Page 116 of Starry with a Chance of Nightshade

My thoughts went to my aunt and cousin. I teared up. “I haven’t seen Rachael or Demi since the attack eighteen years ago. I cut ties and ran, wanting to keep them safe. But I know that Rachael missed Drest and thought about him a lot. I’m not sure how much Demi knows about him beyond he’s Fae and with the Nightshade Clan.”

“Demi?” he asked. “The child was a girl?”

“Yes. Here.” I moved out of his hold and off the bed.

He whimpered again. “Astria?”

I went to the corkboard on the wall and unpinned a photo. I hurried back to the bed and sat on the edge, handing him the picture. “Here. This is Demi when she was sixteen. That’s her and I at the beach together. I have more on the board and in a box in the closet if it’s still there. Some of us when we were little too. He could see what she looked like growing up at least until before she graduated from high school.”

He looked at it and teared up. “Can I get copies of these made for him?”

“Of course,” I said, getting misty-eyed myself. “I’m shocked they’re still here. I honestly didn’t think I’d ever have a photo of Rachael or Demi again. That like my mom, I’d start to forget their faces over time. Why has nothing changed here?”

“I don’t know,” he said. “But I have a feeling it’s just onemoresecret this house harbors.”

“Are we safe here right now?” I asked. “I should have asked that sooner, but I was focused on your lips and then the rest of you.”

“Yes. The ring wouldn’t take us to danger,” he said with a grin.

My gaze returned to his lips once more.

Stratton grabbed me and rolled me onto my back. He then moved up and over me, our lips meeting. His knee pushed my legs apart more before he settled over me fully. He moved his hand lower, trailing it down my body to the apex of my thighs before reminding me just how skilled his fingers were, making me squirm and bite at his lower lip.

With a manly chuckle, he kissed his way over my neck to my ear. He sucked on my earlobe and apparently that was where my body housed its in-the-event-of-sex-with-a-hot-guy-press-here-to-orgasm button because one second I was fine, and the next I was shattering in his arms, his hand still between my legs, working my body with an expert touch.

Stratton lifted his head, his gaze meeting mine as he brought his glistening hand to his mouth and licked. His gaze grew hungry and the next I knew, his mouth was over mine and he was kissing me like a depraved man.

It was perfect.

My legs wrapped around his waist, and I ran my hands over his form anywhere I could touch. There was so much in the way of awesomeness that I honestly couldn’t go wrong with any placement.

He lined up with my heated core and drove home, leaving me crying out in ecstasy as he pumped in and out of me. Stratton took my arms and moved them up and over my head before he then held my wrists with one hand. He skimmed his other hand down my body to my chest, cupping my breast. He dipped his head putting his mouth over the distended flesh as his hips worked overtime, driving me straight to the edge of culmination.

I tried to touch him, but he kept my hands locked in place. I did the next best thing, I bucked against him, countering his thrusts, and arched my back, wanting more.

His lips found their way to my mouth again and he paused in his thrusts, his breathing heavy. He put his mouth to my ear. “One second. I need…Iwantthis to last.”

I kissed at his jawline. “And I want to touch you.”

He released my wrists, and I seized the moment to cup his face and kiss him before running my hands down his torso. He jerked as I dragged my close-cut nails back up his sides. His hips increased their pace, making me forget my own name for a minute as pleasure assailed me. My toes curled and my body tightened around his.

Lazily, I looked over his shoulder toward the ceiling of my old bedroom and the edges of my lips drew up as I realized I was quite literally seeing stars. “Stratton,” I whispered, holding firm to him, pleasure still moving through me with each press of his body, each pump of his pelvis.

I cried out in pleasure, finding my bliss at the same moment he rooted deep.

“Eleréalta, being in you will never get old,” he said, grinning.

There was a pounding noise followed by loud thumping that reminded me a lot of when Jessica would run up and down the steps.

Stratton moved off me so fast that I gasped. He grabbed for the purple comforter and yanked it up and over me a moment before my bedroom door burst open.

Torid was there in dog form, slobbering on the floor, giving Stratton a look that said he’d refrain from trying to eat him—for now. Next to Torid was the same man Stratton had been on campus with years ago.

His eyes widened. “Shit. I was at your house and this one showed up, barking like mad. Is he the same dog the chick with the purple…holy shit, is that the girl who had purple hair?”

My breath caught. “Uncle Drest?”

His gaze narrowed in confusion. “Uncle? I’m not your—”

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