She came. And it was a gorgeous sight. Her eyes went wide, her swollen lips parted, a loud cry burst out of her. Her inner walls clamped around my fingers, squeezing and rippling. My cock twitched in envy.
Done waiting to take her, I withdrew my fingers, snapped open my fly … and froze as a fist began pounding on the door.
“Just assure me that neither of you have killed the other,” Sam called out, effectively throwing a bucket of water over us.
There was another voice. It was muffled but familiar. Ursula. Apparently she’d alerted Sam.
Paige blinked hard, the sex-drunk glaze fading from her eyes.
Hell. I didn’t look away from her as I replied, “We’re fine.”
“Yeah, fine,” said Paige, her voice as thick and hoarse as mine.
“There, told you they were probably all right,” said Sam in her British accent. “Now bugger off.”
Ursula’s muffled voice came again, and then I heard two sets of footfalls as both females walked away.
Paige planted her hand on my chest and pushed.
Cursing in my head, I backed away and redid my fly. She didn’t once look my way as she straightened her dress and then slipped on her shoes. She glanced around as if searching for something—no doubt her thong. She obviously hadn’t noticed I’d pocketed it. And I didn’t care to tell her.
Clearing her throat, she pointed at the door, still refusing to meet my gaze. “I’m going to go.”
“And carry on like this never happened?”
She shrugged. “I would think you’d prefer it that way. You might not have the most indiscriminate of dicks, but you don’t get involved with women you don’t like.”
“I like you just fine.”
Her eyes finally snapped to mine, now flaring with annoyance. “Bullshit. Something about me rubs you up the wrong way. Which isn’t your fault. But nor is it mine. So I say we just keep doing what we’ve always done and give each other plenty of space. Oh, and since you seem to be so protective of Ursula, do ensure she gives me that same space.”
I frowned. “I’m not in the least bit protective of her.”
“You practically begged me not to hurt her.”
“Because she’s not a bad person, she’s just pissed at me.”
“She’s also pissed at me, and I don’t even know why. I have a feeling you do. But I’m hoping you weren’t lying when you said you didn’t use me as an excuse for why you ended things with her.”
“I wasn’t lying. And I didn’t end things. She did.”
Paige’s brow furrowed. “She did? No way am I buying that. She was all bitter and spiteful and acting like a woman scorned.” She perched her hands on her hips. “Look, if you don’t want to tell me what happened between you two, fine. You don’t need to. It isn’t my business anyway. But don’t lie to me.”
“I’m not fucking lying. She declared it was over, so it’s over.”
“Why the hell would she do that when she clearly cares about you?”
I closed the space between us and dipped my face to hers. “Because I said your name while I was fucking her.”
Paige blinked, and then her arms slipped to her sides. “Wait, what?”
(Paige)
He was … He couldn’t mean … I didn’t … “No, seriously, what?”
“You heard me. I said your name. I’m not proud of it. I’m pissed that it happened. But there’s no way for me to take it back, so she’s rightfully livid.”
Struggling to make sense of what he was saying, I just stared at him for a long moment. “But … why would you … I don’t understand.”
“It’s not obvious? I want you.” His eyes briefly dipped to my mouth. “I want you so much you pop into my head when I’m with other women. I try pushing you back out, but it doesn’t work. You’re all I can see. I don’t like that it happens, I don’t like how unfair it is to whoever I’m with at that moment, but fuck if I’ve been able to stop it happening.”
I went back to simply staring at him, feeling … lost. “But you’re, like, Flirty McFlirterson, and you’ve never once come onto me.”
“Two minutes ago, I had my fingers buried inside you.”
“Before tonight, I mean.”
He lifted his hand as if to stroke my hair, but then he dropped it. “You saved my life the first time we met. I don’t remember that part. But I remember what came before it. I’d seen the other vampires who were tainted by The Reaper’s Call, so I’d known what would become of me, and I’d felt myself fading, weakening, fracturing.”
I could still remember the horrible state he’d been in. The Reaper’s Call was a sort of incorporeal venom that contaminated and tainted blood, leaving its victims in a frenzied, zombie-like frame of mind. They attacked mindlessly, spreading the taint of The Call with a mere bite. There was thought to be no cure or counteragent, but I’d discovered that I could use my gift to rid him of the bite he’d received from an infected vampire, thus also ridding Max’s system of the taint … healing him in the process.