Page 96 of Love Bites

His chuckle was low and rumbly, his hand slipping between my thighs. I sucked in a breath as he stroked my clit slowly. “Put your hands in my hair, little siren.”

I buried my fingers in the strands, and he grabbed me by my core. I cried out when he lifted me higher, stepping up against the shower’s wall.

Water streamed down my skin as my tits met the cold tiles, and I gasped when he thrust into me roughly.

His teeth cut into my throat, and I was a goner.

The man had me completely and utterly under his control, and I was starting to think I actually liked it.

I knockedon the door to Clementine’s room an hour later, my hair wet from the shower but my body relaxed.

Damian and I missed breakfast, but he texted the kitchen to request a large, early lunch, and no one was about to turn the king down.

“You’re late,” Zora said, pulling the door open and looking me up and down suspiciously. “And calm. Too calm.”

“I’m always calm.” I slipped past her, joining everyone in Clem’s room. My eyes met Avery’s, and though I saw the question in her gaze, I didn’t reply to it.

She’d want to know if I talked to him about the love thing, and I hadn’t. Not because I was afraid, but because… well, it was big.

And just because I could drink it from his emotions didn’t mean he wanted to talk about it.

“I’m always calm after I’ve had morning sex with a gorgeous vampire, too,” Clem said with a wink. She was sitting on her bed with Zora. Avery was in the desk chair, and Izzy was on the floor, her knees to her chest and her arms draped over them.

“I’ve done no such thing.” I sat on the edge of the desk, since there was nowhere else to sit. “But if I had, it would’ve been excellent.”

Zora snorted.

Clem laughed.

Izzy and Avery were both watching me. They’d probably realized that if I was making jokes, it was to lighten the mood before I dropped some unfortunate truths.

“I talked to Damian about the wolf he met with,” I said. “His name is Porter, and apparently, he’s the rightful alpha. He killed the last one, but left afterward. Curtis took over when he was gone.”

Four sets of eyebrows lifted.

“Damian has been trying to convince him to take Curt out, because if a vampire does it, it’s a declaration of war. Damian can’t get involved directly without risking his people, which he won’t do.”

“And we won’t ask him to,” Clem said firmly.

She would sooner walk into Curtis’s arms herself than let him start a war. Clearly, the woman loved vampires. Maybe even more than I did, and I was mated to one.

“No,” I agreed. “He’s been talking to Porter, trying to get him to challenge Curtis so he can take over the pack. But Porter found out that he’s mated to me and put it together that you all exist.”

Izzy’s eyes narrowed.

Avery grimaced.

“He’s not willing to take any other kind of payment now. He wants one of you as his mate, to help him fight the demons in his mind with your magic.”

“Fuck,” Izzy said.

Clem ran a hand through her hair. “That’s not good.”

“He can screw right off,” Zora said.

Avery’s grimace just deepened.

“If you’re willing, I was thinking we could try to offer for one of you to feed from him once a month, or once a week or something. Maybe we could get what we want, and still give him what he wants,” I suggested.

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