“Oh no you don’t.” I was about to smack him on the shoulder—I still wasn’t quite used to his flirty innuendos—but he saved himself by pulling his arms out from behind his back and revealing a plate of still-steaming brownies.
I nodded for him to come inside, then shut the door behind him. “Onlyyouwould think to bake brownies in the middle of a multi-pronged crisis.”
“Trust me,querida. There’s no better time. Baking calms me, and the scents of chocolate, cinnamon, and vanilla make others feel at home. But hey, if you’ve got some kind of moral opposition to them, I’m sure I can find another taker.”
“And another girlfriend, while you’re at it.” I grabbed the plate from his hands and took the brownie from the top of the stack, shoving in a bite. “Defaulting on the gift of chocolate?” I mumbled, not even caring that I was talking with my mouth full. God, his brownies were incredible. Sweet and decadent, with that deliciously spicy kick at the end. “Definitely grounds for a breakup.”
“Girlfriend?” He arched a teasing eyebrow and grabbed a brownie for himself. “Is that what you are?”
“Pretty sure we’ve established that.” I set the plate on the bedside table next to the candle still burning for Darius, then pulled Emilio in for another kiss.
He tasted like the richest, darkest, most velvety chocolate ever, and as he deepened the kiss, a flame of red-hot desire flickered inside my core. My libido went from zero-to-sixty in a single heartbeat.
Emilio must’ve scented the change in me. He let out a quiet moan against my lips, his kiss becoming more insistent, his hands sliding inside my shirt, huge and warm on my back.
I leaned into his touch. I’d missed itwaymore than I’d missed his brownies, and it’d been entirely too long since I’d felt him against my bare skin.
We weren’t alone, exactly. But here in my bedroom with only a passed-out vampire for company, it was the closest we’d gotten to actual privacy since the night before the warehouse liberation, and I wasn’t about to let the opportunity pass.
“Come here.” I dragged him across the room to the closet on the other side. It wasn’t a walk-in, but it was large enough for two people to get into just the kind of trouble we were looking for. I pulled him inside and closed the door partway behind us, leaving it open just a crack so we could keep an eye on Darius.
“But Darius—”
I pressed a finger to his lips. “Haley said he’ll sleep for at least six hours.”
“Are you sure?” he asked, but he was already slipping out of his shoulder holster, setting the weapon on the top closet shelf. His shirt and jeans were next, along with everything else, until he was standing naked before me, fully erect.
I slid my hands over his shoulders, taking in the feel of his smooth, golden skin, marred only by the faint residual scarring from the silver blade. “I haven’t even unzipped my jeans yet, Detective Alvarez, and you’re already naked. So much for your noble protests.”
“If there’s one thing my trip to the other side taught me, it’s not to take anything for granted, and not to wait around for a better moment when the present one is perfectly damn good.”
His mouth was on mine in a heartbeat, claiming me, marking me, making up for all the time we’d lost. Without breaking the kiss, he unbuttoned my cardigan, sliding it off my shoulders, his hands roaming every inch of exposed skin. I kicked off my jeans and underwear, and Emilio lifted my arms up, guiding my hands to the bar that ran the length of the closet.
I curled my fingers around it, holding tight as he kissed me senseless, devouring my mouth, my neck, my breasts, his massive hands and lush lips everywhere at once, heating my blood from a simmer to a boil.
“I can’t get enough of you,” he breathed, kissing my stomach, licking a path from one hipbone to the other. His fingers fluttered between my thighs, teasing me open, his hot breath swirling over my clit. Emilio inhaled my scent, burying his face against my flesh, moaning as he tasted me.
He felt incredible, and part of me wanted to close my eyes and sink into his kiss, let him claim me with his mouth, again and again, teasing and sucking and licking me until my legs trembled.
But I needed him inside me. All of him. And I couldn’t wait another second.
“Emilio,” I begged, sliding a hand into his hair and fisting it. “Kiss me.”
He grabbed my ass and pulled me closer, his tongue sliding inside me, deeper, pure ecstasy, but it wasn’t enough.
“Not there,” I panted. I tugged on his hair, guiding him upward, losing myself again in the pleasure of his mouth as he kissed a path up my stomach, through the valley between my breasts, alongside my neck, my jaw, finally claiming my mouth in another breathless kiss.
As always, Emilio seemed to know exactly what I needed in that moment, what I craved, and as I wrapped my fingers around the bar again, he lifted me up, his hands cradling my ass, guiding me onto the tip of his massive cock. I sank onto him, feeling every inch as he plunged inside me.
“I missed you,” I breathed, my thighs clamping tight around his hips. I held him there, and he buried his face in my neck and breathed me in, slowly rolling his hips as I braced myself on the bar. Despite his earlier hunger, my wolf’s frenetic energy shifted, and once again, he was the slow, tender lover he’d been the first time we’d shared a bed together. With one arm holding me up, he cupped my face with the other, kissing me softly, sensuously, tasting me as if every time was the first. His hand trailed down my throat, grazing my collarbone, my nipple, my ribs, slowly sliding between us. With a soft, gentle pressure, he traced slow circles over my clit, drawing me closer to the edge as he shifted inside me, slow and steady, deliberate.
It snuck up on me, that heat. That deep, dark pulse of pure pleasure, bursting inside me like a dam. As my thighs trembled around him, I held on tightly to the bar and turned my head, biting my upper arm, muffling my cries of ecstasy. Emilio gripped my ass, pushing in deeper and holding me steady, his breath coming out in a sudden rush as he bit my shoulder and finally let go, shuddering against me until he was finally spent.
I let go of the bar and looped my arms around his neck, slowly sliding down his body, kissing him as I went.
My feet had just hit the floor when the closet door swung open, and we both turned with a start to see a smirking, bed-headed vampire looming in the doorway.
“You’ve dragged the wolf into the closet.” Darius glanced around the dark space, his eyes glinting. “Is this some kind of metaphor? Perhaps your subconscious is telling you he’s not the man for you.”
