by Imogen Sera
I interrupt her by pulling her against me, and I'm pleased when she doesn't protest. She looks so distressed though, so like she really thinks that she doesn't belong here, as if that were possible. "You're Eve," I say. "You're Eve whether you're mine or not, and you belong here regardless. Although I do prefer life with you as mine."
She rubs her cheek against my chest. "You're not stupid, Az. Of course I'm yours."
I lean down to kiss her, but she pulls away at the last second and presses her lips to the tip of my nose.
"But that doesn't mean I'm not mad at you."
I smile at her determined face. "Roll over."
"Why?" she asks, already doing it.
"Because I want you to," I say. "And because you want to please me."
"You're a butthead," she says, turning her head to the side so I can see her face.
I ignore her and cover her body with mine, lifting her hair and putting my mouth against the back of her neck.
"I'm mad at you," she says, but she's not pushing me away and there's the ghost of a smile on her lips.
"That's alright," I say. I blow a slow, warm breath across the line of her spine, and watch the goosebumps rise on her flesh. "You can be mad at me. You can hate me. But come back to our bed, Eve."
"I don't hate you," she says quickly. "And it's not our bed, it's yours."
She's being stubborn, but I can't be annoyed when I'm finally touching her, when she's finally talking to me. "I'll throw it away and we can get a new one that's ours, then. But come to my bed, please."
Her back moves evenly under my mouth with each breath she takes, but I can feel the tension in her shoulders. "I shouldn't, Az. I don't want Allie to be alone tonight."
I chuckle against her skin. "She's definitely not alone. She disappeared from dinner with Nox."
"Are you serious?" she asks, swinging her head around to look at me. Her eyes are bright, and her cheeks are flushed, and I'm pleased to know how much I affect her. "He's not forcing her to be attracted to him, is he?"
I shake my head and return my hands to her hips, letting the majority of my weight rest on her. She likes it, she always does, and the little sigh she makes as I move my mouth to her neck is my favorite sound all day.
"Are you sure he's not? Should I go stop them?"
I really don't want to hear about anyone else when I finally have Eve under me, when I finally have Eve's skin against mine. It's been a long week with an angry mate, and all I want to do is absorb her in every possible way. But she's worried about her friend, and I never want my Eve to worry. "I promise that whatever terrible, angry things they're doing are being done with the enthusiastic consent of both parties. Or more than both. I don't want to know."
Her nose wrinkles. "God, I don't want to think about it. They hate each other so much."
"I don't want you to think about it either," I say, and lick her from the nape of her neck up to the tiny hairs at the base of her head. "Think about this."
She makes a little noise of contentment, her hands still up next to her head, her body relaxed and supple under me.
I wrap my tail around her ankle, encouraging her to spread her legs just slightly. This is maybe the first time that I've been annoyed at the difference in our sizes--I want to press my hips into her ass, but if I move up far enough to do that, my mouth will be at the top of her head. And I'm not close to done with my mouth being on her skin.
"I don't hate you," she says suddenly, repeating herself. "You can't think that I hate you."
I know, but it makes my chest swell to hear her say it. "I don't know," I say, because I'm terrible and I want her to keep saying nice things about me.
She tries to move so I lift my weight off of her, and then she rolls on her side and puts her small hands on my cheeks. "You know I don't hate you," she says. "I was just mad. I just wish you would have told me that someone else showed up."
"I'll make it up to Allie, I told you I would."
"I know you will. But it's not that." She pauses. "Well, it's not just that. I feel like you keep things from me that I should know. I feel like you're keeping things from me now. And I already don't know how I fit in here, and you not trusting me enough to tell me things just makes me even more unsure of my place."
I wrap my arms around her, pulling her body flush against mine. "Your place is right here, Eve."
She gives me a long, searching look. "I know, Az. And it feels right to me, too. But that's not my whole life, you know? You have a million things to do all the time, and I have nothing. I dig in the dirt all day because I'm bored."
"How can I make you happy, love? How can I help you be content?"
Chapter 27
Eve
"How can I make you happy?" he asks me, and I have no idea how to answer the question. What I want is to not be in the dark about everything going on, and to not feel like I'm here at Az's mercy. Because when I think about it really, what scares me the most about Allie's imprisonment is how easily he did it. That could have been me so easily if it hadn't been for the weird attraction between us.
"I don't know," I say, and I rub my cheek against him. "I just want to know what's going on."
He's quiet for a minute, and then nods. "Come to our room," he says, grinning at me, "and I'll tell you everything you want to hear."
I touch Az the entire short way down the hall between this room and his. I'm the one who gets in the rocky tub first, but Az is right behind me. He keeps his hands on me while I pull off my dress, and he's right behind me as I slip into the water. Which is fine, because his body against mine in any capacity feels so right. He sits next to me and pulls me onto his lap, and I don't protest at all.
"I'll tell you everything," he says again.
And he does. He tells me about the Council of Seven, which I've already heard about but I'm happy he's talking. He tells me about the connection between the leader of and the house I was staying at, and that he thinks that they arranged for me to come here. He tells me about how he doesn't know why, and he's terrified that I'm only here to be taken away from him, and that he'll do anything that he possibly can to keep me here with him.
And then he tells me about how things used to be, when our two kinds lived alongside each other. About how demons took humans as mates, and how disastrous that ended up being for them. So disastrous that it was worth ending that chapter in history and ending the chance for many demons to ever find a mate.
"Why not, though?" I ask, threading my fingers through his and leaning my head against his chest. "I mean, you guys fuck each other all the time, right?"
"You're endlessly charming." He smirks and then kisses my forehead. "It's different than that. You can't choose just anyone as a mate. It's not really up to us, it's more about compatibility."
I look up at him with a questioning look.
"Genetic compatibility," he clarifies. "It's not like there's only one potential mate; there are dozens, maybe hundreds that would be compatible. But once my kind decides, you're bonded for life."
I hold my breath for a minute, feeling self-centered even as I think it. "And that's me?" I ask.
He crushes me against him for just a second before remembering that I need to breathe. "Of course it's you," he says. "You're my Eve. And when you agree, I'll mark you and everyone will know that you are."
"Explain that to me," I say. "I've heard you talking about marking before."
"I'll bite you," he says, tracing his fingers to the spot where my neck meets my shoulder. "Right here. My venom will mix with your blood and you'll be mine. Being separated from each other will be painful, but our connection will be deeper than it could be without the marking."
"So you just bite me and then you're stuck with me for the rest of my life? That sounds like a good trade."
"Your life is so short, sweet one," he says. His fingers are moving through my hair and I want to melt into him and the moment and absorb it forever. "It won't be after I mark you."
"What d
o you mean?"
"Your lifespan will match mine," he says. "It will be endless."
"I don't see where I'm sacrificing anything," I say.
He frowns. "Because you can't go back. Because being separated from me would eventually destroy you. Because you'd be abandoning your entire life to be here with nothing to do."
I smile a little smile up at him. "I can find things to do," I say.
"Why do I feel like you're trying to convince me to mark you?" he asks.
"Why do you need convincing to do it?"
"You just need to know what you're agreeing to, Eve. You need to know who I am."
"I already do," I say, and I wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him hard. He's surprised but not reluctant, and he's kissing me back with more fervor that I started. His grip is steady on my back and his face is perfect under mine and I just want to savor this feeling forever.
He breaks away with obvious difficulty. "You barely know me, Eve."
I lick his neck as he keeps his face out of reach. "It sounds like I'll have lots of time to get to know you."
"I've done much worse things that imprisoning your friend." His voice is strangled so I press a kiss against his throat.
"I know, Az," I say, pausing to look right up at him. "I know you're all fury and hard edges and discipline. But you're not with me. You never have been."
"You don't know what I wanted to do to you while you were ignoring me."
"What did you want to do to me?"
His jaw is clenched and his voice is strained when he finally speaks. "Carry you back to our room. Lock you in there. Tie you to the bed and not let you leave."
I run my fingers over his face and smile when he kisses my palm as it passes over his mouth. "But you didn't. You let me be mad and throw a fit and act however I wanted in front of whoever I wanted. And you just loved me anyway."
"If course I loved you."
"You're pretty obvious about it, baby. And it's a really good thing, because I'm completely, utterly in love with you."
Chapter 28
Eve
The deep groan that comes out of his mouth makes me shiver with pleasure, and then he stands and lifts me out of the water and holds me up so that our foreheads are touching. I wrap my legs around his stomach and shamelessly rub against him, savoring the delicious feel of him everywhere. "I don't think I could ever possibly tell you how much I love you," he says. "But I'm going to start."
"You're my Az," I say, my hands on the back of his head. "And you better fucking mark me."
"I have to fuck you first," he growls.
"Well then you better do that. God, you better do that."
I'm naked on his lap so it's not difficult, but he has to torment me first even though I need him inside of me right now. My legs are sideways across him, so I turn to straddle him, but he catches my hips and holds me still before I can impale myself on him.
"Az, please," I say, and loop my arms around his neck. "I missed you so much."
He shoots me a dark look, but something hot is in his eyes. "Whose fault is that, little Eve?"
His cock is hard and the head is pushing against my swollen lips, but he won't let me move and get the pressure I'm so desperately craving. I wiggle my hips, but his hands remain firm, and he won't even lean forward to kiss me.
A flash of a smile crosses his face, and I wonder why he's enjoying tormenting me. But then he lifts me up, out of the water, and carries me across the room. I wrap my legs around his torso, but he's still careful to avoid letting me too close to his cock. I want to beg him again, but the look in his eyes has me shivering and waiting to see what's coming.
He sets me on my feet in front of the bed, but before I can scramble on to it and demand for him to fuck me, he catches my wrists in one hand and raises them to the top post of the bed. I raise my eyebrows at him, unbelieving, but he ignores my gaze while reaching for the silken cord from his clothing.
"Are you serious?" I ask, raising up on my tiptoes to see his face better. I'm nude and dripping from the bath, and my arms are fully extended overhead. The fact that I trust him makes this position so, so hot, and I'm pretty much dying waiting to see how he's going to touch me.
He ties my wrists gently, moving my hands with his to make sure that they're not too restricted. I smile up at him as he does, my heart squeezing with the softness of each tug, but he's too busy inspecting my wrists to see it.
He takes a step back, finally, and his gaze sweeps over me. I don't know if it's possible for me to melt any more than I already have, but I certainly feel like I do. His gaze is hot and his cock is straining toward me, and I know that he wants me as much as I want him. But it's also so tender.
"I love you," I say because I can, and he grins at me briefly.
Az drops to his knees before me, which puts our faces at the same height. He ignores my gaze though, watching my body instead, and watching his fingers as they trace the skin over my abdomen. It's a leisurely exploration of hands, skimming up and over my breasts quickly, or down and around to trace the curve of my hips. I want him to touch my nipples, to tug and lick and suck. I want him to move his hand lower, to rub me and part me and plunge in to me. But he doesn't do any of those things, just runs his fingers over me, over my belly and back and chest and hips and thighs.
My eyes are closed and my breaths are short, and when he bends to press his lips against my stomach, I wish my hands were free to grab his horns. I just want to touch him, and I want him to touch me, and I'm going crazy that none of his touches are more than a whisper.
"Please, baby," I say. I know I'm tilting my hips toward him, but I'm way too ready for his touch to be embarrassed at my desperate need.
He laughs softly, and then moves his thumb to brush against my clit.
Once.
And then his hands return to my stomach and back and butt.
I make a strangled noise, and he aims an impish smile at me. I make it again, and move my hips toward him, and he brushes the pad of his thumb over my clit once more.
"You're killing me, Az," I say. And he really might be.
He leans forward to kiss me hard, and I try to move my hands to his shoulders before I remember that they're secured overhead. His tongue tangles with mine, and his hands crush me against him, and I'm almost completely liquid before he releases me. "Tell me what you want, Eve."
"You," I say, and it comes out whinier than I anticipated.
His voice is dark and his eyes are sparkling when he leans toward me again. "You have to be more specific."
I shiver at his words and look at him with wide eyes. "I want you to touch me."
He reaches his fingers back toward my stomach, and then pauses when his palm is spread and warm over my bellybutton. "Like this?"
I huff in frustration and glare at him. "Oh god, please put your fingers in my pussy."
"Good girl," he says, and then kisses me again. His hand moves down from my stomach, over my hips, and finally parts my folds. He slides one long finger in to me, and my legs quake.
"Az," I gasp as he slides a second finger inside. He's still on his knees so his face is still level with mine, and he's watching my face closely for my reaction. Like watching the way he makes me feel is somehow better for him than taking in my body.
And I love him so much for it. I abandon myself to the feel of him against me--his chest against my nipples, his thighs against my shins, his breath hot and maddening over my ear. I relax into the feeling while he circles his free hand around my waist, just before he hooks his fingers and his thumb caresses my clit and he pulls me over the edge.
He holds me against him while I shake, his arm a heavy weight around my back. When I can stand on my own again, he kisses me softly, and I press myself against his skin, wanting to touch him everywhere.
"Fuck me baby, please," I say. His big hands close around my hips as he lifts me against himself, and the extra slack in the rope around my wrists from being lifted means that I can loop my a
rms around his neck. I wrap my legs around him and feel the thick head of his cock prod against my entrance. This time, when I try to sink down on him, he doesn't stop me.
His cock is so thick and so long that it takes such a long time to get him all of the way in me. There's the familiar, mildly unpleasant stretching sensation, but the hotness of being totally filled by Az, who I adore, makes it so easy to ignore. He's still, waiting for me to adjust to the feeling, and his jaw is so tense that I know it's not going to take him long.
Feeling playful, I lean forward, lick his cheek, and giggle. He grins at me and his face is so heart-stoppingly beautiful that I lean forward and kiss him all over it.
And I shift my hips, just so he knows I'm ready. His breath catches as I do, and his arms lock around my back, and he presses his lips to each of my cheeks before he pulls out and begins to thrust.
"I missed you," I murmur, letting him hold my weight against him as he fucks me. He doesn't respond, but he kisses me deeply, and his hands move to my butt to hold me more steadily.
The thick length of him and the way his mouth forms my name when he finishes has me so close, and then he moves his thumb over my clit insistently as I feel the pressure against my cervix. It doesn't hurt when I know it's coming, and I can feel him emptying into my womb, pulsing, thickening and lengthening.
I come apart with my head buried in his neck. One of his hands is still under my butt, holding me against him, and the other traces firm circles over my back. I want to absorb everything in the moment, I want to feel every inch of him against me, I want to kick myself for avoiding him--avoiding this--for an entire week.
I don't remember Az untying my hands, but he must have, because I'm lying in bed next to him. His arm is across me, and my legs are still around his hips, and I lean forward to take his face in my hands. I trace the lines of his jaw, and his cheekbones, and his lips, and when they circle around his chin and I wonder just how much more liquid I can turn into, I realize something.
