Page 47 of Stalk the Dark
It had been a while since I’d had a sexy dream. Longer since I’d had full-blown sex. Being blessed, being fully ordained, meant giving up cock. I could taste it. I could rub up on it, but insertion was forbidden. Oral was great, but after a while, guys wanted to go all the way, then we had the questions, and in some cases, the accusations and name-calling. Easier to steer clear completely. To guard my body and my heart because one slip could cost me my blessing, and once lost, it could not be reclaimed.
I’d asked Micah why the no sex rule once, and he’d said when two people consummated a relationship, it was more than a meeting of bodies, it was a meeting of souls, however brief. He said every carnal union changed us in some way, tainted us, orelevated us, but the blessing was not something to be shared.
The dream, and the alone sexy time had left me thirsty. I grabbed a robe and headed downstairs for some water. I was halfway up the corridor when the sound of voices drew me up short.
“…times are you going to do this?” Edwin whisper-hissed.
“As many times as it takes,” Padma snapped back. “Ouch.”
“Dammit, look at you. Come on, we need to get you cleaned up.”
Their voices drifted away as they headed in the opposite direction to me.
Great, another mystery.
But right now, I needed water. The Padma mystery was a tomorrow problem.
Chapter 17
Ordell’s gravelly voice greeted me as I entered the kitchen. “Morning, sunshine, sleep well?”
My cheeks heated. “Why? I mean. Yes. Yes, I did.”
He gave me a wary look, the kind that said he thought I was being weird, and I was. He didn’t know I’d had a sexy dream about Ezekiel. My gaze flicked to Hemlock, the other occupant of the table.
He was wearing a black shirt that stretched across his shoulders, tight against his back. Wouldn’t that hurt after last night? He looked up and met my gaze with frosty blues, and my stomach dipped.
The corner of his mouth lifted, then he slow-blinked and looked away, dismissing me. Okay, so he wasn’t going to bring up last night. Pretend it never happened. Perfect. I could do that.
Haiden handed me a mug of tea. “So what’s the plan today?”
I sipped my tea and set it down. “I have to call Micah back.” I sat as a plate of bacon was placed on the table.
Ordell began to load up his plate, but Hemlock merely watched. He didn’t attempt to fill his plate; in fact, he had no plate.
“You not eating?” I grabbed some toast, my hand brushing Ordell’s.
He smiled and winked, and my chest warmed.
“Not hungry,” Hemlock said.
I loaded up on sausages. “Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.”
He gave me a hard look then, his jaw tight. “There are many important rituals we must observe, Miss Lighthart. Respecting someone’s privacy, for instance.”
“What?” Ordell asked, his gaze flicking between us.
My cheeks heated.
“Your eggs are getting cold,” Hemlock said to Ordell. “You hate cold eggs.”
Ordell looked torn between his plate and probing more on the conversation. The eggs won.
Hemlock gave me a wry smile, but it failed to light up his eyes. There was something missing with Hemlock. Something lost and broken, and the itch to fix it flickered inside me.
I tamped down on it. This was not my problem, notunless it interfered with my managing Ezekiel because the vampire kingwasmy problem.
“I’ll drive you into town,” Ordell said.
