Time stopped.
I closed my eyes, only to open them again and watch the world go by me in slow motion. Dust flicked in front of my face. The clock on the far side of the hallway moved… slower. Everything was slowed, even my heartbeat, and for those brief seconds or maybe even minutes…
I felt every single part of him.
Every stretch of muscle.
Every breath.
His pleasure was mine. It was almost hard to breathe because my senses were so overwhelmed with not only him, but with the world around me. The world I'd always known to be normal… was anything but normal.
The color of the wall had been blue.
Now it was electric blue.
Even Ethan's skin looked different, almost transparent as he clung to my body, his fingers digging into my flesh.
It was indescribable, and I was failing at trying to soak everything in.
His tongue swirled across my neck, and then I felt him draw a little bit more; this time the feeling changed, and suddenly all I could smell was burnt sugar — like Christmas, only better.
My body felt heavy; it pulsed in perfect cadence with him.
Ethan sighed against my neck, and the world returned to normal bland colors. The clock finally made it to the next minute.
And I had to fight to keep myself from crying out for him to keep going.
"I'm sorry." His voice was so low, so hoarse it was almost hard to understand his words. "I — you—" He cursed and pulled back.
His eyes were so green that I looked away. I had to because I was afraid if I kept staring, they would somehow burn my irises, blinding me.
"Don't be," I whispered. "I offered. Besides, you pulled me from my dream last night. It was the least I could do, right?"
"You have no idea," his lips lingered in front of mine, grazing my mouth with each word he spoke, "how good you feel — how wonderful you taste."
I leaned forward; the temptation to kiss him was too much.
A throat cleared. "Uh, do you still want eggs?"
I pushed against Ethan's chest, taking a step back, and glanced at Mason. His eyes betrayed nothing, so I wasn't sure if he'd seen us, or if he'd just assumed I'd been offering up myself as Ethan's breakfast.
"Yes," Ethan answered for me. "She's lacking protein."
"Huh?" I asked, dumbfounded. "How would you know…?"
He smirked.
"How's my iron?"
"Perfectly balanced."
We shared a smile. It felt good to talk to him like he didn't hate me, yet I still felt like I had no choice but to keep my guard up. It was a tie between wanting to open up to him, yet knowing that if I did and he rejected me again, I'd have no one to blame but myself.
I needed to remember he was still an immortal.
School really hadn't prepared me for what I was up against.
"Eat," Ethan urged. "I'll wait for you in the study. We can go over your horrible education after Mason's convinced you've eaten enough."