Page 30 of Blood Bought

Kellian grabbed Renzo’s chin and closed his eyes, and Ren’s hands on the table tightened into fists. “Ah fuck. Now my dick’s hard.”

Nothing could’ve stopped me from looking down, and sure enough, I could see his cock poking his pants. I was forcibly reminded of the way they’d taken Isabel apart and couldn’t stop myself from biting my bottom lip. “Burritos turn you on, huh?”

“Yup. Burritos, especially when being shoved in a beautiful human’s mouth.” He turned his head like someone called him and then started laughing cheekily, and something about Kell’s expression told me he heard it too. “Don’t show him, Kell. He’s fun when he’s annoyed.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.” He winked at me, then stared off into space as he laughed. “Oh, fuck. We should probably hide, Ren. He’s coming, and not in the fun way.”

I stood quickly, knocking my knee against the table. “That’s not funny! You say, ‘fun when he’s annoyed,’ I say he kills people when he’s annoyed.”

“Like I said,” Renzo joked. “Fun.”

Before I could go anywhere though, Alaris was standing behind me and staring at the three of us curiously. “Why do my brothers have boners, Miss Silk?”

“I wasn’t aware you were related,” I mumbled, knowing damn well they weren’t. “It wasn’t my fault. Blame Kellian.”

“All I did was put it in front of you,” he argued. “I didn’t ask you to moan like that once you had it in your mouth.”

I didn’t miss the growl that escaped as he looked over at Kell, but his eyes dropped to the plate on the table and he relaxed. “Funny. Do you want me to get rid of them, Adalind? I hear they can be annoying.”

“They’re not annoying at all,” I said, licking my lips and fighting a laugh at how fast he was summoned. “What did you think was happening here, Alaris?”

“Not important. But I definitely thought I was going to have to kill someone.” He moved closer to me, then wiped something off of my lip and sucked it into his mouth. “Good thing it’s just cheese.”

My jaw dropped a little, so I snapped it shut quickly. “You weren’t sure it was cheese, though. Do you make a habit of licking Kellian’s come off of other people’s lips?”

I could hear snickering from the other two, but I couldn’t bring myself to look away, not when he looked so ragey. “One of these days, your mouth is going to get you in trouble, and whatever I’m licking will be none of your concern.”

“Oh,” I breathed, recognizing the threat for what it was. “Unless you’re going to tell me about all the parts of Sloane you’ve been licking, I’d say it’s already none of my concern.”

“Are you asking? It’d be easier to tell you the parts of her Ihaven’tlicked. Or maybe you can just come watch again.”

“Weren’t you in the middle of a discipline, Ris?” Renzo asked. “Did you just get up and walk out again?”

“Shut up.”

He still didn’t break our intense eye contact, but that familiar jealousy was turning my stomach again.

“No, thanks. One time watching was enough for me, I think.”

“Ah, hell, Ris. You made her all sour, and that’s your fault. She was nice and sweet before you got here,” Kell said, and fuck, I wished he hadn’t.

Of everything, that seemed to bother Alaris the most. “Then I’ll see myself out. Always a pleasure, Adalind.”

He turned away and headed toward the door, and I let him get nearly all the way there before talking myself into following.

“Alaris, wait.” I untangled myself from my chair and jogged after him, then slipped between him and the door. “I’m sorry, okay? I know my mouth gets me into trouble. Guess you just hit a sore spot there.”

“That makes two of us then.” He looked around, jaw still tense when he met my gaze and leaned in more. “No one’s ever spoken to me the way you do.”

Can’t imagine why.“No one’s ever stressed me out the way you do, so I’d say that makes us even. I’ll try to be less... me.” It felt like I’d lost a war instead of just a battle by conceding that, but I didn’t see any other way without legitimately getting killed. “If that’ll make things easier for you.”

I would have missed the sudden shake of his head if I blinked. “Don’t. Be exactly who you are and so will I. I couldn’t claim to give a shit about consent if I was trying to change you. I’m just—” he cracked his neck — “adjusting.”

“Do you... need to see a supernatural chiropractor or something?” I asked, reaching up to ghost my fingers along his neck. I didn’t think I’d ever get used to how warm he was compared to Renzo. “And that’s easy for you to say. Being me... made me a murderer by proxy.”

“That wasn’t your fault, it was mine. Stop being so hard on yourself, it makes your blood sour.” He leaned in to sniff my neck in a way that made me gasp. “Just don’t get sweet for anyone else.”

“It was just a burrito,” I whispered breathlessly, but those words, that request fucking slayed me. I didn’t want to get sweet for anyone else, and having him so close to me was overwhelming. “I won’t.”

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