Page 17 of Blood from the Marrow
“No,” Elena snapped. “And there was no trace of a female vampire having stepped foot in his shithole little base.”
Narine relaxed right as Marisol reached back and pulled Zuri closer by the neck. Dozens of people stopped to watch them, and Elena couldn’t endure another second of waiting.
“We will speak later,” Elena said with a hand on Narine’s arm.
Narine laughed, energy light again. “Far be it from me to keep you from the promised land, Mother.”
Cutting through the crowd, Elena didn’t speak when she reached them. Bending down, hand gently sliding over Marisol’s jaw, she kissed her in an act of absolute ownership. “Let’s go,” she growled against her hungry mouth. “Now.”
Chapter Eight
“Bite me,”Marisol panted, head tossed back against Elena.
In their suite, Elena hadn’t bothered taking off her clothes before sitting on the sofa. Instead, she’d watched while Marisol and Zuri undressed each other.
Marisol had lost herself in the heat of Zuri’s kiss until Elena pulled her down to her lap. But instead of having Marisol straddle her like she expected, Elena had turned her around.
Back flush against Elena’s clothed chest, there was something addictively dirty about sitting on top of her naked while Elena remained dressed. About Zuri kneeling between her parted legs, dark eyes looking up at her with lust painting her perfect face. About being at the center of the only people who mattered.
“Please,” Marisol begged, tangling her fingers in Elena’s soft waves when she reached back.
“You had quite a lot to drink tonight.” Elena’s whispered warning was too close to her ear, sounded too much like the best bad idea.
Marisol made a fist tight enough in Elena’s hair for her to reply with a sharp inhale. The sound was heat rushing over Marisol’s skin. Was the ache between her thighs where Zuri wasteasing her with just the brush of her lips when she wanted more. Needed more.
Taking the hand Zuri rested on the top of her thigh, Marisol entwined her fingers. She turned her head, Elena’s mouth a breath from her parted lips. “Are you going to give me what I want?”
Elena’s body stiffened and her eyes darted to Zuri, who had stopped teasing Marisol. She didn’t need to look at her to know she was giving Elena a wordless no. Marisol yanked Elena’s head back to force her gaze back to her.
“I decide for myself. Neither of you decide for me,” she said with conviction that bloomed from the very center of her being.
“Is that right?” Zuri bit the inside of her thigh hard enough to send a shock of pain to her immediately throbbing core.
“Fuck,” she moaned, hips digging into Elena.
“Do you think you’re ready, Bambi?”
Zuri slithered up her body, kissing her as she went. Thighs, hips, belly, chest. By the time she flicked her nipple with the very tip of her tongue, Marisol’s breath was in tatters.
“You think you’ll be able to take it when those sharp fangs tear into your flawless skin?” Zuri teased her nipple with her teeth before sucking it so hard that Marisol grabbed fistfuls of the sofa and tried not to scream.
Desire swarmed Marisol’s body. It was the thin layer of perspiration forming at the base of her spine. The frantic beating of her heart making breathing impossible. The ache spreading between her thighs and making her beg for more.
“Don’t let her fool you,” Elena whispered like she was promising Eden and the Garden and Knowledge itself. “It doesn’t hurt like that. She just doesn’t want you to get addicted to me.”
“Then she’s too late,” Marisol confessed, back arching and pulse pounding.
“Fuck,” Elena groaned against her mouth, arms wrapping around her torso and pulling her in hard enough to crack ribs.
It was exactly what Marisol wanted. What she needed. To be possessed so completely that she disappeared into Elena’s skin. To be tucked inside Zuri’s chest and forget that Clara had ever shown up in her life when she’d counted her as dead for so long.
Zuri released her tortured skin and straightened. Her palm was so warm where it cradled Marisol’s tense jaw. The soft touch guided her away from Elena and back to Zuri’s eyes. Eyes swimming with so many unspoken questions. Eyes Marisol couldn’t stand to look at without her secrets straining against her sealed lips.
“Why now?” Zuri asked too softly, words coated with concern.
“Why not now?” She returned the question unopened.
Zuri’s face flashed with doubt. With fear.
