Page 19 of Blood Bought

I didn’t miss the flex of his jaw. “Loud and clear. No, you may not. You two come in, Malik will take you to Ciro. I’ll see you soon, beautiful.”

Janice waved with an enamored smile as Malik escorted her out, and Isabel stepped closer to me even though I couldn’t take my eyes off of Alaris. “You don’t need me here for this,” I said pointedly. “I did my job.”

“I know.” He moved aside to let us in, and when I walked past him, he reached out to brush a piece of hair behind my ear. “You did good tonight, Miss Silk. Now you get to see how happy we make Isabel.”

That touch set me on fire in ways I hadn’t expected, making me look at him with shock for more than just his words. “You’re going to make me watch? All of it?”

“Don’t make it sound like a punishment,” he mumbled, then spoke directly into my mind.“I know you’re curious.”

The sudden intrusion made me shiver and gasp, and I’d have grabbed his shirt to steady myself if he’d been fucking wearing one. All at once, the scent of him filled my nose and I realized Iwascurious — but it was also absolutely still a punishment, and part of me resented him for thinking I didn’t know that. “Fine. I’ll stay just to make sure she doesn’t get hurt, especially since you said ‘we.’”

He smirked, closing his door behind me and walking past like he knew I’d follow. “This is Renzo and Kellian. Have you ever been with a vampire, Isabel?”

She shook her head as her eyes danced and she fought a grin. “No, can’t say that I have... but I’ve been hanging out in bars waiting for one of you to come and find me, so here I am.”

I took my cue to sit on one of the couches opposite the bed and took my boots off, then pulled my feet up and hugged my knees to my chest as Kellian stepped behind her and moved her hair to expose her neck.

“Here you are, indeed,” he growled, kissing her skin, as Renzo stood before her and held her hips.

“You get three your first time, beautiful. Lucky you.”

“She’s wearing too many layers,” Alaris added. “Do you mind if we take them off?”

Isabel shook her head quickly. “Not even a little bit. Go for it.”

Kellian moved so fast he was nothing but a blur to my eyes as he stripped her down to nothing, and I found myself focusing on the floor instead of them as she moaned at the first touch. I didn’t want to see this, not really, not when there was a traitorous little part of me who wondered what it would’ve been like if that were me.

“It could be,”Alaris said, and it wasn’t until I looked up to meet his eyes that I realized he was using telepathy.“Say the word and you’ll be mine to make moan.”

The smacking of lips on skin nearly pulled my attention from him, but his gaze was still firmly set on me.“You seem to be doing just fine,”I countered.“And I’m not convinced she won’t be crying in five minutes, so I’ll pass.”

It was the first time I’d ever seen him roll his eyes, but I had a feeling it wouldn’t be the last. He moved away to sit on the bed and watch his best friends with Isabel, a bulge slightly more prominent from his new position and I found myself wanting to see it before I could stop those pesky thoughts. All it did was make him grin.

Renzo was on his knees in front of her, lifting one of her legs to drape over his shoulder as he licked her most precious body part, and the moan she released was pure, unfiltered pleasure.

It made me squirm.

She leaned back as Kellian touched every inch of skin he could reach and kissed a line down her neck and across her shoulder like he wasn’t sure where to bite first, and I suddenly had a question I’d never considered before.

“Hate to bother you,”I thought, hoping he was still listening,“but will I be allowed... a partner? A human, I mean.”

“What?” he asked out loud, making the others freeze and glance his way, and suddenly he didn’t look so indifferent anymore. He stood, walking over to me as the others went back to what they were doing and he leaned in to grip the sides of the couch behind my head. “I must not have heard the question correctly.”

I couldn’t breathe — I shrank back just a little, but there was nowhere for me to go. “You didn’t hear it wrong, Alaris.”

His smile held no amusement. “No.”

“Seriously?” I scoffed, looking away from his too-intense eyes. “That’s hardly fair.”

“Look at me,” he commanded, and my gaze snapped back to him whether I wanted it to or not. “What isn’t fair?”

I hiccupped a breath and clenched my jaw for a moment as I dug my nails into my palms. “That you’re about to make me watch you with someone else and yet I’m not allowed a partner of my own.”

“You have a partner of your own, you just don’t want him. The fuck am I supposed to do? Starve to death while I wait for you? How about this, Miss Sour. Say yes, give yourself to me right now... and I won’t touch her.”

“I can’t,” I whispered, wishing he’d understand how fucking unfair it was for him to expect me to want this. “I won’t.”

He stood straighter and huffed, shaking his head at me like he was disappointed. “That’s what I thought.”

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