Forever Touched (Touch of Vampire #5)

CHAPTER 14

14

ADALYN

It started to rain just as I left the house.

Sighing in relief, I swiftly locked the kitchen door and hurried toward the garage. The Faircrofts had left only minutes before, staying longer than usual to make sure no one was lurking about the property. Mistress decided not to have Rocky pick me up, but he would be at the club waiting for me when I arrived. Which meant that I had to beat him there before he found Benjamin’s body.

With not a spare second to waste, I jogged to the garage and hurriedly unlocked it, impatiently waiting for the garage door to rise as I scrambled to start the Aston Martin. I punched the accelerator the moment it was clear, and the car lurched forward. Barely out of the garage, though, the car made an awful clicking noise, then rolled to a dead stop.

“No,” I whimpered, jumping out into the rain once more. As I popped open the hood, the rain picked up, dumping buckets on my head. “Great. Just great!”

I paused for a moment to yell at the sky, then forced myself to focus on something I could control. Peering inside the car, I began searching for what needed to be fixed. But seconds later, all the hair on my body stood on end, my senses going on high alert.

Someone was watching me.

I whirled around, gasping when I spotted a tall figure only a few yards away. Not recognizing who it was through all the pouring rain and gloom, my fight or flight instinct kicked in. I reached into my back pocket, but it was empty.

Before I could come up with a plan B, a familiar deep voice called, “It’s just me.”

I sagged against the car with relief, willing my racing heart to slow. “You scared the crap out of me.”

When Everett didn’t respond, I turned to resume my task.

“Back with more questions? I hate to disappoint, but I really was telling the truth earlier.”

He stayed silent for so long that I snuck a glance at him over my shoulder. When I found him inches away, peering down at what I was doing, a startled yelp left me. “Don’t do that,” I scolded, pushing him back a step without thought. He glanced down at my hand on his chest, then slowly let me inch him backward. With a harumph, I added, “If you’re just going to be in the way, please leave. I’m in a hurry and have no time for whatever this is.”

Still no response.

Sighing impatiently, I strode toward the still-open garage, muttering to myself, “Probably just a loose bolt. I still have time. Now where did I leave my—?”

A body materialized before me, and I jerked back with a curse. “I told you to—” Everett held out the wrench I needed. “Oh. Thanks.” I took it and hurried back to the car. “Look, I don’t need your help. I have to get to the club before Rocky does, or I won’t be able to hide Benjamin’s body. If someone finds it, I—”

“Loch contacted the SCA. It’s taken care of.”

I whirled around to gape at him. “Really? The body is gone? Including the head?”

He nodded, then held out his hand again. “And this must be yours. Loch found it in the woods this afternoon, covered in Ben’s blood.”

When I saw what he held, my jaw dropped. It was my knife, carefully positioned on a scrap of fabric to protect his skin.

Still recovering from my shock, I stupidly blurted, “I’m surprised you’re giving it back to me. Aren’t you worried I’ll stab you with it?”

His mouth twitched with what looked like amusement. “Do you want to stab me with it?”

I shrugged. “Not right now.”

“Then I’m not worried.”

My own lips twitched with silent amusement. As I reached for the knife, he carefully wrapped it in the fabric and handed it to me.

“I . . . thank you.”

I tucked the knife into my pocket. As I did, a great weight lifted off my shoulders. Noticing that he was as soaked as me, all of Mistress’s warnings about staying away from him came back to me. But I suddenly didn’t care. He’d covered up the attack. He’d returned my knife . That meant more to me than he could ever know.

But after I’d all but thrown in his face that I’d rather be a blood whore than exclusively be with him, he shouldn’t want anything to do with me. Even after what the king had said about us, who would want a whore for a soulmate?

That awful feeling of being exposed slid over me once more. Flustered, I turned to the car with my wrench in hand.

“Sorry about your friend,” I said, peering under the hood once more.

“I’m not.”

At his candid reply, a laugh burst from me. “Well, he was a sleazebag. I would have stuck him in the heart, but he was kind of on top of me at the time, so I didn’t have a clear shot.”

Not wanting to dwell on the memory, I reached inside the car and began searching for loose bolts.

After a moment, Everett quietly growled, “I hope he rots in hell.”

I laughed again. “That’s dark.”

“Why didn’t you use magic to stop him?”

I froze, suddenly terrified that he’d figured out what I could do. What I’d done to him . Forcing my tone to remain light, I quickly tossed back, “Guess I was too freaked out to remember.”

“You’re an Oracle, Star. Probably a powerful one if your father was at the battle six years ago. Defending yourself with magic should be instinctual for you. Unless you didn’t really want to defend yourself.”

A retort quickly sprang to my tongue. “Of course I did. Do you think I like being attacked in the woods and drained to within an inch of my life?” Annoyed, I savagely twisted the wrench to tighten a bolt. “If you must know, I tried to use my magic. Benjamin just happened to get the best of me.”

When he fell silent again, panic flared in my chest. Was my response too flippant? Would he ask me questions about my dad and that night next?

Needing to distract him, I said, “They think you’re the vampire in the gold mask who attacked me this morning, by the way. They also think you’re obsessed with me.”

“I don’t care who they think I am,” he replied. “And I’m not obsessed with you.”

I smirked at him over my shoulder. “Whatever you say, solemae.”

Before the word could finish leaving my mouth, I knew that I’d made a huge mistake.

Lightning flashed through the sky, illuminating his shocked face. Spirits save me, why the hell had I said that?

“What did you just say?” he asked, his voice deathly soft as thunder shook the ground .

Calling myself every bad name I could think of, I straightened from under the hood and said, “That should do it. Can you see if the car will start up?”

“Star.”

I slammed the hood shut and rounded the car to the driver’s door.

“ Star .”

“Stop calling me that,” I snapped, suddenly needing to be anywhere but here. Jumping inside the car, I placed the key in the ignition and begged for it to start. The engine turned over, only to sputter out. Once. Twice. Then rumbled to life on the third try.

Before I could celebrate, something blurred past me. So fast that I didn’t realize what it was—rather, who it was—until the car died again. I glanced up just in time to see Everett pocket my keys.

“Hey!” I scrambled from the car to confront him. “Those aren’t yours. Give them back.”

“First, tell me what you said earlier and why I shouldn’t call you by your name ,” he replied, staring down at me so intensely that I had no choice but to look away.

“It was a joke , okay? Forget I said anything. I have to go, so if you could please give me back my keys.”

When I held out my hand and he didn’t move a muscle, I considered turning my knife on him. A quick poke in the arm should get my message across nicely. But as soon as the thought formed, I banned it, disliking the idea of harming him. A lot . Which was incredibly frustrating.

“Why?”

I blinked up at him, caught off guard by his soft, imploring tone. “Why what?”

“Why did you choose to become a blood whore?”

At that, all the air left me in a rush. It felt like he’d just suckerpunched me, even though the question had been delivered gently. I couldn’t detect any judgment behind the words, but I still felt . . . dirty.

Forcing myself not to look away in shame, I replied, “You should leave. And I don’t think you should come back this time.”

Lightning forked through the sky, illuminating his expression once more. I could have sworn I saw hurt there, but it vanished in a blink.

As we stood there, refusing to voice out loud the many things between us, sudden emotion tightened my throat. Before I could think better of it, I pushed onto my toes and kissed his cheek. “Goodbye, Your Highness.”

The words were final. Permanent.

Whatever this was between us had to end, for both our sakes. We’d shared a moment in time. A confusing, chaotic, electrifying moment. One that had left me disorientated, like a ship lost at sea. Problem was, I didn’t want to be found again when I was with him. Being lost with Everett made me feel things. Incredible things. Things I’d never expected to feel, least of all with a vampire.

A vampire that had turned my life upside down six years ago, and was doing it now all over again.

I stepped away from him before I could change my mind. Before I could beg him to stay. Before I could plead with him to take me away from this life. It would only be a dream anyway, one that wouldn’t last.

This was reality. I couldn’t run from it. Couldn’t hide.

My future—my fate —wasn’t with him. It was here.

But before I could make it two steps, he grabbed my arm and spun me around. My eyes flew wide. “What are you doing?”

“Giving you something to remember me by,” he gruffly said. “ Something real .”

And then his mouth was on mine. I froze solid, shocked to my very core. He was kissing me. Everett D’angelo was kissing me , a disgusting witch.

But when he pulled back a moment later, disgust wasn’t what I found.

“I shouldn’t have done that,” he said, his voice raw with emotion. “I really, really shouldn’t have done that.”

And then he did it again, grabbing my face with both hands so he could deepen the kiss. Rain slid between our mouths, making me ache for more. When I parted my lips, he didn’t hesitate to sweep his tongue inside and seek out mine. As they touched, a whirlwind of emotion erupted inside me.

Lust. Pleasure. Longing. Need .

He kissed me until I was lost. Until I was drowning in a sea of ecstasy. I gripped his arms and held on tightly, my only liferaft in a storm of riotous feeling. His mouth and tongue explored me thoroughly, licking and nipping and sucking. My legs trembled, on the verge of collapsing.

Everett was turning my world upside down again. I had no idea that being kissed could feel like this. Like venom coursing through my veins. Like honey warming my insides. Like life-giving oxygen .

When he finally pulled back, his breathing was ragged. My breaths were equally erratic, my heart tripping like a snare drum. He suddenly reached down to grab the hem of my sweater. In one swift move, it was over my head. My heart nearly leapt from my chest as he slowly backed me against the car and removed my bra.

Closely watching me, he placed my soaked clothing on top of the car before saying, “I want you to experience what it feels like to be pleasured. Just you, with no thought of giving pleasure in return. ”

My lips parted in surprise. No one had ever offered to pleasure me without expecting something in return before. I’d never wanted them to. But Everett was different. Intimacy with him felt good. Amazing, even. I wasn’t just a tool for someone else’s pleasure with him. I was something more , and I desperately wanted to feel that one last time.

So I nodded. Just once. Giving him permission to touch me. To pleasure me. To make me feel .

At my consent, he kissed me again, so deeply that my toes curled. Soon, those lips began to explore other parts of my body. First my jaw, then my neck. I struggled to breathe as they traveled lower. And lower. Brushing across my collarbone, then the tops of my bare breasts.

As they found one of my nipples, I shuddered and slid my fingers through his wet hair. He didn’t roughly bite me like I expected him to, choosing instead to lick the rain off before sucking on the sensitive flesh. I moaned at how good it felt, gasping softly when he gently nipped at the hard peak.

He explored my skin for several minutes, using his mouth in ways that left me breathless. When he reached my stomach, he darted his tongue out to play with my belly button piercing. I giggled but immediately froze as he began to undo my pants. Memories of groping hands, rough kisses, and savage bites invaded my mind.

Sensing my sudden unease, he pulled back again. “What is it?”

“I . . . I don’t think I can.”

The words slapped the air like a lightning bolt. I’d never, ever admitted those words out loud before. Never would have dared. The countless clients I’d slept with over the past few years would have eaten me alive if I’d shown them this kind of vulnerability.

But Everett . . . he looked at me with understanding and released my jeans without protest. Just like that. No threats. No manipulation or coercion. He simply . . . listened.

And it was that understanding, that willingness to respect my wishes, that made me change my mind. Reaching out, I grasped his hand and encouraged him to continue.

“Are you sure?” he murmured, searching my face.

I nodded. “I’m sure.”

His pupils dilated, filling with heat. He clearly wanted to devour me, but instead of rushing the process, he resumed his task slowly, each movement carefully controlled. As he unzipped my jeans and tugged them down, my breathing sped up. The reaction was pure anticipation, and when he placed the rest of my clothing on top of the car, it was all I could do not to jump him.

“Just you,” Everett reminded me, noticing the way I eyed him hungrily. I opened my mouth to complain, but I was suddenly splayed across the hood of the car with his head between my thighs.

When his tongue made contact with my clit, my eyes rolled back and I groaned out his name. His real name. Whoops. No taking that back now. He seemed to like it, though, rewarding me by swirling his tongue around my aching center several times. Fast . So fast that I arched against the hood and cried out like a hussy.

“Again,” he rumbled against my clit, nipping at it gently. Pleasurable bolts of electricity zipped through me. “Say my name again.”

“Everett,” I panted, melting against the car like butter as he began to pleasure me in earnest.

Spirits above, what was he doing to me? I would never be the same after this.

Every time I said his name, he rewarded me with more pleasure. It didn’t even faze me that we were outside where anyone could see, not hidden away in a bedroom. I was lying naked on top of a car while a vampire prince ate me out, and I’d never felt more alive. The experience was entirely new and erotic. It was venom and lightning and magic, all rolled into a powerful concoction that left me writhing and gasping, desperate for release.

Sensing how close I was, he spread my thighs wider and ate me like a man starved. Unable to bear the assault a moment longer, I threw back my head and screamed. Euphoria shot through every inch of my body, allowing me to leave the world behind for an endless moment of time. I stayed in that moment for as long as I could, greedily riding the exquisite high.

Just when reality started to coax me down, Everett swirled his tongue over my clit again, making me come a second time. I moaned loudly, too breathless to scream. He continued to pleasure me, prolonging the high as if he knew how much I craved it. How much I needed it.

He did it again and again, shooting me sky high every time reality tried to bring me down. After the fifth time, I lost count of how many orgasms he gave me. By the time he was finished, I didn’t know up from down, let alone what planet I was on. I was swimming in a sea of utter bliss, every inch of me buzzing with contentment.

When he finally straightened, his expression one of pure satisfaction, I shakily whispered, “You’ve forever ruined me.”

His mouth curved into a slow grin. “Good,” was all he said.

He reached into his pocket to hand me my keys, then disappeared into the pouring rain, leaving me to deal with the devastation he’d just unleashed.