Chapter 24

Iwoke in the morning to sunlight on my face and a heartbeat next to me in bed. Part of me had expected Eliza to leave in the middle of the night, after we’d coaxed each other through so many orgasms that neither of us could see straight. Instead, when I turned my head, I found her asleep next to me—entirely and beautifully naked. She slept on her back, with one arm over her eyes to shield herself from the sun.

I couldn’t help the blush that rose onto my cheeks, my body burning from so many hours of her touch.

As I woke further, I heard Echo in the kitchen pawing at the cabinet for breakfast. I didn’t hear Willa or Wren; they must have stayed at his apartment. Moving as silently as I could, I stood out of bed and grabbed a yellow robe off the back of my bathroom door. I crept out into the kitchen, cringing at Echo’s incessant meowing.

Once I’d fed her a mixture of wet and dry food and she was chomping away happily, I turned to return to bed, feeling the ache of last night lingering in my soul. I found Eliza standing in the doorway to my room, naked. She watched with dark eyes as I paused in surprise.

“Sorry,” I said. “I didn’t mean to wake you.”

“You didn’t,” she said. Whatever familiarity had been in her eyes last night was gone. I knew what that meant—too well. She would leave soon.

Eliza’s eyes scanned the room, and I felt scrutinized by her gaze. She stared at the candle tables in the corner, her eyes narrowing, and her nose wrinkled at the discarded fleece blankets on the couch.

“Are you coming back to bed?” she asked finally.

This was the part where I was supposed to gently suggest she leave—the part where I told her last night could never happen again because I wasn’t strong enough to deal with the whiplash she would inevitably give me. The words caught on the tip of my tongue when my eyes left her face and trailed down her chest—where I’d spent hours the night before kissing and licking and worshiping.

It was early, the sunlight a dull, pale shade of gray rather than a radiant yellow. Willa wouldn’t be back for hours, if at all.

Perhaps Eliza and I could play pretend for a little while longer.

When she extended her hand to lead me back into the room, I followed.

Our lips met the moment I crossed the threshold, and I thought if it could always be like that, we would be written in the stars. Sparks flew as our tongues connected, and Eliza kicked the door closed behind me before drawing me further into the room.

Eliza spun, nudging me back so I fell onto the bed first. She climbed over me and untied the front of my robe, leaving me bare in front of her.

“Your eyes look like honey in the sunlight,” she murmured. She lowered her mouth to mine in a delicate kiss. “You taste sweet like it too. Almost sweet enough to keep.”

Her words brushed over me like the kiss of a ghost, and my eyes opened to stare up at the ceiling. I hardened my jaw and drew in a breath while Eliza kissed lower and lower.

I could have her like this.

I could give her this part of me.

But she couldn’t keep any other part of me. I didn’t want her to.

Eliza’s eyes flicked up. “Did I lose you?”

I plastered a lazy smile on my lips and brushed a strand of hair out of her face. “I’m here. Keep going.”

She licked her lips hungrily, and her fangs extended. Heat coursed through me at the sight of them, and mine sharpened in response. Eliza’s eyes widened and something like awe filled them. “You’re a very pretty vampire,” she breathed.

I smiled, dragging my tongue along the bottom of my fangs. When my blood filled my mouth, Eliza lunged forward and claimed my lips, slipping her tongue past my teeth to taste my blood for herself. Her moan was intoxicating, and I gripped her throat and flip her onto the bed.

Keeping one hand on her throat, I kissed down every one of her curves, letting my fangs leave bloody trails behind me. Eliza writhed beneath my grip, rocking her hips up against mine for more friction. Snarling, I pushed her hips against the bed to hold her still before sinking my teeth fully into her thigh and relishing in the sound of her delighted cry. She tasted like eternal damnation, and I drank her down like she was everything.

“Touch me,” she panted.

“No,” I snarled, my eyes darkening. “I’d rather watch you squirm.”

Her whimper was music to my ears. Last night, we alternated gently between who was in control, but I was tired of lying in submission. I wanted her to writhe. I wanted her to scream.

I wanted her to remember me when she left.

I flipped her over easily, so she was on her hands and knees, my hand coming down on her ass and eliciting a yelp of surprise. In response, she pressed her bare ass against me desperately. My feral desire deepened.

I wanted to destroy her.

Holding her by her hair, I kept her face pressed into the pillows while I dipped the other between her thighs to find where she was dripping wet for me.

“Remember, tell me to stop, and this will all end. Understood?” I growled in her ear, coating my fingers in her wetness.

“I understand,” she whispered, her voice a breathy growl.

I pushed my middle finger into her, listening to her long whine of desire. I pumped it into her a few times before adding a second one, continuing to hold her down—captive to my every whim.

I lowered my mouth and sank my fangs into her shoulder, moaning deeply at the taste of her blood. Pain laced with this cry, but she did not ask me to stop and instead shoved her hips harder against my hand.

“You hear that?” I growled, pumping my fingers into her faster. “You hear how wet you are for me?”

“Yes,” Eliza gasped.

I released her hair and sat up to watch my fingers slip in and out of her. “Try to move and I won’t touch you again today,” I threatened when she made the move to sit up. Obediently, she sank back onto the sheets and arched her back even further.

With my free hand, I caressed the curve of her ass, admiring the way her skin turned pink with each smack. I thought about leaving bite marks across her backside, but that would have required I stop finger-fucking her, and I didn’t want to.

I adjusted the angle of my hand so my thumb rubbed against her clit, and Eliza’s sob of desire sent lightning strikes through me. I gritted my teeth to cover my whimper, tilting my head back and letting myself feel the lust coursing through me—controlling me.

“God, yes, Sophie,” she cried, her whole body trembling as I massaged the most sensitive parts of her.

I licked her blood off my lips, growling as I kept up my torturous pace until she came undone beneath me. While she came down from her high, I helped her roll onto her back and kissed my way up her body.

“Wow,” she breathed.

“I’m not finished,” I replied.

A lazy smile graced her lips. “What can I do for you?”

I moved so my thighs straddled each side of her face. “Make me scream.”

She grinned and gripped my hips. “Anything for you, honey.”

Her mouth closed over me, and I was lost.