“Yes,” I say, and for some stupid reason, my eyes burn. “But think back to before I had the mark, Aliz. There’s no way you—”
“I’m not going to regret this,” she interrupts. “I don’t care how I felt or what I thought back then.Nowmatters, too.” Her voice softens, putting a sudden break on my spiralling. “And I will be very careful. I promise.”
Aliz waits for me to nod, and then wraps her arms around me, pulling me close until my lips rest against her neck. I take a deep breath. “But you’ll have to keep your eyes shut,” she says, as her hands start to roam down my body again. “Can you do that for me?”
I want to see her. But I say yes all the same. I need her more than she can possibly imagine. More than she craves my blood. Her kisses are lighter this time, moving down to my neck. I have a jumper-vest on, over my shirt, and if I hadn’t been wearing it, I’m pretty sure Aliz would have tried stripping me naked here in the common room.
“Are you sure no one will come?” I ask, and my breathing hitches when I feel her fingers, tracing a slow line across my underwear, but not touching where I need her to. I dig my nails into her neck, kissing her again, as though that’ll somehow make her go faster.
“Oh, you most definitely will,” she whispers. Finally, a finger traces down my centre, sending a jolt of pleasure all the way to my toes. I have to bite my lip just to keep my voice down. I cling to her, biting her neck while her finger traces a slow circle over my underwear. The warmth in my core grows, and “Fuck,” I moan against her, her fingers pressing harder and faster.
A sound comes from the other end of the hallway. The lift doors open, and someone pushes out a trolley full of cleaning supplies.
“Shit,” Aliz says. “I completely forgot about the cleaners.”
“You’ve got to be joking,” I say. She grabs my wrist, and we run from the common room. Aliz slots her key into our door and pulls me inside just as the cleaners turn around the corner.
Then she’s fighting with my clothes, asking to cross the saltward before pushing me down onto the bed, and climbing on top of me. Just as she did up on the roof, Aliz covers my eyes with her hand again. I want to see her, but all I can focus on are her fingers, sinking beneath my underwear. “Fuck, you’re so wet,” she says, her touch slow, as though she’s trying to memoriseme.
I bite my tongue to keep myself from moaning. She pulls my underwear down my thighs, and as soon as she touches me in earnest, I find myself already ridiculously close. “Aliz—” I gasp, and she hooks one leg between mine, spreading them.
“After you come,” she starts, rubbing harder, “will you let me fuck you?”
“Yes,” I cry, and although she told me not to, I open my eyes for just a second. Her white hair is dishevelled, falling over half her face. She licks her lips, and the sight of her tongue gets me even closer.
“Eyes,” Aliz says again, and she leans down. I feel her hot mouth on my neck, lips brushing the lines of the Familiar’s mark. She continues to stroke me, each caress sending a new wave of pleasure through my nerves, until suddenly I can’t take another touch. I gasp, body shuddering as ecstasy spreads to my toes.
She doesn’t stop, quickening her pace as my climax stretches. “Fuck!” I cry, her lips still on my neck.
“That was the plan, yes,” she mumbles, and suddenly I feel a finger sinking in. My walls are still contracting from the first orgasm when she slips in another, and before I can get my breath back, she starts to move them, hard and fast. “Want to come again?” she asks, voice against my ear, I don’t have time to answer, her fingers curling up inside me until I see white.
As much as I try to say something coherent, all I manage is to cry her name. I pull hard on the bedsheets, arching my back, each nerve in my body responding to her touch. She slows the rhythm of herfingers, and I didn’t realise my ears were ringing until I hear her soft breaths.
Her free hand draws a line across my face, caressing my brow. “Was that good?” she asks, voice husky. My mind is still in a haze.
“Fuck yes,” I breathe out. I run my fingers through her soft hair, and Aliz still has too many clothes on. Just before I can climb on top of her, she stumblesup.
“I better have dinner.” She clears her throat. “I’ll be right back.”
“I’ll—uh—” I want to pull her back into my arms. I need more. “I’ll get changed.”
She left me with my shirt unbuttoned, my bra on, and my tights halfway down one leg. I pull on my nightgown, knowing full well that she’ll be pulling it off me again in a few minutes. Then I watch her as she fights with the microwave, pacing as she waits for the blood to heat up. There’s a faint red glimmer in her eyes.
She downs her portion of blood. Nocth’s Familiar donated some more after her memories came back. Aliz’s tense muscles start to relax, and she sighs, leaning on her false window. She said she’d be right back, but I already feel myself growing impatient.
I cross the saltward and run my hand over the smooth wood of her coffin. Her gaze burns into my skin. I look at her, and she’s still holding the glass, but her attention is entirely mine. The false window behind her shows an aurora, shimmering green above the hills. “What is it?” she asks.
“The other night you said you didn’t fuck humans,” I say, leaning against her coffin. She puts her paper cup down and licks the last speck of blood from her lips. Then, in just a few strides, she’s right in front of me, trapping me against her coffin. Despite all her worries of our eyes meeting, she tilts my chin and forces me to look at her.
“Say that again.” Her voice is as dark as her eyes.
Just as I open my mouth, she tugs my hair, and a kiss, harder than all which have come before, knocks the air out of my lungs. The wood of her coffin digs into my back. Just as I find her tongue, she draws back an inch. Then, with her grip on my hips, she lifts me up onto the wooden coffin.
“Say that again, Cassie.”
I need her to touch me. But if I can get under her skin in the process, even better. “You said you didn’t fuck humans,” I say. I try to kiss her again, draw her closer, but she ignores my attempts. Her fingers hook beneath the thin straps of my nightgown, pulling the fabric down, achingly slow, until my chest is bare. She stares brazenly, lips parting. Then she kisses the mark, before slowly following the lines down.
“What else did I say?” she asks, as her fingers brush over my nipples. I choke down a sound, while I try to close my legs. As a response, she pushes them open, keeping herself between them. Her tongue replaces her fingers, and I knock my head back, warmth tightening my nerves. “Answer me.”
