18. Harper
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
harper
Rhone's eyes were hot as they moved over my figure slowly while I stood in the entryway.
I'd filled in just a little during our trip. I hadn't eaten a lot, but alongside the constant biting, it had helped significantly.
I still looked thin, but I didn't look nearly as sick as I had before.
He reached for me when I joined him beneath the water, but I flashed him a warning look. "Nothing sexual."
"Alright." He grabbed my hips, pulling me closer.
Even the feel of his hands on my skin made me horny.
I closed my eyes as he pulled my back to his chest. His erection stabbed me in the spine, but I ignored it, leaning closer.
"You didn't tell me what happened to make you less friendly," I murmured, trying to put distance between us that way. "You said you were going to be the alpha."
"You didn't tell me a damn thing about your mom, when I asked."
I grimaced. "I don't like talking about her."
"I don't like talking about that part of my life, either." His lips brushed the side of my throat.
"I said nothing sexual."
"Couldn't resist. Won't happen again." His grip tightened a little. "I want you to delete your list. The one of people willing to mate with you."
"Your desire has been noted."
"I'm serious, Harper."
"I'm serious too."
"I said I would mate with you. You don't need the list."
"That's what every woman dreams of. Having a man say," I lowered my voice in my Rhone imitation. "If you need a mate bond and regular sex, we'll do that."
"That's not what I said."
"That's exactly what you said. Word for word. That's even the voice you used."
He grunted. "It's not what I meant, then."
"Then what did you mean?"
"If having a mate bond would help you, I want to do it. With you."
I rolled my eyes. "That's the same thing you said. It's nice of you to offer, but I think you can understand why I want to meet the guys on the list."
"I don't. Explain it."
"You only offered because you're possessive of me for no real reason. That's—"
He interrupted me. "There's a reason."
"What reason?"
"I... like you." He said the words stiffly. "And you're Maverick's mate's best friend. We need you stable."
Sex definitely wasn't happening in the shower.
Murder was a lot more likely.
"If I'm going to mate with someone, they need to be possessive of me because they think I'm fucking great, Rhone."
"I think you're fucking great," he growled.
"No, you don't. You think I'm a mess who's going to devolve if you're not here to save the day."
He didn't disagree.
I didn't either.
"I am a mess, and a risk," I stated. "But I want to pick a mate who likes that about me, the way Nolan likes it about Oren. He fucking loves that Oren's a vampire. If there's someone in this pack who would love that part of being mated to me, I want them."
"I never said I didn't like that you're a vampire. I obviously enjoy that. I make you bite me all the time."
"When we're not screwing, it's just a chore to you."
"It's not."
"It is."
He pulled me against his erection a little harder.
"It isn't. I don't fuck people in the pack.
I usually spend breeding season alone. I wouldn't have spent the last week buried inside you if feeding you was a fucking chore.
For your sake, I wish you were still human.
For mine, I wouldn't change a damn thing. "
The words hit me hard, in a good way.
My emotions swelled fiercely.
"I don't want a mate bond," he said, effectively washing away my emotions. "But letting you mate with someone else isn't an option. If you need a mate, you're getting me."
Wow.
He'd been doing so well, just to finish with that.
I don't want a mate bond, but if you need a mate, you're getting me.
So romantic.
So seductive.
So intimate.
Not.
"So, delete the list," he added.
Right for the throat.
God, he was brutal.
I shouldn't have been so into it, but I was.
"I'll pass. Appreciate the offer, though." I patted his hand lightly, and reached for the soap.
He growled at me again.
I had to peel his hands off my hips when I left him beneath the falling water, but he didn't try to stop me.
Just watched me walk away.
I thought about going back to my apartment to sleep, but I was pretty sure Rhone would've followed me, so I just stole a shirt from his closet and tucked myself into his bed. It wasn't that late, so I wiggled across the mattress long enough to grab the remote, then slid back beneath the blankets.
Rhone strode out of the bathroom a few minutes later, drying his now-short hair with a towel.
I tried not to stare.
Really did.
Totally failed, though.
With his hair cut like that, he looked even deadlier.
Even sexier, too.
Especially when he was so fucking naked.
I hit the button to start the TV show. It was about cake. It wasn't the one Bloom and I liked, but it was similar enough. Something about baking shows just made me feel normal.
I forced myself to focus on the TV screen instead of the gorgeous man in front of me.
Rhone tossed my blanket aside and plopped down on the mattress beside me.
"You know it irritates me when you do that," I grumbled, reaching for the blanket again.
He kicked it further away and dragged me into his arms. "I'm warm enough for you."
"I still like blankets." I tried to grab it with my foot, but couldn't reach it.
He pulled me closer, and I sighed loudly.
But tucked my feet beneath his warm calves. What else was I going to do? My toes were freezing cold.
My eyelids drooped as I snuggled up against Rhone. My entire body warmed. I tried to follow along with the cakes that the contestants were making, but struggled.
I just felt so... relaxed.
"Mav wants to meet with a few enforcers to talk about the challenges this weekend," Rhone said into my hair a few minutes later. "Right now."
I mumbled something incoherent in response. It was negative, though.
"I know." He started slowly extricating himself from me.
I grabbed his arm before he could pull it away. For once, he hadn't snuck it beneath my shirt to leave his giant palm on one of my tits. "Bloom wants him to be hers after 8 PM. Don't get between them." My words slurred just a little. It was exhaustion, for once. Not bloodlust or anything else.
"He's the one who wants to meet."
"Is it an emergency?"
"No."
"Then tell him it can wait until business hours."
Rhone studied me for a few moments before finally nodding once. "Fine. You have to bite me before you go to sleep, though."
"Mmkay. Don't let me fuck you afterward."
The skeptical look he sent me said he would do no such thing.
It wasn't like drinking blood messed with my mind. It just made me horny.
He tapped his throat, but I reached for his wrist. He didn't look thrilled, but he slid closer when I pulled his wrist to my face. My back was against his bare chest again when I sank my teeth into him.
We both groaned when his blood flooded my tongue, and I pressed my ass against his cock. He grabbed my thigh, pulling me against him a little harder while I took more than the three swallows I was supposed to allow myself.
My body flushed, and I felt myself getting slicker between my thighs as I drank.
I trembled a little when I finally released him.
"Why can't we fuck?" he gritted out.
"Can't remember," I breathed. "Something about me needing a mate."
"I offered."
"Fuck you."
"You should fuck me."
I wanted to.
God, I wanted to.
"Just let me take care of you, Harp. No sex. It'll help with the bloodlust."
It would.
And I wanted him so badly.
"It doesn't mean anything," I finally said.
"Agreed."
"Then you can touch me. We're still not going to—ohhh, shit." I hissed out a curse as he dragged his finger through my slickness, taking my clit roughly.
He played with me slowly.
So much slower than he ever had before.
My hips arched.
My body rocked.
His cock was between my ass cheeks, but he made no attempt to move me against him or take any pleasure for himself.
"You're so fucking pretty when you let go with me," Rhone said in a low voice.
He rarely complimented me.
It was hot.
Really, really hot.
"You'll look so fucking good coming on my hand. And on my mouth, afterward."
I hadn't promised to let him get me off twice, but Rhone knew me.
I wouldn't be satisfied with one climax. He'd spoiled me too much.
He kept touching me, so much slower than ever before. It wasn't long before I came with a cry, clutching his arm and shoulder as I rocked against his hand, climaxing hard.
I was still coming down from the high when he turned me on the bed, lowering his mouth to my core.
I moaned as he dragged his tongue over my clit.
My hands flew to his hair before I could think about it, and I forced myself to extricate them from the soft, short strands with a gasped, "Sorry."
He lifted narrowed eyes to mine, tracing my clit with the tip of his tongue before he asked. "Sorry?"
"For grabbing your hair. You hate having people's hands in it. I—" I swore when he lowered his mouth to my clit again and sucked hard. My hips jerked, and I climaxed again, with a loud cry of pleasure.
He lifted my hands back to his hair one by one, as I breathed unsteadily through the aftershocks of my pleasure. "You're not people."
I stared at him.
That might've been the most romantic thing he'd ever said to me.
Rhone dragged his tongue over my clit slowly, and filled me with his fingers. His knuckles brushed my g-spot, and I gasped out a curse, arching and yanking his hair. He grabbed one of my thighs with his free hand, opening me wider and fucking me deeper with his fingers, turning them just right.
I came for him again.
I thought he'd be done, after that.
Pull away.
Go to sleep.
But he just.
Kept.
Going.
Eventually, I was little more than a puddle of pleasure. I pushed his head away, and he growled at me, lifting glowing eyes to meet mine.
I blinked.
The glow didn't fade.
I wasn't sure what that meant, but I wasn't going to bring it up.
"I'm tapping out," I panted.
I pulled his hair until he gave in and climbed up next to me. His cock throbbed viciously. I had to imagine he was going to have some seriously painful blue balls after going down on me for so long without a release.
When he palmed his erection, I pulled his wrist away, and turned toward him.
He stared as I lowered my mouth to the head of his cock.
"You don't need to, Harp. That's not why I—"
"I know. I might not last long, with the fangs, but..." I wrapped my lips around him. He swore viciously, cupping my head and burying his fingers in my hair with one hand. The other held the base of his erection for me.
I bobbed slowly, fighting to keep my fangs from descending as I took him deeper.
"Stop," he snarled, and I went still.
He throbbed wildly in my mouth, the taste of his precum on my tongue.
We hadn't done this, during our week with the other pack.
It had just been wild, crazy sex.
He ate me out a few times, but never to the extent he'd just done, and I'd never given him a blowjob.
The savage sounds that escaped him made me hot all over again as his hand moved through my hair, massaging my scalp roughly.
The other hand was on my face, tracing my lip. I thought he'd pull it up or down so he could check for my fangs, but he didn't.
He just seemed to want to touch me.
"You're gorgeous like this," he said in a low voice. "Don't worry about your fangs. If you lose control, I can handle it."
I groaned around his cock.
He let out a slow breath. "I'm still close. If you don't want a mouthful of my cum, you're going to need to pull away really fucking soon."
I bobbed around his cock, taking the tip of him into my throat.
He came with a groan, pumping slowly and smoothly. The salty sweetness of his pleasure flooded my mouth and tongue.
Rhone eased his erection free after his climax ended, his breathing staggered. He dragged me into his arms, my back to his chest, and squeezed.
"If you think it could be like this with anyone else, you're fucking delusional," he rasped. "You're mine in every way there is."
"Except the one that matters," I whispered back.
He didn't disagree. Just pulled me closer and flung a leg over my thighs, trapping me against him a little tighter.
I loved it.
I really did.
It was too bad I was going to have to mate with someone else.