Chapter 3
I brush my teeth and tongue over and over, wishing I could scrape the skin away to renew it. Reiner already marked me with his scent, the only scent I want on me, so at least I don’t smell like Fynn anymore, but the taste, that awful taste of him, is still there. His saliva, his cum. It’s repulsive. It’s worse than the previous time, where our interaction was shorter and less invasive. I retch again.
Reiner stands in the doorway, his broad arms folded, watching me as I frantically try to rid my body of the last remnants of Fynn. He hates this as much as I do; I can tell it makes him sick to see the marks of another man on me,especially one as unworthy as Fynn, a human. One that is cursed. He strides over to me and grips my wrists.
“Stop it, my love, you’re hurting yourself,” he whispers.
His breath brushes my ear, and I melt into his touch as I press my body against his chest, tears welling up in the corners of my eyes. I feel humiliated, filthy, and scared.
“Talk to me, please,” he murmurs into my hair.
“I was so afraid, Reiner, those burns, I thought they were going to scorch me from the inside; if he had lost control a little bit more, I would have been dead. Not even my shadows could withstand it. The magic lashed out without a chance to counter it.”
“You’re done. No more seeing that little prick,” he says sternly, concern evident all over his face.
“But we almost got him, darling; we’re so close,” I counter.
A shudder runs down my spine from the nauseating assault on my senses this afternoon. The way his cock had forced itself into my throat when his cum shot down. It had taken everything in me not to throw up all over him, but instead to swallow it and happily look up as if I was savoring the taste.
“I’m not risking losing you. Do you hear me, Caria? You are my heart, and I have no intention of letting you get destroyed and taken away from me, especially not by some pest like that human boy,” he spits the words.
I sink into his arms. Reiner is not particularly fond of humans, especially not Fynn.
“I have to do this, my love, for us,” I whisper.
“It’s not worth it. I can’t stand seeing you in pain and not being able to help you,” he mumbles.
“I know. But please, let me finish what I started. Please…”
He kisses me tenderly, and I feel him relent.
“Let’s hope this is enough to set the bastard in motion,” Reiner sighs.
I nod in agreement. He sweeps me off my feet, presses his lips against mine, and I giggle.
“Let me clean you further,” he says suggestively.
I can’t help but laugh as it sounds anything but sexy, but it is precisely what I need from him. Throughout the night, Reiner cleans me repeatedly, with hardly any breaks, and when the morning sun filters through the curtains, I feel satiated and erased of every memory of Fynn on and in my body. Reiner still licks my skin possessively, his saliva marking me further. Any other dark creature will catch his scent on me from a mile away, and the thought warms my heart. Part of me wishes Fynn could detect Reiner on me as well, serving as a repellent to keep him away from me, despite my need for him. It’s another way in which humans are inferior to us darklings.
“Everyone will know you’re mine,” he says with a growl.
I pull him in for another round of lovemaking, and he eagerly accepts.
I scrunch my nose as Fynn passes by, Jodelle on his arm, casting a longing look my way. I’m sure he links my disapproving face to seeing Jodelle. He gives me a cheeky wink, and I force a loving smile onto my face, trying to appear as smitten as he is. Disgust crawls over my skin, and I’m unsurehow much longer I can maintain this façade; even my shadows shiver in abhorrence. Hako, my shadow beast, hisses softly in his direction as he passes by. But what startles me the most is the trace of the dhampir on him; it’s faint, but distinct. I can’t control the impulse; I have to know how that got embedded into his skin.
“Fynn!” I yell, before I get a chance to regret it.
Hearing my voice, he instantly whips his head at me, jerking Jodelle along as if he were waiting for me to call after him. I motion to him if we can have a quick talk in private. He eagerly complies, telling Jodelle to wait for him outside, which she reluctantly does. If she weren’t such a horrid person, I’d feel bad for her, but the hatred she holds for my kind is palpable as it exudes from her skin. Like a puppy, he eagerly follows after me. The moment we are alone, he cages me in, wets his lips, and presses them on mine. Fuck. I open my mouth and answer his demanding kiss, letting his tongue sweep over mine as he proceeds to suck on my lower lip. I moan as if I’m enjoying our interaction. The kiss is sloppy and wet.
“I fucking want you,” he groans.
He proceeds to kiss my neck and lick my skin, and I feel revulsion creep up. Carefully, I push him off me, unsure how long I can withstand the need to punch him in the face for coming onto me like that.
“Not here,” I say breathlessly, as if I am just as aroused as he is. “Jodelle is right outside waiting for you. You can’t do that to her…”
I pretend as if it takes everything in me not to rip his clothes off right here as his hands fondle my breasts impatiently. His mind is clearly not with Jodelle. I do my best to compose myselfandact as if I am enjoying it while I pry his hands from my chest. Then he cups my face.
“I…”
