When I went to their dorm and Tate stopped me, I almost lashed out at him. “What?”
Tate dropped his hand, his eyes dripping down to my body.
I let my eyes follow his gaze, taking in the blood coating my skin and clothing. Remnants of my time with Cletus.
“Probably should shower first.” Tate squeezed my shoulders, turning me the other way. “Jack might ignore your scent on her bed, but she definitely won’t ignore Cletus on her sheets.”
Tate led me into the shared bathroom and found us an empty stall. This late in the night, most of the students had already found somewhere to bunk down so we had relative privacy. We stripped out of soiled clothing and climbed into the stall.
It was a bit tight for the two of us, but neither of us bothered to find a separate one. If we were at my townhouse in town, we’d have plenty of space. No one around to bother us or hear Tate’s, and soon to be Jack’s, cries of pleasure.
“I know what you’re thinking.” Tate’s hand roamed over my body, soaping me up.
I arched a brow.
“You promised we’d live on campus, get the full experience. We can’t do that holed up in your house.” His hands swept down my shoulder, rubbing in circles over my chest until he flicked the sponge over my Adonis belt.
“Think of the fun we could have.” I watched him slide the sponge along my thighs, easing down each of them, but never touching me where I needed.
Blood always turned me on. Whether it was for feeding or from my enemies, both made me harder than cement, and there was only one thing I wanted to do after spilling blood.
Tate’s eyes locked with mine. “If you keep looking at me like that, I’m going to assume you forgot about getting back to Jack.”
My lips turned down. Right. Jack. I’d spent long enough away from her. She could be having a nightmare right now, and I wasn’t there to help her. If I wasted any more time here, the sun would come up, and she’d be closer to waking.
Turning, I rinsed off, ignoring the growing smile on Tate’s face. His constant amusement about how I felt about Jack was starting to prickle me. It wasn’t like he hadn’t been on the receiving end of my fixation before. I spent a year watching him and building a relationship before I finally made my move.
I couldn’t put my dirty clothes back on, and I didn’t think Jack would be very forgiving if she woke up to me naked or even in a towel lying next to her. Unfortunately, that meant I had to take the time to walk to my room and put new clothes on.
A few minutes later, I stepped into Tate’s room, where he sat on his bed, back to the wall, watching me with a small smile, while he flicked through videos on his phone.
“Don’t say a word.” I climbed into bed next to Jack, my arms wrapping around her. She snuggled into my embrace immediately, breathing me in.
“I didn’t say a word,” Tate said, laughter in his voice.
My fingers stroked along Jack’s forehead as I breathed her in. This woman became more of a mystery with each day that I knew her.
I couldn’t wait to unravel all of her secrets and make her mine
Chapter twenty
Jack
Handsreachedformein the dark. Their laughter pushed in around me. They spoke of my mom, Antoine, the others. Promised they’d make me watch them all die before they killed me.
I tried to scream. I tried to run. Marcus, he’d protect me. But then even he was taken from me. The slice of a sword zinged through the dark. A head rolled, blind eyes stared up at me through a familiar face.
Suddenly, those eyes zeroed in on me and the mouth moved. “You’re the key. The weakest. Every Durand will die. Because of you.”
My body shook, my head shaking back and forth. I refused to believe the words. “No, I’m not. I’m—”
A warmth spread through me, wrapping around me like a comforting blanket. It shoved the nightmare away. The mocking face in the dark was nothing more than a memory and all I felt was… light… love.
I sighed into the embrace.
My eyes fluttered open to see the setting sun beaming in through the slit in the curtains. I sniffed and rolled over to the scent of cloves and smoke. My brows furrowed as the scent tickled a thought. I buried my face in my pillow, breathing in the scent. Then I pushed out of bed, stumbling over to Tate’s bed.
I breathed in their scents mixed together on Tate’s bed. Sunshine and smoke. One was Tate’s smell. The other was…
