CHAPTER TEN

A ri stood outside Sage’s house and cursed. What the fuck was he doing here?

He’d already had Sage—every delicious inch of her—so why on earth was he back here? Especially when members of the Moretti family were on their way to Seattle, and he had a tortured vampire to find and a science lab or two to destroy.

All day he’d tossed and turned, trying to sleep, then ended up jerking off. Twice.

He’d been a seriously grumpy asshole to his team and when Oliver had given him a sideways look, Ari had forced himself not to remove his new head assassin’s head from his neck.

That’s what he was doing here.

Collecting his fucking sanity, which he’d clearly left behind.

It was probably between Sage’s legs. Which was exactly where he wanted to be.

Patience wasn’t a fucking virtue—that was a huge lie.

He wanted Sage, so here he was.

Except it wasn’t just her pussy he was after. His mind had wandered to taboo places. He’d imagined her as his queen, swollen pregnant with his babe and creating a world he’d never dreamed possible.

House of Moretti.

He’d see a world where they created a new line of vampires. It had been beautiful and full of love and laughter.

And it had been terrifying. This was the sort of dangerous thinking that fucked him up.

Sage wasn’t his damn mate.

Ari had leaped out of bed and slammed into the wall—which Matteo was currently repairing—and then eventually ended up in the training center where he couldn’t break anything else.

So he’d decided that he just had to fuck her a bunch more times and that would resolve his temporary insanity.

Not letting himself think about it another second, he ran up the stairs and knocked. Then waited.

A man opened the door, then recoiled.

Yeah, he got that a lot. He had a powerful presence that was overwhelming for some humans.

“Hey, can I help you?”

“I’m here to see Sage,” Ari announced.

“Sage! Another visitor,” the guy called out, then gave him a sideways look before wandering off, leaving the door open.

Another?

Did Sage have a guy here? Ari felt his fangs itch to press through his gums.

Jesus, settle down.

Sage appeared in the doorway. His heart began racing and his fingers burned to touch her. It didn’t help that she was wearing nothing but a large white towel with her hair tied up.

“Ari,” she breathed.

He didn’t give a fuck who saw. He took a step and wrapped his arm around her lower back and pulled her against him. His lips dropped to hers and he kissed her.

Hard.

“Hello, Sage,” he whispered against her lips.

A throat cleared behind them, but he didn’t look up. He was mesmerized by the goddess in his arms. There could have been an earthquake and he wouldn’t have given a fuck.

“What are you doing here?” she whispered.

“Ahh, hello, are you going to introduce me?”

Finally, he pulled his eyes from hers and glanced behind Sage.

Jesus.

Ari stared at the woman, then lowered his eyes back down to Sage, who was still in his arms. Then looked back and down again.

Ari was a twin. He knew twins. Though not identical, he and his brother were born two minutes apart. These two women were sisters.

Not twins.

If he had to guess, he would say Sage was slightly older, but not by much. A year, maybe two.

But while the dark-haired woman looked similar to Sage, their energies were polar opposites. Her smirk seemed like it was permanent, and the way she stood with her hand on one hip screamed of sass.

Sage leaned into him in what he could only describe as a possessive move. He wanted to purr.

Still, it was an interesting reaction. Sage wasn’t a dominant personality, but she also wasn’t insecure. That simple movement had indicated there was a history between these two, and if his instincts were right, Sage had been hurt.

Normally, human family bullshit didn’t interest him in the slightest, yet right now he was feeling very protective of his little human.

What had this woman done to Sage? Ari wanted to know.

“This is my sister, Piper,” Sage said with a long sigh. “Piper, Ari.”

No kidding.

“Hello, Piper,” Ari said, keeping his voice neutral as she ran her eyes over his body with a courage he’d rarely seen in a woman. Then her eyes landed on his crotch.

Good grief.

“Nice to meet you,” Piper replied, “Sage, you have been keeping some big secrets.”

Groan.

This woman was trouble.

“I didn’t know you had a sister,” Ari said, tightening his grip on Sage’s hip. Piper’s eyes moved to his hand and watched everything.

Interesting.

Their eyes met again, and Ari found within them some interesting emotions: distrust and, even more interesting, disbelief.

Disbelief that he would be interested in Sage? Disbelief they were in a relationship? Not that they were. Either way, he was curious to understand why her sister would be so stunned. Sage was a gorgeous and intelligent young woman.

“I had a twin brother,” Ari said and wondered how the hell that had fallen out.

“A twin?” Piper’s eyes lit up.

“He said did ? Piper,” Sage admonished, then lay a hand on his arm. “I’m sorry for your loss.”

Despite everything, and the centuries since his death, Ari still loved Giorgio very much. No one on earth could ever understand what they’d experienced together, being the first vampires.

Still, he was surprised he had shared that. He rarely spoke of him, let alone just spat it out like that.

Ari’s eyes dropped to Sage’s, and the warmth in them shot straight to his heart. It had been a long time since he’d felt a woman care for him the way Sage was doing right now.

“It was a long time ago,” he replied, pulling her against him.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” Piper said, dropping the sass, and for a moment, he saw another side to her. “That would have been heartbreaking.”

He nodded.

Sage turned into him and tucked her towel closer around her. He hated she was being so modest around him. He shifted a lock of hair behind her ear and gazed down into her wide eyes. Her pupils dilated as a flush hit her cheeks, sending a rush of heat through his body.

“I should let you both get going,” Piper said, and Ari narrowed his eyes in question as Sage blushed.

So, she’d lied to her sister and said they were going out tonight? Well then, she would get her wish. Their eyes connected and unsaid words passed between them. She mouthed, I’m sorry, but he wasn’t.

“Yes, and someone needs to get dressed,” Ari said, smacking her bottom.

“Right,” Sage replied, backing away, narrowing her eyes at him.

“I’ll call you tomorrow, sis,” Piper said, planting a kiss on Sage’s cheek and then dashed out the door with a wiggly finger wave. Ari followed Sage into her bedroom, giving her roommates a cursory glance, and shut the door.

“Hi.” Ari cupped her cheek and Sage looked like she was waiting for his questions, but he had none. Everything he wanted was right here.

“Hi,” Sage replied when he didn’t continue.

“I need to taste you.” He lowered his mouth and took possession of her lips, and she responded hungrily.

“Delicious... but I wasn’t meaning that.” Ari nudged her down on the bed and discarded the towel.

“You never said what you were doing here,” Sage said, her voice hitched.

“I’m about to show you,” he replied, kissing her lips once more. “Then I’m going to take you to dinner.”

Was he? Dinner? Like a date?

So, he dated now?

Apparently so.

Ari moved down her body. “This is just the first course.”