Chapter 30

CHAPTER THIRTY

FRANKIE

I flew through the front door of the infirmary with one thing on my mind.

Everest.

I didn't care that I'd just met him. I didn't care that we hadn't even taken the time to get to know each other. I still didn't know his last name or anything about him. But the one thing I'd been told over and over since I arrived in Tampa was to trust my gut. To not question my intuition and to listen to it like a compass. And my gut was telling me Everest was in my life for a reason. Something told me he was here for me. It was ridiculous and silly and so na?ve of me to think, but I felt it in my bones.

It wasn't until I saw that fountain from my vision standing before me that I realized the one single thing that overlapped in all of my visions . . . Everest. That voice I'd heard telling me to get back in bed and reminding me to breathe. That had been his voice. I knew it with every fiber of my being. While I couldn't explain these visions or what the one in Hidden Kingdom was about, I knew that Everest had been in there with me. When I'd first seen him, he was in the park with me. It was only when I looked back that we were in the infirmary.

That meant something.

I had no idea what, but I was going to find out.

Except not tonight.

Tonight I had other needs.

One of the other healers I didn't know very well stepped out of the kitchen on the left, undoubtedly triggered by my entrance, but she wasn't alarmed to see me. She just smiled and looked me up and down. "Do I smell demon blood?"

I nodded.

"Are you injured?"

I shook my head. "Where's Everest? I need . . . to discuss my visions he'd been treating." It wasn't a total lie. I did but I wasn't going to do that just yet.

She nodded and pointed upstairs. "Check the spell room. That's where I last saw him."

"Thank you."

I sprinted up the stairs, but when I glanced over my shoulder, the healer had already retreated back to the kitchen, so I didn't bother slowing down. I raced down the hall and threw the spell room door open. Moonlight streamed in through the windows in the ceiling, but it wasn't much. Most of the room was cast in darkness.

But no amount of shadow or darkness blinded me from him.

Everest was sprawled on that cushion in the far corner of the room with one leg bent at the knee and the other stretched out to where his bare foot dangled off the edge. He had one arm propping his head up atop the pillows that were pushed against the wall. In his other hand he held a book. Those white and blue eyes were wide . . . and locked on me.

I didn't speak.

He just stared at me without moving, frozen like a statue. Until I locked the door.

His eyes widened. "Francelina?—"

"Shut up." I grabbed the hem of my demon blood splattered shirt and pulled it up and over my head and tossed it aside. Then I kicked off Vans and felt the energy tingling through the hardwood floors of all the magic left over in the room. "I'm not here to talk."

That was all the warning I gave him before I sprinted across the room and dove on top of him. When I heard his book hit the ground I chuckled and lunged for him at the same time as he gripped my jaw. Our lips crashed like those raging tidal waves. He gripped my thighs and pulled as he sat up so that I was suddenly straddling his lap and it reminded me of that couch in coach's office. I reached for the hem of his white shirt and yanked it off of him, breaking our kiss only long enough to pull it over his head.

His tongue slid over mine and I moaned. And then he flipped me onto my back and sat up on his knees looking down at me. I thought he was going to run again, I thought he was going to cut us off, so when he unbuttoned his jeans I moaned a string of obscenities that earned me a cocky, sexy smirk. I bit my bottom lip and reached for my own zipper but he beat me to it, his long fingers worked quick to unbutton them. He gripped the waistband of my denim shorts and pulled, sliding them off my legs in one smooth move.

He just stared at me lying in front of him in only my underwear. His gaze traveled every inch of me like he was committing my body to memory. His attention was so heated and intense I was squirming. I felt like I was going to explode if he didn't touch me. Now. So I jumped up onto my knees in front of him so we were nearly face-to-face. My chest was tight and pounding, sending little pulses through every limb like the ticking of a bomb before it detonated.

Without taking my eyes off his, I slid my hands up his silky-smooth chest and gripped his neck then pulled his mouth to mine. He held my jaw tight in his hand, his long fingers digging into my skin. His thumb slid down to my chin then pushed my head back. He deepened our kiss, devouring me with every flick of his tongue and brush of his lips.

When I had him right where I wanted him, breathing my breath as his own, I slid my hands down and gripped him with both hands. He threw his head back and hissed through clenched teeth. I slid my hands up and down his cock and his eyes closed like nothing had ever felt so good.

He hissed again " . . .celina . . ."

I leaned forward and licked the side of his throat where his pulse was pounding. " Good boy, " I whispered.

He growled like jungle cat and it was all the warning I had. He reached down and gripped my thighs under my ass and lifted me up until his face was buried in my cleavage then he pulled me down right onto his cock. I felt every hot inch of him as he slid all the way inside of me in one fluid motion. I threw my head back and screamed, digging my nails into his shoulders to hold on. He hooked my legs over his arms and thrust in and out of me. This position had him hitting that sweet spot with every roll of his hips. I wasn't going to last long but I didn't want it to end.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and claimed his mouth with mine. I licked the roof of his mouth and he moaned around my tongue. His arms trembled with every thrust of his hips. I'd never been held and fucked at the same time but I knew I'd think of this forever.

And then I was on my back. His body was hot and heavy, pushing me into the cushion and forcing him deeper inside of me. I moaned his name so loud my voice cracked. He unhooked my legs from his arms so I wrapped them tight around his hips. He planted his hands on the cushion beside my head, buried his face in my cleavage and rolled his hips. I choked on the whimper that came out of me. He rolled his hips back, pulling almost all the way out of me then slammed back in so hard my eyes rolled. I reached up and gripped his back, sinking my nails into his skin.

His hand gripped my waist then slid up my side to my bra. I felt the material tighten on my skin and then it was ripped off of me. Cold air rushed over my skin for a split second before his body covered mine. The feel of his smooth, warm skin against my bare breasts was a sensation that sent me over the edge and my climax hit me hard. My legs tightened around his hips and I screamed.

He lifted his head and covered my mouth with his hand to muffle the sound of my ecstasy. Except it sent my orgasm rolling into round two. He groaned and pressed his forehead to mine as his hips bucked and his own release followed.

Knock.

Knock.

Knock.

Someone was at the door. Everest's hand was still pressed tight to my mouth as we both froze. That door was locked, but a witch probably knew how to open it with magic. If they came in they'd find a whole lot of naked sinning in here.

The person tried the handle but the door didn't open. "Everest? Are you in there?"

It was Gin. She hadn't seen me come in so she shouldn't have known I was there. My pulse quickened. We were both panting and shaking, our bodies covered in sweat. He pulled out of me and I whimpered against his palm.

" Everest? Are you okay?"

He arched one eyebrow at me and made a tsk tsk sound, then gave me a little smirk. "Yeah, I'm in here. I'm fine. I dropped something."

"Oh. Okay. It's late, you shouldn't stay up working. Katherine wouldn't like it."

"It's all right, Katherine knows what I'm working on." He flipped me onto my stomach and slammed inside of me from behind.

My eyes widened and a raw scream burned a path up my throat so I bit the pillow to muffle the sound. I fisted the sheets with both hands. He gripped my hips, digging his fingers into my skin hard enough to leave a mark. Good. I wanted him to. I wanted to see the evidence of our passion on my skin tomorrow. He pulled his hips back, sliding all the way out of me until I felt the tip of his cock press against that sweet little spot he'd played with last night. It was a tease, he wanted to torture me. He wanted a puddle in his hands and he was going to get one.

"We're not work all night healers here. It's not healthy, Everest."

He chuckled just loud enough for me to hear. "I assure you she'd insist I finish." He thrust back inside of me hard, his hips slammed into my body.

I bit the pillow and gripped the edge of the cushion as he rocked his hips into me again and pushed my body further up on the cushion. My body trembled as he pulled back.

"Fine. Do you need any help?"

His grip on my hips tightened as he angled my hips back and slammed back into me but this sent him even deeper and we both grunted. "I think I've got it handled."

His speed picked up and the new tempo made my vision tunnel. I wasn't breathing enough but I couldn't risk a breath and make a sound to reveal that he was fucking me senseless with Gin right outside that door.

"All right, well, if you need it I just made a fresh batch of Katherine's coffee for Nora?—"

He pushed my legs apart with his knees and I gasped. But then he slid his hands up to my waist and pushed down with his weight. His hips swiveled faster and harder. His cock so deep I could taste it in my throat.

"—so don't hesitate to steal some."

"Nora needs the caffeine for the night shift," Everest said with a deceptively smooth voice despite the speed of his hips slamming into my body. His cock twitched like his release was almost here. "I shall be fine."

Gin somehow was oblivious to the rapture on the other side of that door but I wasn't and somehow knowing she was right there was making my body hotter and hotter. Sweat dripped down my spine. This position unraveled me. Each thrust of his hips sent him pushing even deeper inside. My eyes rolled with every thrust. My whole body trembled.

"Just wake me if y'all need more coffee, please? I hate feeling like the only one not working."

"Go to bed, Gin." Everest slid his body over mine, pushing me into the cushion. With one hand he gripped both of mine, pinning me down. "My work is mostly for personal reasons and do not require your guilt."

With his other hand he reached between the cushion and my body to rub circles on that sweet spot. I gasped and inhaled some of the pillowcase into my mouth. But my eyes rolled into the back of my head. He was everywhere at once. I felt his body on every inch of me and deep inside of me. His hips rolled like the tide in a hurricane while his finger drove me into a frantic frenzy in quick circles. My orgasm sent me into orbit. I couldn't breathe. Couldn't see. My body trembled from skull to toes. This was mind numbing, soul cleansing ecstasy and it was going to traumatize me in the best and worst of ways.

"Okay. Goodnight, Everest."

Just when my muscles began to loosen and oxygen burned a path down my throat, Everest wrapped his body around mine, his hands gripping mine and the cushion. The weight of him pressing into me seemed to send him deeper. There was something about the combination of his ragged breath in my ear and his lips on my throat that unraveled me in a way that made me want to write my name on every inch of his skin to claim my territory. The way our bodies slid together, our sweat mixing and blending as we became one rewired my senses. All I knew was him.

Turned out he was right earlier when he'd run from me. He was trying to protect me from him. Because as his orgasm pushed me into another I knew I was never going to be the same.