With a growl, I released his hand and shoved at his chest. "Stop reading my mind."
"Stop being so easy to read," Rayne countered, grabbing my wrists and pulling me close. My chest pressed against the front of his button-down shirt, the fabric causing a delightful friction against my nipples.
"I can't help it," I muttered, so mortified I couldn't meet his gaze. He heard me extolling about his eyes. What am I? A schoolgirl?
"So, it's okay for me to listen in when you need help, but not when you're complimenting me? How's that fair?" Rayne teased, brushing my hair away from my face before settling his hand on my hip.
"That's different," I argued, shifting away from him so I could at least pretend that we weren't both turned on beyond measure. It was a little hard to forget when his bulge was poking me in the hip.
Rayne watched me for a moment, not pulling me back to him. Then, his voice lowered as he reached a hand out to lift my chin up. "I haven't been searching your brain for the answer, if that's what you're worried about."
I didn't have to ask what he was talking about. It was on both of our minds. I knew it. He knew it. I grinned up at him. "Well, too bad, I had been hoping you could tell me. ‘Cause I sure as hell don't know what I'm doing here." I shrugged and crossed my arms over my chest in a feeble attempt to hide.
"It's alright, Piper." Rayne's voice became all raspy and bedroom-like, making me want to rub up against him once more. "I'm not going to make you choose. None of us will. It'd be a long eternity if we did. And nothing gets more tiring than a grudge. That's why most of us vampires don't have any."
I snorted. "Except Valentine, it seems."
Rayne’s lips quirked up on one side. "Except him. He wouldn't be happy unless he was pissed at someone."
"And you?" I couldn't help but ask. "What makes you happy?"
"Right now?" Rayne arched a brow and scanned my body once more. The heat of his gaze making me shiver for a completely different reason this time. "Seeing you like this."
A sudden recklessness filled me and my eyes darted down the hallway. With no one around, I took a single step, closing the distance between us, and curled my hand into the front of Rayne's shirt before jerking his mouth to mine.
The redhead wasted no time wrapping his arms around me. His hands curled around my hips, shifting down low until he cupped my butt, pulling me against the hard bulge in his pants. My fingers sought out the tangles of his hair as I fought to claim his mouth with mine. A low moan escaped his mouth as I suckled on his tongue.
Without warning, Rayne pushed me back, releasing my mouth. He swiped a hand over his lips and shook his head. "We can't. Not here. Not out in the open like this."
I breathed heavily, confusion filling me. "Why not? Does your master have something against sharing?"
Rayne made a disgusted face that almost made me feel offended, but then he followed it up by saying, "Not as a whole, but he's playing some kind of game. I don't know what. I'm not sure if this is a good idea right now."
Tired of Boris getting to say what goes on in my life or theirs, I walked backward away from Rayne with a teasing smile. "Didn't Antoine say we needed to show a united force?"
"Yes," Rayne drawled out slowly, his eyes watching me like a predator watches its prey.
I reached a hand behind my neck and gave the tie a little tug. Rayne sucked in a hard breath when my breasts became exposed to his hungry gaze. "Then what better way than to unite...over and over again."
Rayne growled low and rushed toward me. I let out a cry of delight as I ran the rest of the way to his bedroom. My fingers curled around the doorknob just as he came in behind me, pulling my back against his front. "You are a bad, bad girl, Miss Billings." He leaned down and nipped at my neck, right where Antoine's bite was, making me gasp.
My hand reached back to keep his mouth against my neck as I muttered, "Haven't you heard? I'm a Durand now."