coming. Again and again, farther ahead than either of us can see.
And fuck, I can’t wait.