“What do you mean?” I clearly needed coffee, because I only seemed to be understanding about every other word he said.
“You have six other nightmares that have been wanting to claim you for, well, some have been for years now, and the only thing holding them back has been your safety. If you tell them that isn’t a problem, that you are meant to mate with them, then you are going to find yourself being fucked, and often.”
I blinked and shivered as he flashed me a smirk. “So maybe you are ready.”
Nibbling my lip, I considered his words. “What if they don’t feel the same?”
“That has never been in question,” Saint leveled, his confidence making me feel far better. “Trust me on that. But ask them yourself when they get back here.”
“Shit, Razar is going to be upset.” I frowned, knowing how protective he was.
“Only because he worries,” Saint pointed out and then chuckled, “Well, that and because he’s a possessive bastard. Serves him right that he didn’t get to bury himself into your tight pussy first.”
“Saint!” I squeaked as he winked at me, sitting up slightly and tilting his head.
“They are still out there negotiating with the humans.” His voice was full of disapproval and annoyance.
“You can hear that?” My brows went up.
His sharp nod had me humming, fairly impressed, before I looked at the sky through my windows, the darkness telling me it had to be nearly ten at night. “How long have we been in here?”
“Give or take three or four hours.”
“Holy shit,” I squeaked, hopping up and running towards the bathroom, not bothering to grab my glasses. I immediately turned on the shower as Saint appeared, frowning and turning it off.
“What are you doing?” I demanded.
“I like you smelling like me,” he growled, grabbing my hip and pulling me against him before dipping his nose against my neck.
I leveled him with a look. “I am not going down there, where my father and your sister are, smelling like sex. Not to mention all the other nightmares we may come across…”
The shower was turned back on as a near pout slipped onto his face. That was cute. Saint pouting should not have been cute.
I turned towards the mirror and froze, my brows going up as Saint leaned against the bathroom counter, looking proud. I stepped closer to the mirror, noting that the mating marks from both Cy and Blackwell stood out extremely drastically, but more than that, the large bite mark on my neck was rather savage-looking. I brought my fingers to the center of my sternum where a new mark was added, a small, simplistic skull that seemed to flash with silver.
“I like you with markings,” he pointed out.
I liked it too. Way, way too much.
Shaking my head, I stepped into the shower. My eyes darted across Saint’s muscular back as he stepped into the large glass shower with me, noting the damage my nails had clearly done. A sense of pleased possessiveness filled me at that notion.
I was suddenly thankful for all the space, because this man was so damn huge. I tilted my head up as I let the water run down my frame, wondering where his thoughts were as he ran his fingers through my wet hair. It was honestly unfair how attractive this man was, plus the rainwater shower head was making him look like some goddamn male model in a commercial.
“What are you thinking about?” I asked softly as his eyes moved to mine.
His face filled with emotion as he opened his mouth to say something, only to be interrupted by the door of the bathroom being slammed open.
Crap.
18
Zain
I had absolutely no reason to be surprised. I had rationally known that the water was on when I had all but barged into the bathroom, finding Bella’s wet, naked body completely on display like some fucking marble statue of a divine goddess. Yet I still felt like the air had been pushed out of my chest completely, leaving me breathless.
Saint offered me a scowl and I paid it zero mind, already knowing what had happened between the two of them and finding myself far more interested than anything on how she was alive. Jealous also, but mostly fascinated and turned on at the prospect of what that could mean for me.
I was starting to feel like an idiot for not believing Saint about her being able to survive fucking one of us. My biggest confusion? I could smell death in the air still, which wasn’t unusual, considering him… but I also didn’t think Arabella had died. In fact, she looked more vibrant, and her energy was stronger than I had ever felt it. She almost felt less human, too, and I wasn’t entirely positive how that was possible.
It didn’t help that I was having issues focusing.
The entire room was filled with the scent of her desire and was completely absent of fear or pain. It was a heady and overwhelming experience that had the urgency from before, the reason I’d shown up in the first place, completely disappearing and leaving me practically breaking down on my knees to crawl towards her. I wanted to taste her more than my next goddamn breath, my nightmare rattling at the neat cage I kept him in underneath a guise of humanity that I knew made Arabella feel comfortable. I knew he was frustrated with not being able to experience her like this, but we couldn’t touch her in our other form… not like this. Not yet.
My eyes ran across her perfect frame, a low growl breaking from my throat as a blush hit her cheeks that had my cock hardening painfully.
Apocalyptic terrors were known for being unhinged. There usually wasn’t a separation between our nightmare side and this more ‘human’ element. In fact, we were considered some of the most vile and uncontrollable nightmares there were.
I had been practically feral, living day by day, avoiding humans and other nightmares when I’d come to ISS, but upon meeting Arabella? My nightmare side had gone quiet and turned into a fucking puppy. He had been not only terrified of scaring her but had stopped trying to force his way out every time that I felt any extreme emotion. Which was why I often shifted just so he could experience what it was like to be close to her, even if it was at random times.
Being at ISS had created a peace inside of me I could have never expected, and the only thing that would foreseeably work me up to the point of shifting was a threat to Arabella. That was clearly not the case here, and despite wanting to touch her and worship the woman, I knew there were larger issues we needed to focus on… if I could just focus on that instead of the way her plush lips were parted and how her eyes were darkening with heat.
“You know, I came in here for a good reason.” I tilted my head, inhaling sharply as my eyes tracked the water that ran down her silky skin. Arabella had no right to have that fucking perfect of a body. Her tight breasts and hard nipples were flushed from the hot water, and her tiny waist and hips had me wanting to bend her over so that I could bury my mouth between her long silky legs.
Holy shit. I was practically drooling.
The best part? She didn’t even bother covering herself up, making me realize I was going to be painfully hard forever, because now I didn’t need to imagine what she looked like naked. No, I could literally fucking imagine every glorious detail, and when I went to bed at night, stroking my cock to the image of her body underneath mine, I would probably come really fucking fast because now I knew exactly what I was missing.