The washcloth goes by the wayside as he trails open-mouthed kisses across my skin. His tongue flicks lightly, teasing, against my clit and my hips arch upward involuntarily. Heat that I didn’t think I was capable of in this moment pools between my thighs. A moan escapes me.
“That’s right,” he murmurs. “Such a good girl.”
He braces an arm across my abdomen, holding me open as his tongue delves inside.
I cry out, instinctively clutching at his hair. I’m not sure if I’m pulling him closer or holding him still. “Please,” I beg.
Carter shifts his attention, withdrawing from me to focus his tongue and lips on that sensitive bit of flesh until I’m writhing under him. It’s right on the edge of too much, and goosebumps flare to life up and down my arms. I’m close.
“I feel like this hasn’t been fair to you,” I gasp.
Carter gives low chuckle, and the vibration makes me shiver. “You have no idea what’s fair to me.” He closes his mouth over me and sucks.
I draw in a sharp breath, and soft waves shatter me once more.
Closing my eyes, I let it roll over me.
“We have time, you know,” I say to him a few moments later, when I’ve somewhat recovered.
I open my eyes but his gaze darts away from mine as he stands up. “Yeah,” he says.
“You don’t think so?” My heart sinks. Why does this suddenly feel like a goodbye?
The haze of lust fades further, bringing details into clearer view.I’m going to fuck you so hard you’ll never forget me.That’s what he said to me. Why would I forget him?
Carter wipes a hand across the back of his mouth. “You didn’t see what I saw. You were… so small, flying through the air from this invisible force.” He shakes his head, broad shoulders slumped.
I sit up sharply, ignoring the twinge in my back. “I am not giving up. I’m stronger than you think,” I say, offended.
“This isn’t about doubting you,” he says fiercely, sitting next to me and taking my hand in his. “Just… I wish I could talk you into leaving. I don’t like this.”
My reflexive hurt eases. Of course he doesn’t. I just dropped him into a whole other world.
“This is new to you, I get that.” I draw my knees to my chest and wrap my arms around my legs. “Unfortunately, this is the way it works. And I can’t leave.”
He reaches down and pulls his shirt from the floor, holding it to me. “Jocasta, you can do whatever—”
“I think it’s my father,” I say softly, and somehow, hearing the words out loud make itrealin a way that it wasn’t before.
Carter’s hand, still holding the shirt, drops. “What?”
I bite my lip. “I don’t know. It’s just… a feeling. My father, Death, itfeelslike him. I don’t know why he would name me as his successor and then try to kill me. It doesn’t make sense. Nor would he bother with hiding himself. He likes the attention, the fear, too much.”
I glance up at Carter and his face has gone back to that blank mask that I suspect hides big emotions he doesn’t want to reveal. Someone, somewhere taught him that feeling is a weakness. I hate whoever that is.
“The Old Ones, they’re not big on subtle. They just don’t see the point of it,” I explain. “It’s like, I don’t know, trying to sneak up on a cow. Humans are just food to them. It’s only when you’ve got a bunch of them stampeding that there’s a danger.” I pause, remembering how my father taught me to feed. The Ferris wheel at Navy Pier is anything but discreet. But he made sure that we were distant enough that the deaths would not, could not, be associated with us. I sigh. “But then again, my father’s never been afraid to change things up.”
Fury breaks through the blankness, tightening Carter’s whole face. He stands, tossing me the shirt. I snatch it out of the air. “Let’s just go,” he says, moving around the footboard to find his jeans and pull them on. “My family is fucked up, too. They won’t miss me.”
I gape at him. “Carter, what are you—”
A thunderous thumping at the front door echoes through his apartment.
We both go still, heads turning in that direction.
“Devon?” I ask.
Carter shakes his head tightly.
