Page 57 of Blood from the Marrow
“Please,” Elena said, turning in Zuri’s arms.
Marisol walked toward them slowly. Slowly, like she was approaching something entirely new. When she reached them, Elena reached for her—hand cupping her face and thumb trailing the line of freckles that disappeared over her jawline. At the gentle touch, every visible part of Marisol’s body flushed red.
With all the ways they’d touched each other, it was still surprising how unsure Marisol could be in moments like this. Zuri stepped in closer to her, circling her arm around her waist.
“I can’t stop thinking about how easy it is to lose you,” Elena muttered, watery gaze darting between them. “It’s this gnawing ache and it makes it so hard to think about anything else.”
Zuri swallowed hard. She knew that sensation. Knew how impossible it was to completely dispel the fear of losing. To shove it away.
“So stop thinking,” Marisol said, much to Zuri’s surprise. “We’re here and we’re not going anywhere.” She said it like she’d say it a thousand times if that’s what it took for Elena to believe it.
Marisol ran her hands through Elena’s hair, pushing the long, dark waves away from her face. “Stop thinking about all the things that could happen, and just be present in what we have right now.” She looked at Elena and Zuri, hazel eyes bright and determined. “I’m yours and you’re mine and no matter what happens, no one can change that. No one can take what we don’t give.”
Zuri’s skin warmed and she pulled Marisol flush against her side. She agreed with her lips on hers, chest swelling with the primal need to protect.Mine, her heart thundered. She kissed Bambi like a declaration of war. Let Sayah come. Let the whole fucking world come. They’d face it together.
Elena’s fingertips at the base of Zuri’s neck pulled her from Marisol’s lips. When Elena kissed her, fist in her hair and mouth desperate where it met hers, Zuri stopped breathing.
It was more apology than kiss. With every swipe of her tongue and every tremble of her lips, Elena confessed all the ways she’d felt inadequate. Zuri kissed her back like it was time to slip out of old skin and grow.
And then Marisol’s mouth was at the base of Zuri’s neck and every thought melted away. Everything that wasn’t Elena and Marisol stopped existing.
“Gods, I’ve fucking missed you,” Elena rasped against Zuri’s swollen lips before she pulled Marisol away from Zuri’s neck. Yanking Marisol’s head back, Elena made an animalistic sound at the sight of Marisol’s surrender. At her submission.
And then Bambi bit her lower lip, straining against Zuri’s grip as if making Elena pull her hair harder, flush deepening over her throat and chest. Fangs exposed in a way that set Zuri’s body on fire, Elena groaned before kissing Marisol. The tiny moan that rumbled in Marisol’s throat reverberated in Zuri’s core, awakening a desire she’d half-feared she’d never feel again.
Zuri couldn’t stop herself. She needed to see what Elena’s kiss was doing to Bambi’s body. Hooking a finger into Marisol’s towel, Zuri pulled it apart without effort. The fabric fell away and landed on the floor. Goosebumps raced over Bambi’s skin but she didn’t break away from Elena’s kiss. Zuri took it like a challenge.
Hand sliding over Marisol’s breast, Zuri found her hard nipple with her thumb. The sound of Bambi moaning into Elena’s mouth was intoxicating, and Zuri would have chased it into fucking traffic. She grabbed her breast hard and kissed her neck harder.
Marisol held Zuri tight against her body, roughly pulling away Zuri’s towel like she was offended it was still there. Zuri’s naked body against hers caused Marisol to falter, but she didn’t break until she slid her hand down Zuri’s back, following the curve of her spine, and grabbed her ass.
This time, when Marisol moaned, it was with lips parted and her head tossed back and Elena’s hand between her thighs.Cheater, Zuri thought, but she couldn’t summon a glare when she met Elena’s half-lidded eyes. While she watched Elena tease Marisol’s clit with her fingertip. While Marisol dug her blunt nails into Zuri’s ass, and hopefully left a mark.
A few weeks without them, without this, had felt like months without food and water and light. Like lifetimes of darkness. Every inhale of Elena’s scent, every graze of Marisol’s skin, brought Zuri back to herself. Dragged her out of doubt and fear. She was invincible fury as long as she had this to fight for.
Zuri let go of Marisol’s breast and slid her hand under Elena’s shirt. Where she was wearing nothing under the fabric. Where her belly tensed and she held her breath when Zuri inched up her sternum.
“I want to see,” Marisol gasped, distant gaze on Zuri’s hand.
Elena moistened her lips, giving them the briefest flash of her fangs. Just long enough for heat to race over Zuri’s skin. To send a rush of need pounding to Zuri’s core.
“You’ll have to ask nicely,” Elena teased, hand moving in an uninterrupted rhythm between Bambi’s trembling thighs.
Marisol bit her tortured bottom lip again, making the most delightful whining sound. “Please,” she managed. “I want to see you.”
Because Zuri wanted to see her too, she pulled Elena’s shirt over her head. Exposed, Elena’s body was unchanged. The wounds she’d suffered had gone from her skin. Even ifonlyfrom her skin.
Zuri kissed her shoulder where Sayah had savaged her with a bite. The place where her body had healed, but the unseen injuries had been spreading. The ones Zuri wanted desperately to reach.
While Marisol leaned in to kiss Elena again, Zuri ran her mouth over Elena’s collarbone. Using just her lips, she followed the curve of Elena’s shoulder and up the side of her neck. Shivering under her touch, Elena groaned into Marisol’s mouth and pulled Zuri hard against her thigh.
Desire spreading low in her belly, Zuri watched Marisol and Elena kiss until a new need arose. She slipped out of Elena’spossessive grasp and moved in behind Marisol. Palms sliding up Marisol’s sides, she gripped her breasts with both hands and squeezed harder than she’d intended.
Swinging her hips backward, Marisol cursed while grinding her ass into Zuri. As if she hadn’t left her strap at home because she couldn’t have imagined the night ending this way, Zuri thrust into her. She wanted Bambi so fucking bad that she nearly felt her grinding against her. Almost felt her easing the ache without touching her.
Zuri couldn’t find the will to drag things out. Kissing the back of Marisol’s neck, she slipped her hand between the press of Elena and Marisol’s bodies. When she found Marisol dripping wet, Zuri groaned and rested her head on Marisol’s shoulder to focus all of her attention on her fingers.
It was hard to get a rhythm when Marisol didn’t stop moving, but she was apparently so turned on it didn’t matter. A fact that only made Zuri’s hunger more insatiable. The more Zuri’s fingers slipped off target, the more Marisol moaned into Elena’s kiss. The more perspiration gathered over the small of her back. The more she rocked her ass into Zuri.
