Page 95 of Call of the Blood

Tonight, after Henry, that would be far too past the line for me.

“He is. That’s normal. You will have to be okay with that,” Alexius said. “And we don’t have much night left after traveling. Is there anything you want to take care of before settling down, or shall you retire and get the rest you need?”

“I think I’ll… retire,” I said, deciding that moment. “And I’m done with the crutches. They suck carrying around. I’m fine.” I leaned them against the wall and walked toward my room, down into the private home underneath the mansion. Part of the garden where I would bury my uncle once and for all, but only after everything was resolved. It wasn’t. Not yet.

I found my room, and it felt different—I had changed too much in the space of the trip to the West Coast—but it was also comforting. To stand in the space of my own making, in my new, second chance at life. I went away, bad things happened, and I could come back here, home. Peace. Safety. No Henry or anyone like him could touch me here. Their marks were not on my space. Only mine. Every little detail was mine.

And yet, it was also empty.

I went back out into the hallway and saw him.

“Alexius.”

His name escaped my lips just at the sight of him.

“Everly,” he replied, his hair falling over his face as he turned toward me. “Is there something you need?”

“Can you…” I didn’t say anything. I opened my door wide, a silent invitation.

He said nothing, walking toward me.

“Are you sure?” he asked, leaning down, suddenly filling the empty space of the air around me with his presence.

“You didn’t tell Rupert to stay away from me, right?”

“No. I think he doesn’t know how to handle our new dynamic,” Alexius answered, leaning closer and closer by the second.

“Then yes,” I said by the time his lips were close enough to me that speaking made them brush against each other.

I backed up through the door, and he followed. He closed it, but his hand hovered over the lock, his eyes on me. It took a moment for me to understand, but I nodded, and he locked it.

Alexius in my space was strange and somewhat wonderful. He didn’t fit. His dark presence overwhelmed the room, and I was intoxicated by it when his lips fell on mine, pulling me in.

“Are you really sure?” he asked again after the kiss, pulling his mouth away from mine. Too far away.

“Why wouldn’t I be?” I pulled him back to me for a kiss. “Please. I want you here tonight.”

He didn’t fight again, but something was different. He let me touch him more than he ever did in California. He let me pull his shirt off and left me the use of my hands. He sank his fingers in my hair, holding me for another long kiss. I could finally explore the man, learning every bit of him through touch instead of just sight. My nails could go across his strong shoulders as he kissed my jawline, then my neck. Our clothing was stripped off between each kiss until there was nothing left between us. I stepped back as he kept kissing downward.

He knew what he was doing as his hands went to the backs of my knees and made me fall back with a tug that made my shaky knees bend. I fell on my bed, and he was already between my legs, dark eyes hot with pleasure staring up at me. Then his mouth was on me, shockwaves of ecstasy causing my back to arch the way I knew he enjoyed.

“Alexius!” I called out as he used his tongue to send me over the edge faster than anyone else ever could, even myself. My hand was in his hair, holding on, tangled in the waves. I clutched the sheet with the other, holding onto reality as he made me feel things that should only be possible in my dreams.

He never failed to every single time.

“I find myself rather liking how you scream my name,” he said, husky and warm, as he kissed up my body. His erection pressed against me when his lips reached mine. “Now, what do you want?”

“You,” I said, panting in return.

“Hm.” His small smile was arrogant in that hot way only a man who knew what he was doing could get away with. “Tell me.”

The closeness of him and his request made me suddenly shy. Turning away, I said, “Alexius…”

“Tell. Me.” A large hand sank into my hair, turning me to face him once again.

“Why?”

“Because I would like to hear it. Because I want to give you what you want.” He kissed my neck and jaw between those sentences, and my heart thumped hard in my chest. I could feel his doing the same. For a moment, they seemed in sync, then mine sped up.