“I know,” I laugh. “I’m being polite. But Ruby…thank you.” I turn to her and lock eyes. “I owe you an apology. If we could go back, I would. You’re a lot cooler than I thought you were.”
“And you’re not the asshole I thought you were.”
I laugh. “If you want out, I won’t blame you.”
She holds out her hand. “There’s no way I’m out.” Her eyes drill right into mine. “You know I still regret missing out on the action back in our Academy days.”
I take her hand. “Ride or die?”
Her lips curve into a smile. “We’re not dying.”
I give her hand a squeeze. “Then let’s ride.”Chapter 23My eyes fly open, and I gasp, sitting straight up in bed. Heart racing, the remnants of the nightmare still have their claws sunk into me.
“Callie.” Lucas’s hand lands on my thigh. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” I say, knowing that’s the biggest understatement of the century. So much is wrong right now. “I had a nightmare. A normal one,” I quickly add.
Bright sunlight shines through my window, and exhaustion clings to me. I got up early to meet Kristy at Suzy’s cafe to give her the cash to then buy the Infernal Dictionary. The coven still has temporary possession of it, and we decided it would be better for me to stay out of all coven affairs.
Our coven’s council is aware Lucas and I gave Kristy the money, but since the book will in turn officially be gifted to Grim Gate’s library, they don’t seem to care. Don’t trust a vampire, but take all you can from one. I can’t roll my eyes hard enough.
“Lay back down,” Lucas urges. “You didn’t get much sleep.”
“No,” I agree, resting my head on his chest. “I didn’t.” It was hard to fall asleep and even harder to get my mind to stop racing. About a week ago, Lucas almost died.
And last night, root-monsters attacked when my sister and her nonmagical family were in the house.
“You didn’t get much sleep, either,” I tell Lucas, splaying my fingers across his pec. His skin is warm from being under the heated blanket. “You were up with me and then went downstairs to do your vampire business.”
“I don’t require much sleep.”
“You don’t when you’ve recently eaten, and you haven’t.”
“I’m fine,” he presses and starts to slowly run his fingers up and down my back. I close my eyes and hook my leg over him. I put on leggings and an oversized sweater for my quick trip into town and stripped down to my underwear as soon as I got back into my room, crawling under the covers with Lucas.
I got a good hour of solid sleep in, and thanks to being not totally human, I don’t need much sleep, either.
“Mmmmhhhh,” I breathe as Lucas starts massaging my shoulders. “That feels good.”
He’s careful when he gets close to my neck, which is still tender from being almost strangled to death.
“Do you want me to make you breakfast?” he asks, voice low.
“Not yet. I just want to…to stay like this.” I lazily rub his arm, feeling bad that he rubs and massages me all the time and I don’t always return the favor. “But I want to be your breakfast.”
Lucas chuckles. “I don’t want to take anything from you until you’ve recovered.”
“I’m not fully human,” I remind him. “I heal fast.”
“You do, but you still need to rest.”
My heart swells in my chest, feeling so much for him right now. I tip my head up and press my lips to his.
“I need you more,” I whisper, and Lucas wraps his arms around me, hugging me tightly before changing positions, moving on top of me. He kisses me hard, and desire quickly fills my entire body. He moves his mouth to my neck, gently kissing my bruises, and works his way down, kissing every inch of me as he strips me naked and moves his head between my legs.
Eyes closed, I press my head back against my pillow as his tongue darts out, lashing over my clit.
“You taste so fucking good,” he moans and puts his mouth over me, licking and sucking with fervor. My body tenses, and I’m getting so close to coming. Lucas can tell, and he pulls back, purposely making me wait so when I do come, it’ll be that much stronger.
“Patience,” he tells me as I reach for him.
“I can come more than once,” I protest. “You always make me come more than once.”
“I know.” He moves back down and grabs my thighs, scooting me down to the edge of the bed. He moves to the floor and hooks both my legs over his head. His lips go to the inside of my thigh, softly kissing my skin. Tingles weave through me, and I gobble the sheets in my hands in anticipation of what’s to come.