Beneath the Watching

23. Mabel

23

MABEL

“He said Kiara’s there, in the Second Realm,” I said as Stefan brought us back into his rooms. Benjamin and Jack scowled at me as we passed them before softening their expressions.

“I liked the Brussel sprout orange blossom cupcakes you made the other day; those were good,” Jack said, rubbing his belly.

“Yeah, those were bangin’,” Benjamin agreed.

Stefan tossed a dirty look their way. “I’ll bang you if you don’t shut up.”

I bit back a laugh and then said, “I don’t think that means what you think it means.”

Benjamin winked at me, and Stefan pinched the bridge of his nose like he did whenever he was annoyed.

He couldn’t justifiably get as angry with the men as he would’ve liked, and we all knew it. They’d been off somewhere with him, stuck in a meeting or perhaps performing any number of errands.

Stefan led me down the hall and into our room, slamming the door shut. “The Second Realm. Do you know exactly where he brought you?”

I perched on the edge of the bed. “A living room? We were indoors the whole time.” I stood up and walked over to the bathroom to wash my hands. They were still sticky with pine sap and now had dirt stuck in the glue.

“He told me something,” I started and took a deep breath. “He knew my father. He’s the one who brought me to the Third Realm after my parents were killed.”

Shock rolled over Stefan’s features as he was rendered speechless.

“He said it was no fault of their own, but he wouldn’t tell me anything else. He must’ve done something, interfered with the foster care system because not once was I placed with any normal family, always with the very rich.”

Finally, he spoke, “His intentions were good, then.”

He still looked as if he didn’t know what to think, and he knew what I’d gone through with those families. “Maybe he didn’t know they were abusive people?” I asked. Each family had been the same, in their care of me, with their expectations with very little deviation.

“Vampire standards can be different, more exacting, but I don’t see why he’d want you to be harmed in any way if he had been friends with your family.”

“Yeah...”

Stefan moved behind me, placing his hands on my waist and leaned forward. I heard his deep inhale. “He touched you,” he snarled.

Drying my hands on a small towel, I replied, “He had to, to bring me there and back.”

He eyed me, staring at the reflection in the mirror, searching for deception. I remembered what he’d told me about his family. “He didn’t touch me in any kind of way that wasn’t for transportation. Well, that and these creepy ghost-things. These ghosts came through the walls, and he couldn’t fight them off and then he brought me back.”

“Ghosts?” Stefan paled. “What did they look like?”

His hands dropped from my waist as I turned around. “Skeletons. With old crumbly robes. They had weird eyes, too. He tried to use his magic but all he could do was hold them off so he could get us away.”

I followed him out of the room. “Sounds like wraiths. They aren’t usually that powerful, he should’ve been able to defeat them, easily.” Stefan scratched his chin. “I wonder....”

He began pacing and stopped by the window and crossed his arms. “This would explain so many things.”

“What are you talking about?”

“I can’t tell you. The information can’t be in your head where others could retrieve it, I won’t endanger you like that.” He moved away from the window and stopped in front of me. “I will tell you that Josiah and his people are not kind. There must be an ulterior motive for letting you live, other than your magic.”

“He called it a Sentient. And probably the family connection is why he didn’t eat me.”

“Yes, that's the proper term.” Stefan bent over, placing his hands on my shoulders. “I can’t stand his smell on you; its pissing me the fuck off.”

“Can I ask you something, first?”

“Anything,” he whispered.

I swallowed; my nerves shot over the pending question. “Did you ever feel that draw to Kiara you told me about? That affects Ilya and that guy?”

“No,” Stefan growled. “Yes, I can feel the draw, but that doesn’t mean I have to respond to it. And it would never affect me the same way it does them.”

This was good news, news that would shut up the intrusive thoughts that racked my brain at times. “Okay. Why does it get to them so much?”

“It's pure greed. And a sense of entitlement. Although we’re all gods, there’s still a hierarchy in the families and theirs are above mine.”

That was a relief, and I was thankful it wasn’t something for me to worry about. “How about we work on that smell now?” I reached up for him with a laugh over his sensitivity, ready to put the conversation behind and focus on the beautiful man in front of me.

His dark eyes stared down at me while he trailed his fingers along my chest. I held my breath as the tips brushed my skin, stopping to tug on my nipple and sending a pleasurable dart of pain through my breast.

Stefan leaned over my body and grabbed hold of me, pushing me back so my head hit the mattress. Next, he grasped my hips and straddled me, caging me between his arms. He bent and slid his tongue into my mouth, the warmth of his own engulfing me.

My hands fisted his shirt to pull him closer and I felt him give a little as he moved his lips across mine. He nudged a knee between my thighs, setting his other alongside mine. One hand traveled to my waist and pushed my pants down and I lifted my hips.

My clothing went to the floor and he sat up, rocking back on his heels to remove his own. “I need to be inside you, beauty,” he rasped. I moaned in response, my hands reaching out to help the process, but he batted me away.

It was painstakingly slow, the way he carefully slid each button from its hole. He’d pause and slip his fingers across my belly every few buttons, dipping his fingers through the folds between my legs. I was so wet, so turned on, I was soaked. He unbuckled his belt, trailing it through the loops in slow motion and smirked. “Touch yourself,” he ordered.

My hand found its way down to my pussy and I tentatively dragged my pointer along the slit, watching as his eyes subtly began to glow. So pretty .

“Feed me,” he growled, and ran his tongue across his teeth.

I dipped my finger back between my legs, gliding them across my wet center. He shucked his pants and undergarments off and climbed back onto the bed on all fours and I brought my damp finger to his mouth. His hot tongue swiped at the digit before he sucked it in between his lips, the sensation increasing the pressure in my core. I moaned his name as he took my wrist and placed it beside my head.

“You’re so fucking beautiful,” he said, gazing at me. I felt it as he took all of me in, the caress of his admiration, his approval. The light in his eyes deepened with molten fire. “You do know I love you, right?”

I didn’t get the chance to answer as he sank his teeth into my neck, biting and licking. I gasped as his breath danced over my skin and he made little sounds of pleasure. His lips found mine again as he claimed my mouth to slide his tongue along mine. “Stefan, please,” I whimpered. I was losing my mind, my whole body enflamed with my need for him.

Pushing against him, I spread my legs wider. “Are you ready for me, love?” he whispered in my ear. He laughed darkly. “You want my thick cock filling you up, don’t you?” I moaned in response.

“Nobody touches you but me. Ever,” he declared in anger. I whimpered again as he lined the crown of his cock with my entrance and began pushing inside. He surged forward with a hiss and my back bowed in ecstasy. He began to fuck into me ruthlessly, my body sliding up and down the bed in his determination to remove any trace of any other man ever having touched me.

My legs wrapped around his back as he pushed into me over and over until he slowed, his strokes tortuously slow. I lifted my hips to push my mound against him, desperate for relief when he grabbed me and flipped me over onto all fours.

He grabbed a fistful of my hair, yanking my head back. “You want my hand or the belt?” He slammed into me again and released his grasp. I dropped face-first onto to bed, my head spinning with lust. “I think my hand can make these cheeks nice and rosy,” he chuckled.

It took a moment, with desire fogging my brain, for the sting of impact to faze me. When it did, I cried out, yelling into my pillow. Smack, smack, smack . Stefan rained down three more slaps, alternating sides before he pounded his dick into me. It shouldn’t have turned me on, but it did heightening my arousal.

He reached underneath me and pressed his thumb to my clit before he lightly stroked it. The rush of endorphins and the expert work of his fingers shot me toward the precipice. A sizzle traveled over my body, shaking my legs before my orgasm hit me. I couldn’t see, I couldn’t breathe, trapped in the heaven in which my unholy man had imprisoned me. My eyes rolled back in my head, and I wailed as I came, tears streaming from my eyes while I was folded into a cocoon of bliss.

Stefan lifted me, his arm curled around my waist as he held me against his chest. His fingers strummed my clit while I shook, my toes curling. Then he flipped me around, dragging me so my hips were poised at the edge of the bed and hammered into me, finding his own relief.

As we lay there in the afterglow, the sun set and then rose in what felt like minutes. I may have dozed off, I wasn’t sure. All I knew was that I finally felt like I had a home, and that home was here with Stefan, Benjamin, and Jack.

There was finally a place for me where I belonged, and it was the same place I’d been born.

“But I can open a bake shop, right?” We were in the kitchen of Stefan’s quarters—as he called it. It seemed more like an apartment to me, the labyrinth of hallways and rooms taking up a good portion of one of the castle’s wings. Benjamin and Jack were with me, Jack standing on the other side of the counter and Benjamin kicked back in a chair alongside the table.

“You just have to buy the building,” Benjamin remarked while slathering butter on a slice of what he’d come to refer to as “classic bean bread.” He was my green bread’s biggest fan. Watching him lick his lips sent me into a flashback of Al acting as if my creation was going to murder his firstborn. Al . The thought sent a trickle of guilt through my head. Technically, I guess I was cheating on him. Was it cheating when we’d never had a normal relationship? The two of us never mentioned being okay with seeing other people and I decided I’d apologize to him if I ever saw him again. Stefan told me I wouldn’t, as some efforts were underway to have me declared legally dead.

This new version of me, here in the Fourth Realm, would never dream of being unfaithful. It was my insecurities that’d had me keeping quiet and cheating on Al. I couldn’t bring myself to regret Stefan, though.

The new and improved Mabel was much better at speaking her mind and dealing with problems as they came up. I still had to fight my urge to dissociate every now and then, but life was much easier, not running away from things or scaring others with odd statements.

“Buy? How am I supposed to buy a store with no money?” It looked like I’d have to get a job, if things with Kiara ever calmed down to the point where I could wander freely.

Benjamin dropped his plate in the sink. “You buy a lease,” he said.

I scoffed. “No money, Ben,” I reminded him.

“Just ask Stefan,” Jack interjected. “He’d give you the money no problem.”

“Dipshit, she doesn’t need money to buy a lease.”

Benjamin rolled his eyes at his friend, and I faced him. “How do you buy a lease with no money?”

He smiled. “When money comes in, you pay.”

Turning back to the stack of ingredients I’d spread out, I muttered, “I’m so confused.”

“Confused about what?” Stefan walked into the room, shoving an arm through his suit jacket, and eyeing the two men with suspicion.

Jack spoke up. “Our lovely lady’s gonna open a bakery.”

Stefan’s glance darted to me. “What?”

“It's something I want to do when things settle down. I just don’t know how and we were brainstorming.” I smiled at him. “I think I mentioned it before, in passing.”

He nodded. “Uh huh. First of all, she’s my lady—not yours. Or Benjamin’s. Keep that straight.” He glared first at Jack and then turned to the other man. “We can do that when the threat is gone,” he said to me.

A thrill ran through me, the excitement of knowing I’d have my own place to bake whatever I wanted. To have people enjoy it was a dream I couldn’t have imagined. “Thank you,” I said, giving him a quick hug. He grunted.

Stefan buttoned his coat, leveling a stern gaze at my two friends, warning them of what should happen if anything went wrong with my care. “I’m meeting with Ilya,” he told me. “I’ll be back in a little bit.”