Chapter 14
M y foot held the gas pedal to the floor all the way home.
Jenna’s comments had taken me by surprise.
I hadn't thought it would be that bad. Everything from my past rushed back. Thoughts of my mom and her string of abusive men ran through my mind. The arguments she had with them always turned into taking her emotions out on me. It was why I didn’t like conflict. Especially with people I cared about.
There was only one thing that could pull me out of the depths of the past. Once I had what I needed, I drove to the graveyard.
Everything barely fit into my arms as I walked to the clutter of stones that had become a sanctuary.
The easel looked out of place against the backdrop of trees, but my heart slowed as I lifted my brush to the canvas.
After an hour, chill bumps raised along my skin and I looked to my right to see Rae hovering nearby. The smile that lit my face was so big I was sure the corners of my mouth touched my ears.
I looked at the painting, heat rushing to my cheeks as I realized she was about to see it. “So, I paint,” I whispered.
Her cool voice floated on the wind to my ears. “I know.”
“How?” I asked, flicking my gaze back to her. “I don’t think I mentioned it.”
“I know a lot of things, darling. I’m a wraith.”
I pondered her statement, chewing on the words I wanted to ask. There were so many questions I had, yet I couldn’t ask them all at once.
“What else do you know that I’m not aware of?” I asked, settling on that instead of everything else.
I went back to painting, swishing my brush in short strokes to add fine detail. It was almost finished, but there were a few sections that were lacking.
In my periphery, I saw Rae float closer. “To tell you everything I know would take many of your lifetimes. I have other things I’d rather be doing.”
A blur of black robes and she was at my back with her hand underneath my chin before I could react. She tilted my head, and her hood enveloped our faces blocking out the moonlight as she kissed me upside down. Spiderman style. It was a good thing I was sitting down because my knees went weak.
When she released me I was breathless. “You’re right. I can’t argue with that,” I panted as I turned sideways to look at her behind me.
She smirked and brought her hands up to pull back her hood. Her gaze moved to the painting and her lips parted. I watched as her eyes roamed over each brushstroke and took in every detail.
Wings flapped in my stomach, and doubt crept in. Did she hate it? Was she offended I’d painted her? It was going to be the first piece I completed in years and I was happy with the result. I just wanted her to like it.
When moments passed in silence, I mustered the courage to speak.
“It’s alright if you don’t like it. I probably should’ve asked for permission before painting it.
” I continued, my nerves taking over and the rambling setting in, “I kept seeing you in my dreams and I felt inspired for the first time in a long time. I’m sorry?—”
My words were cut off as hands grabbed me and picked me up.
Spinning me around to face her, Rae laid me out on the flat rock I was sitting on.
She came over me and flattened her body to mine, bringing her face close.
Long black locks draped around us, almost like a curtain concealing us from the night.
“Don’t be nervous. I love it, Jade. It’s perfect. Just like you.”
Heat flooded my body at her words and when she captured my lips it all surged to my core.
Not wasting any time, she drove her tongue into my mouth hungrily, like she was starved for my very soul.
Her hands roamed over my body, and I gasped when she dipped under my shirt.
Fingertips skated across my stomach as her knee came between my legs, and I unabashedly ground my pelvis into it.
Her mouth moved to my neck leaving me breathless from her kisses. Carnal need to please her flooded me as sharp teeth nipped my skin. Moving my hands to her cheeks, I hauled her back up to kiss me before raising my head to press my lips to her neck as she had done to mine moments before.
A sigh left her as my hands searched for an opening in the fabric of her cloak. Unsuccessful, I gripped her shoulders and pushed, forcing her gaze to mine.
“Let me be on top. Please, Rae,” I pleaded. “I want to give you what you’ve given me.”
She stared at me for longer than I’d hoped.
“Jade, you’ve already given me more than I could have ever hoped for.
” Her bottomless eyes bore into mine. “Your taste on my tongue will linger with me until whatever end I meet. Your moans will be the music in my ears until the cessation of time. If there was nothing else and this all stopped, I would exist in ecstasy knowing I had you even for a brief moment.”
A tear slid down my cheek at the words I never thought I’d hear spoken from someone—or something. “Rae, please. I need you. I don’t care about anything except you.”
Finally, she nodded and wrapped her arms around me, flipping us both.
I sat up, her hips beneath mine and braced my feet on the rock beneath her.
I pulled my shirt and bra over my head and tossed them to the ground.
This had probably been much easier for her since she could hover.
I had my own weight to deal with while trying to focus on her.
Balance wasn’t my strong suit so I fumbled to not fall off the rock, desperation dictating my movements. I needed Rae, needed to feel her body. It didn’t occur to me that balancing myself while attempting to get my hands under her cloak would be so difficult.
Rae brought her hands up to my bare shoulders steadying me. “Slow down, darling. There’s no need to rush.”
I stared at her, hunger etched on my face. “The cloak is all spooky and hot, but it needs to go,” I said, tugging at the fabric.
She smirked and I longed to kiss her while entangling my hands in the hair splayed across the stone. Her torso moved to sit straight up, and she took my lips as she grasped the robe and ripped it straight down the center.
I broke the kiss to stare at her moon gray skin. I still wanted her, but suddenly I had the urge to trace the lines on her shoulders. They resembled the cracks at the edge of her face and were in the shape of lightning bolts shooting through the sky.
The robe fell open farther when I brushed my fingertips over the cracks. “These are beautiful. Have they always been here?” I whispered.
Rae sucked in a breath and nodded, her eyes staying on my face.
“I could look at them all night and never get bored or tired.”
She drew in a breath as my fingers dipped lower, moving the cloak aside. I caressed the cold yet soft skin before moving my hands up to slide the fabric down her shoulders. When her breasts were freed, arousal slammed into me harder than moments before.
They weren’t too dissimilar from any others I’d seen before with the exception of the color.
Her nipples were a slightly darker gray than the rest of her skin and I dipped my head to capture one between my lips.
I held her other breast in my hand and finally, my movements elicited a moan.
It was low and deep, almost like a groan, but it was laced with pleasure opposed to pain.
I tried to slip my hand lower, but the fabric was in the way. Rae reached up and ripped it further, all the way down her stomach. She didn’t have a belly button and when I reached between her thighs, I met soft skin.
When I didn’t feel typical female anatomy, I snapped my eyes to her face. Her cold gaze was full of lust that seared me all the way to my core. “Tell me how to please you, Rae.”
As soon as the words left my lungs she grabbed my hips and held my weight up so she could slide her legs from underneath me. Once free, she set me back down on the stone and I realized she moved so I’d be more comfortable. Without having to balance, I could sit easily on the rock.
Maneuvering into a sitting position while she hovered in the air at eye level, the cloak fell completely from her body.
Her legs were longer than I’d thought and the splintered cracks lined the edges of her torso, never going farther than a few inches from her sides.
The rest of her skin was smooth and flawless.
She drew her knees up and barred her pussy to me.
Her ashen skin shone in the moonlight and my lips parted at the sight of her, salivating for a taste. I’d been out since I was a teenager so I’d had my fair share of sexual experiences with women. Especially since I preferred them to men, but staring at Rae in all her perfection made me timid.
I looked back to her face, mustering all the courage I had. “Tell me.”
She hovered a bit closer and moved her fingers to a slightly raised area between her legs.
It was the only visible similarity to a human, although it didn’t look like a human clit.
The rest of her was only smooth skin with no entrance.
Stroking small circles, she pierced me with her gaze.
Her lips parted. “Only here. I get pleasure from stimulation similar to the way a human does.”
Without needing further instruction, I trailed my fingertips down her stomach as she moved her hand away.
“Is this okay?” I asked as I mimicked her movements.
She nodded vigorously as her head fell back, her hair streaming over the rock like obsidian moss. I switched from my first two fingers to the pad of my thumb as I stroked circles over her. Applying more pressure, I quickened my ministrations until a sigh filled the forest.
Unable to resist any longer, I grabbed her hips and pulled her closer—latching my mouth on her icy skin.
She tasted like the night and I was nocturnal, drinking her in like she was a basic need for my existence.
A low moan echoed off the trees as I dug my fingers into her thighs and circled her with my tongue.
“Ah, fuck. Your tongue is like fire, little flame.”
I pulled back quickly, concern thundering in my chest. “Am I hurting?—”
She cut off my words by fisting my hair and slamming my face back to her pussy. “Don’t you dare fucking stop,” she growled.
I smiled as I pulled back, bringing my hand up to her breast. “Is this good too?”
“Yes,” she cried. “Fuck me, Jade. I need you.”
Those words unleashed an animal within me. I worked my jaw as fast as I could until Rae swore again. Her sounds were deep and unlike anything I’d brought out of a human partner. I was intoxicated.
“I’m close. Please keep going,” she panted.
This creature underneath me begging was when I lost it. I did as she desired, but moved my hand between my own legs. It didn’t take much to work myself to the edge and as we came together, I knew I’d never get enough of her.