Chapter 17

Kiara

The second I open my eyes, I wish I hadn't. My body feels like I've been hit by a truck. The room spins as I lie there, unable to move. Everything aches. My arms are tight from being suspended on that cross. Even my pussy and jaw are sore from the way they ravaged me all night long. I must have passed out on them because I don't remember how I even made it to my bed.

Paper rustling off to the right has me shooting to an upright position. When I glance toward that side of the room, I find the last person I suspected.

"Ysabel?" My voice cracks from lack of use.

"Sleeping beauty wakes." That Spanish accent is as strong as I remember. Her red-painted lips curl into a wide smile as she keeps her face buried in the book she's holding. She's wearing black boho pants and a purple camisole top. A flash of tan skin and matching toenails peek out of the oversized bottoms. Her raven hair is thrown up in a messy knot. Those inky eyes are void of makeup, but her naturally thick dark lashes accentuate their natural beauty. She even makes dressing down sexy. It's not fair.

"How long was I asleep?" I rub the sleep from my eyes, but that little bit of movement has my limbs screaming.

"Sixteen hours."

"What?" My eyes narrow, refusing to believe her. "That can't be right."

"Give or take." She shrugs, turning another page. "Must have been some night."

Heat creeps along my face as flashes of what happened filter through my head.

"Relax, amiga. There's nothing wrong with enjoying playtime with your mates." She laughs, still engrossed in her book.

"They're not mine." My voice comes out less rough.

"Mentirosa." She wags a finger at me. "I can smell them all over you. And if I didn't hear your heart pound against your chest at the mere mention of them, I'd believe your lie."

I grumble under my breath, and she lets the subject drop.

"I swear these Savage brothers are over the top. If I were this Charlee, I'd rip Asher's dick off and choke him with it." Her accent thickens as she slams the book closed and releases a heavy sigh. "Is this what women like to read these days?"

"It's a dark romance. You're supposed to root for the antihero. There's just something about a bad boy willing to burn the world down for you."

She tilts her head to the side, letting my words sink in, and then throws it back with a laugh.

"What's so funny?"

"It makes sense now why you like these." She holds the book between two long tan fingers.

"What are you doing in here?" I pinch the bridge of my nose, in no mood to give her statement an ounce of truth. Denial is the route I'm sticking with.

"I didn't come in here to annoy you. Quite the opposite." She lifts an ancient-looking bottle of wine and two glasses from the floor and waves them around. "I came to have some more of that girl time and find out how last night went."

"Isn't it a little early for that?" She shoots me a look, causing me to rethink my word choice. "Or I guess it'd be a little late."

"Go use the bathroom and get your butt back out here. I haven't been able to do this since before I was turned, and I need it as badly as you." Her nose wrinkles. "Maybe more."

Like a power of suggestion, the urge to use the bathroom hits me. I make it in there and use the toilet in record time. As I wash my hands, I take in my reflection and cringe. While she looks glamorous, I look like a zombie. Dark circles are under my eyes, and my hair is a matted mess. I run some water over my hands and do my best to finger comb through it, but I make it worse. After another few pointless attempts, I give up and head back into the bedroom.

Ysabel is still in the chair where I left her. The only difference is she's now holding two wineglasses filled to the brim with a deep burgundy liquid.

Cautiously, I take a seat on the edge of the bed. I'm not sure what to make of her. So far, she's been nothing but kind to me, but it goes against everything the coven taught us about vampires.

She extends her left hand, offering me the glass. My fingers curl around the stem as I continue to watch her.

"What?" she asks after I've been staring at her in silence for the last few minutes.

"Nothing." I shake my head, not sure she'd appreciate my question.

"Out with it." She rolls her eyes.

"Why have you been so nice to me since I was brought here?" I feel bad for throwing her kindness back in her face, but this situation makes me leery of everyone.

"I have my reasons." She takes a small sip, holding my gaze. "The main one being that it's nice not to be the lone female stuck in the middle of a damn sausage fest. That shit gets old after a few centuries."

"I guess." I toy with the stem of my glass.

"Drink up and tell me more about yourself. Last time we talked about your crappy ex-lovers." She adjusts her position, tucking her feet underneath her and resting an elbow on the armrest.

I take a tentative sip, and the moment it hits my mouth, it's like an orgasm on my tongue. "Oh wow. This is…" Words fail me. I've never had anything like this.

"Good, right?" She takes another sip and moans. "Seventeen ninety-six Lennox Madeira hits the spot every time."

"So good." I take another big swallow. I'm not much of a wine drinker, but this is becoming addicting. My glass is emptying by the second.

"I swiped it from the kitchen. Sebo will probably spend the night looking for it." She laughs at the thought.

"Why don't the two of you get along?" I've wanted to ask her that since I first saw her in the dining room.

"We had a threesome with Akos back in the seventeen hundreds, and he got mad when Akos took more of a liking to me. I swear you lick one man's asshole, and they won't stop following you around like some damn lost puppy. I'm almost four hundred years old. I don't have time to deal with clingers."

I'm mid-sip when she adds that last part, making me choke. Wine dribbles down my chin and onto my purple silk nightie. I wish I knew why they insist on putting me in these.

"Enough about me. That's ancient history. I want to hear all about the coven's newest tesora." She wriggles her brows.

"I'm not that interesting. I'm from a small town called Everton. It's in Georgia in the United States. I work at my aunt's bookstore. At least, I did until those two brought me here. Not to mention, I'm probably the only forty-four-year-old who prefers her vibrators to dating." I refuse to admit how much I've enjoyed everything those two have done to me more than any lover or vibrator I've ever had.

"I'll drink to that. Don't get me wrong. I love being fucked into a coma by a thick hard cock, but it's who they're attached to that is often the problem. And sometimes, I prefer to be the one doing the fucking."

My ears perk up at the mention of that. Ever since I saw Mátyás dominate Elek from behind, I've been curious what it's like to be the one calling the shots.

"You caught that, did you?" The side of her mouth twists into a lopsided grin as I nod.

"What's it like?" I take a bigger sip of my wine, savoring the taste of burnt sugar and orange peel that rolls around my tongue. Heat starts at my face and seeps its way down to the rest of my body. It feels like I'm being wrapped in a cocoon of warmth.

"Fucking someone with a strap-on?" She licks a drop of wine off her bottom lip and gives me a curious look.

"Yes, that." I sit up taller, eager to devour every word.

"It is many things. Exciting. Fun. Powerful. And sexy as hell if you have the right partner." She leans in closer, her inky eyes sparkling with mischief. "You know those two will give you anything you want. All you have to do is ask."

"I doubt that." My pulse quickens at her words. They've said something along the same lines, but until now, I thought it was all a ploy—that they were telling me what I wanted to hear. But it's becoming harder to dismiss the longer I'm here.

"I'm serious. If you want to tie them up in the middle of the Great Hall and fuck them in front of the entire coven, they'd pull down their pants and ask when." She downs the rest of her wine and refills our glasses before I blink.

"That is a tempting thought. It would be fun to fuck Mátyás until he couldn't walk." The more I drink, the looser my mouth becomes. It's like there's a lack of filter. It's all pouring out, and I can't stop it.

"Oh, little bruja. You really are their perfect match." Ysabel laughs as her fingers toy with the stem of her glass.

"Maybe." It's the first time I've voiced my thoughts on that, but it doesn't feel as awful to admit. My head begins to spin, but I have always been a lightweight.

"Now, it's my turn to give you more dirt on the coven. László is a huge suck-up. Trust nothing he tells you. He likes to make himself appear as the bigger man." She holds up her thumb and pointer finger. "But that is all a lie."

We both laugh this time until tears fill our eyes. And that's how the rest of the night goes. We drink several glasses of wine and exchange crazy stories. It's one of the best nights I've had in a long time. All thanks to a pale, blood-drinking vixen who is the complete opposite of everything I was taught to fear. I'm beginning to think that all of them are nothing like I thought. And that scares the shit out of me.