While we had lots of other pressing matters at hand—more missing supernatural people, the safety of my city, figuring out who the fuck took our dads and why they let it happen, I was glad for this small break in the stressful day. I felt like I had so many expectations of me, so many daunting tasks, that it was nice to take care of something simple.
It took a bit of time to go from my father’s office to my bedroom. I didn’t want to use vampire speed with Avery like this, but he was making my sides hurt. He made it hard for me not to want to do this to him again so we could have this light-hearted fun. The rest of the guys would get a kick out of this.
I pushed open my door with my hip, pulled him over to the bed, and we released him at the same time. Avery then grabbed the fronts of our shirts and brought us down with him. “Now we are all in bed.” He giggled while Cosmo and I grimaced, struggling to get up until our faces were right in front of each other, huffing and puffing from struggling with Avery.
His violet eyes swirled as he stared into mine, and my heart pumped harder from our proximity. I bit my lip with my fang to stop me from leaning forward an inch so our lips would meet.
“I... I... I came in to tell you...” Cosmo’s gaze drifted to my lips, licking his own in response, even as neither of us made a move. Lust filled the room as I found his mate line connected with my soul and read it. Desire and longing flooded me, with a pinch of sadness and a handful of pride. All those emotions rushed out of the bond and into me.
I gasped at the feel of him trying to see my side of the bond, and I let my emotions run wild. I wanted him, I needed him, and I appreciated having him at my side. My gaze trailed down his arm, tracing all the tattoos.
I knew I should be mad at him, furious, actually, and a piece of me still was, but the more I stayed in that office pouring over my father’s papers, the more time I had to think about what he did. It didn’t make sense unless he felt one of two things: either I wouldn’t accept him, or my father wouldn’t, and I think I knew which of the two made him do that drastic of a thing.
“Why?” I whispered, nervous about what he would say.
His shoulders slumped, and his head hung low. “Ray, I could tell you that it was based off fear of what your father would do, I could blame it on the agreement we had when I first came here, but deep down, I... I didn’t know if I was good enough for you. I didn’t want to become a burden, knowing that you had so much on your plate already.” He looked up at me, and his eyes were filled with regret. “I could’ve brought it up later, when both of us were more stable in our positions, but, by then, we already had a good system going, and I... I...”
“You chickened out,” I finished for him. His cheeks turned a light shade of pink as he nodded.
“I had learned how to curb the pull I was feeling, and it just became... comfortable.” He reached out for my hand, giving me the option to pull away if I wanted, but I didn’t. “But then they showed up, and I felt like I had an actual shot at losing you, and that made me a little crazy.” His hand tightened around mine, and his other cupped my cheek. “I can’t lose you, Ray. I refuse to. So, if that means being a part of your five-mate troop, then that’s a price I’m willing to pay.”
I leaned into his hand, looking up at him as Cosmo. Not my brother or my right-hand man, just the mate that always wanted to put me above himself, even if it was the wrong move. Both of us stared at each other with so much yearning, desire, and passion that could never be quelled, even when we were brother and sister.
“Fuck, can you guys just kiss already? The tension is getting me all hot and bothered, but I really am too hard for so much foreplay.” Avery watched us with unashamed lust simmering in his gorgeous jade orbs as he propped himself up on his elbows, both of us jerked away from each other in shock.
1Cosmo cursed before he moved to back away, but I didn’t want him to. My hand snatched his shirt, gripping the fabric like a rope, and tugged him toward me. “Rayla,” he called out, and his eyes shifted to Avery as if that would stop me, but I shook my head.
“I want you, Cosmo. I want your lips on mine. I want to taste you as my faerie mate watches.” I looked at him through my lashes, letting him know I was very serious.
Avery nodded furiously. “Oh, fuck, yes, please do. The faerie mate approves.”
I ignored Avery’s commentary and leaned in, capturing Cosmo’s lips with mine. He gasped, letting me do what I wanted as he fisted the sheets but still didn’t participate. I growled, frustrated at his shyness, when I grabbed his chin and licked his fang, purposely nicking my tongue and filling his mouth with my blood.
That did the trick. He growled as he crawled over Avery to push me onto the bed and dropped on top of me as he smashed his lips onto mine. He grabbed at me greedily, gripping me with his fingers as they traveled down my body.
He groaned against my skin, leaving a burning trail of kisses between his words down my chest. “Fuck, Rayla, I can’t get enough of you. I want you all the time. I can’t breathe without you.” I panted harder as his words made me squirm.
He lifted to his knees and stared down at me with menacing, hooded eyes before grabbing my shirt and ripping it down the center of my body. “Shit,” Avery said next to me, but I couldn’t take my eyes off this dark knight that had stayed by my side through thick and thin.
He yanked his shirt over his head, and his toned muscles rippled as he dropped it. For the first time, I took my time, openly feasting on his body, mesmerized by the curves and dips of his body. I had to catch my breath, in awe of this god-shaped creature in front of me.
He grabbed my hands, smirking down at me as he placed them on his stomach. “Oh, Ray, I have wanted you to touch me like this for so long.” He fingered the edge of my bra, and my breasts heaved, then his eyes turned molten before yanking one of the cups down as I traced the curves of his abs.
His breath hitched, and his eyes widened as he stared down and fingered the valley between my breasts. As he hit a patch of skin right at my sternum, I gasped at the flood of pleasure that overtook me. His clean linen and spearmint smell flooded my senses. I squirmed, and rubbed my thighs together so hard I would chafe, but I didn’t care, I needed the friction. Cosmo bent over and lightly kissed the spot that made me feel like I would explode as he breathed, “I found my mark.”
I looked down, and just beneath his hovering smile, between my breasts, was a blood red mark that looked like two vampire holes. Cosmo’s mark. I was officially his mate.
“Ssshhh, this is fucking hot. Don’t ruin it.”
I heard Avery’s words, but Cosmo and I were in our own world of passion and desire, craving just the smallest indications that we were enjoying each other’s touches. Cosmo made the first move, sliding down my body as he kept his simmering hot gaze on me, telling me without words how much he wanted me.
He looked down at my pants, with his mouth right above my button, before he grabbed it with his teeth and popped it off. I let out a small cry. So excited I had to let some of it out. He smirked up at me as his fingers curled around the edges of my pants as he kept his face only an inch from my wet and waiting center.
“This time, I get to taste all of you, drown myself in your scent and cum because, Ray, we are not going any further until you come on my face.” I heard a few male groans next to me, but I didn’t take my eyes off Cosmo.
My heavy pants turned into the first words that entered my head. “Oh, fuck you, that’s hot.”
He smirked before yanking my pants down and rubbed his face along my smooth naked flesh. His deep male laughter vibrated through me, causing spasms to burst at my core, and I cried out again. “If you don’t do something soon, Cosmo, I’m going to fucking make you.”
