Jealousy sinks its barbs into me. It doesn’t matter that I have no right to it, that I want to get rid of her as much as she wants to be rid of me. I take a step forward, a part of me delighting when she stands her ground. She wouldn’t have done it a few months ago. I lean down. “That’s your mistake, Zuri. There is no one better than me and Ursa. You could fuck your way through Carver City, Olympus, and Sabine Valley, and you’d still feel the imprint of us on your skin.”
“Whatever you have to tell yourself to sleep at night.” She smooths her hair back, regaining her composure bit by bit despite the fact she’s still standing there completely naked. “I might not be experienced, but even I can tell that your technique could use some work.”
“You weren’t complaining when you were coming all over my cock.”
Her eyes flash. “Because Ursa was touching me.”
A perverse kind of joy fills me. She never would have gone toe to toe with me when she lived in her father’s house. A few days in Carver City and little Zuri thinks she can play with the big dogs. She might even be right.
That’s not going to stop me from putting her in her place right now, tonight. “Tell me your safe word.”
“We’re not doing this.”
I don’t back down. “Your safe word, Zuri.”
She stops short, finally registering that I’m not fucking around. “Hurricane.” A little meekness filters back into her tone, but nowhere near the sweet submission she gave Ursa. I take a step forward, and she stops me with her hand on my chest. “I hate you, Alaric. All the sex in the world isn’t going to cover up the fact that you lied to me and betrayed me and fully intend to ruin my life because of something that has nothing to do with me.”
“You’re right.” I enjoy her shock at my agreement. “But that doesn’t change a damn thing. I want you. So I’m going to take you. Again.”
“Better ask for permission first. You wouldn’t want to be banished to sleep on the balcony like a dog.” The venom in her tone only delights me more. She didn’t show Ursa a damn bit of this steel, but she’s giving it to me. It doesn’t matter that it’s because she loathes me. I like it. Fuck, it makes the sparks between us burn hotter.
I lean down until my lips nearly brush her ear. “There are a thousand things I could do to you tonight that don’t involve you on my cock.”
“I’m not interested.”
“Liar.” I skate my hand down the center of her chest, over her stomach, to cup her pussy. She hisses out a breath at the touch, and her hands come to rest on my biceps. I explore her gently, tauntingly. “You feel awful wet for someone not interested.”
“Maybe I’m thinking of her.”
Ursa is magic, and if it’s the magic that comes with sacrifice and shadows, it’s all the more addictive because of it. That said, I can’t stop the jealousy that makes me want to shove Zuri’s desire in her face and rub her nose in it. She might be caught in Ursa’s spell, but before she met the Sea Witch, Zuri was mine.
I crowd her back toward the bed. Where Ursa’s bedroom reminds me of the dark depths of the sea, this is a lighter room, leaning more toward grays and tonal blues that make me think of a storm coming in. It’s not here yet, but soon.
Or maybe the storm is inside me. Some days it feels that way, wind and rain and thunder violent enough to shake my very bones. It’s always been like this. Nothing is enough. There’s always something just beyond my reach that I want, regardless of whether I deserve it or not. The only time I don’t feel that devastating hunger is when I’m fucking, or when I’m kneeling at Ursa’s feet.
One of those options isn’t available to me tonight. The other will have to do.
I give Zuri’s pussy a light squeeze. “Get on the bed and spread your legs.”
She glares like she might challenge me, but I keep stroking her until that delicate little whimper slips free. No matter what Zuri thinks of me, she’s getting a taste of what true pleasure at another’s hands—at my hands—can feel like. She’s got a bit of a little slut in her, because she shoves off my chest and climbs onto the bed and does as I command, spreading her legs. “I’m going to think of her.”
Her words spur me forward, following her onto the mattress and gripping her thighs, spreading her wider yet. “No, you’re not.”
Zuri lifts her arms over her head, baring her body to me completely. Does she understand how sexy she looks right now? How sweet this tiny vulnerability is? It means she trusts me, at least a little, no matter how much she hates me at the moment. No matter how hedonistic she’s turning out to be, Zuri isn’t a complete fool. She wouldn’t put herself in danger for the sake of orgasms.