Blood Stained Tranquility (36 page)

He’d never done this to a female before.

Caring for her this way made him smile, one of those big ass smiles that made his cheeks hurt.

Until he took a good look at her face and remembered she was still out cold, that he’d had no choice but to do that to her.

He finished washing her off, then willed off the water. A simple thought would have had her dry, but he materialized a towel instead, wrapped her in it, and lifted her out of the tub. Making his way back into the room, he made sure to will a fire on in the fireplace. Once he had her on the bed, he materialized another towel, sat next to her, and started drying her off.

He took his sweet time, caressing down one leg then the other. By the time he made it up to her arms, his cock was hurting like a motherfucker, but he was once again smiling.

Chapter 26

Tremors shot down his legs in waves, and standing upright was getting more difficult by the second. Zeniel placed a hand on the headboard, bracing himself so he could lean over Evesse and take her in. Every freshly showered, smooth, deliciously naked inch of her.

Damn it, his mate had had a sexy little body
before
becoming immortal. She’d worked out and taken self-defense classes with Ismini. Both girls were sculpted as a result. After becoming immortal, Eve’s body had further tightened. The lean, feminine muscles in her stomach, thighs, and arms became a little more pronounced.

Hunger and desire were at war inside him, battling for the title, “Who Knocked Out Zen First.” He was exhausted. His own symptoms, while not as furious as Eve’s, had left him drained. There was just no fighting the need to rest any longer.

Willing his clothes off was a bad idea. He knew it before he did it, and he definitely knew it before he got into the bed with an equally naked Eve.

He would fight his urges like Hercules, but he deserved to feel her.

At least, that’s what his hormones convinced him.

He was gentle as he placed her under the black, silk covers. He wasn’t nearly so careful when he practically flung himself under those covers with her. Skin. Hot, firm, soft skin. Her back was pressed against his side, and when he moved, his dick sprang up and smacked her ass cheek.

Impatient fucker.

The wet tip slid across her skin, marking her. He tensed, almost giving in to the urge to flip her over and slide into her right then and there.

Groaning, Zeniel reached down and moved the most sensitive part of himself away from temptation. He got no more than a centimeter away from her though. No, the moment his hand wrapped around his shaft, all control shot out of the room.

He slid his nose against the shell of her ear, taking her scent into himself. He couldn’t decide what ached worst: his teeth, his heart, or his balls. Fuck, his cock was throbbing so hard that his tip vibrated inside his fist.

Pain. He needed some. Maybe if he hurt himself he could regain some damn control. With that goal in mind, he tightened his hand as viciously as he could. His hips shot off the bed, pushing his dick deeper into his hold.

Guess not.

Miserable, he ground his teeth, realizing that this was beyond what any male could endure. Every instinct that made him a mated male was demanding his female, and it wasn’t going to get easier until he fucking did something about it.

So, he did. He turned just enough to press his cockhead against Eve’s ass cheek. Pulling her closer, he moved her hair out of the way so he could latch onto the still open gash on her mating mark.

He didn’t even pump his fist, he merely held fast and sucked her blood into him, which was almost enough to set him off right there.

Longing and pleasure sliced through every cell, merging with her hot, powerful taste.

He would have given everything to have her awake and staring into his eyes. Moaning for him in that sexy little breathless way of hers.

“I need you, baby,” he rasped in her ear, his tone needy. “I’d give anything for you to be awake. For you to feel how hard my cock is for you. I’m leaking already, and you’re not even touching me.” He leaned down and took another few pulls on her neck. “God, female. I want you to use me. Drain me dry. All I can think about is how your lips would feel.”

His hips surged, pushing his cock up before dragging it back through his fist. The moan that left him was deep, rough, and seemed to echo throughout the entire house.

Eve didn’t move, but a small mewl emerged from her parted lips.

“Fuck, baby. I love you. I love you so fucking much.” Zen didn’t care whether those words made it past her subconscious or not. What he felt for her was eating him alive from the inside, frying all of his nerve endings with every thrust of his hips.

Panting, he caressed his cockhead softly, his eyes closing as he leaned toward Eve’s mouth and licked the corner of her lips. “I want you to suck me. No one ever has. Fuck, baby, you’d make me come so hard. So fucking . . .
shit
.”

His back arched, pressing his dick into her warm body and riding out his orgasm as love and lust seemed to explode inside him. Moaning raggedly, he pumped his fist faster, jerking his cum out onto her ass and thigh.

“
Eve
,” he cried, pleading and trapped by the hellish need to feel the inside of her, to have those hot walls wrapped around him.

Coming on her was satisfying in its own right, but it wasn’t enough. It was all he could do to stop himself from falling upon her. Fuck, the spasms still gripped his muscles minutes after he’d stopped coming. His lungs were going to collapse. He couldn’t seem to get enough air to feed his rioting heart. His ribcage felt like it was taking the beating of a lifetime under the abuse the organ was giving it.

He should have been sated. Keywords being
should have
. If anything, he was hornier than ever. The only good thing was that he was too exhausted to move, let alone take his
R’ma
in her sleep.

I am one hell of a catch. A picture-perfect mate.
Yeah, okay.

Eve’s head tilted to the side, and she made a small sound that left Zeniel frozen. She was about to wake. He could sense it. With a harsh curse, he flung himself away from the bed. Landing on his knees on the floor, he braced himself and closed his eyes.

Focus, you selfish asshole. Focus.

He couldn’t let her wake up. Not after what he’d done. Her symptoms would eat her alive if she came to with his cum all over her and the mating still attacking her. Even knowing this, he couldn’t bring himself to truly regret that he’d marked her. Fuck no, he’d never regret that.

His body was all out of whack, his focus totally wrecked. And, yet, he had no trouble bringing himself to trance this time. He shouldn’t have been surprised. Evesse was in need of the serenity he could give her. It was that simple. When she needed something, he gave it to her. She was his body’s master in that sense, and apparently that also included his powers.

Once he was sure she would stay under, he opened his eyes and stood up. Standing over her, taking her in, he clenched his fists in anger.

A kiss had done this to her. Not that he hadn’t witnessed what an
R’mannev
was capable of before.

He had no clue how Nylicia had stayed alive for fourteen millennia. Only Destiny could be responsible for that, and Nylicia was the poor pawn left to rot in her hell because of it.

She wasn’t the only one either.

The fire he had willed on earlier bathed the room in an orange glow, illuminating the sticky evidence he’d left on Evesse’s thigh. Tilting his head, he tried really hard not to be pleased by the sight.

He failed.

Zen thought about cleaning it off. He wasn’t going to. Every part of him loved seeing it there, and therefore it was staying. He wanted her covered in him, even if it meant that—despite his own exhaustion—he had to stay awake, and make sure she stayed in her trance.

So be it. He didn’t need to sleep. What mattered most was watching over her, anyway.

Morning had come and gone, and he still hadn’t been able to attempt rising Evesse out of her slumber. He could sense that she still wasn’t ready, and at some point during the night, she’d begun having nightmares. The soft pleading sounds that had left her cut into him.

He stood in front of the window, his cell phone to his ear, and stared out at the woods.

“And you’ve managed to keep her under this long?” Vedlyl asked.

“When I can manage to keep myself away from her, yes. If I touch her for too long, she starts coming out of it and then I have to focus on putting her back into trance.”

“Is it difficult for you right now?”

“It was at first. Getting easier now, though.”

He could hear Vedlyl moving around on the other line. “So Mavrak isn’t bothering you anymore?”

Zeniel almost laughed at the ridiculousness of that question. That floodgate had opened, and he’d already admitted to himself that there would be no closing it. Not again.

“If that was the case, you’d be here helping her. You can do more for her than I can. Damn, I’m not even male enough to leave her side so you can come.”

“Don’t take it like that. The longer you’re mated, the stronger the instincts become. You know how it works. They get more out of control with every week that passes, and you’re going on over a month. Don’t beat yourself up over this. Dyletri almost ripped my arm off when I went to check on Ismini the other day. At least you’re not a God that just happens to also be part-wolf. I’m not looking forward to dealing with Cy once his mating and bonding symptoms start to hit him.”

Zen still couldn’t believe that Cyake had forced himself on Spari like that. He was the reason she had been cursed and subsequently punished in each of her incarnations. Vedlyl had recounted Ianthen’s version of what happened last night. Spari’s reaction when Cy had gone God of Prophecy on her was more than understandable. Considering what she’d been through because of him, she had probably
under
reacted.

Now, it was only a matter of time before they both fell victim to what Cy had prophesied. Whenever he allowed himself to channel the power of Fate, whatever he said always came to pass.

Always.

Zen was a walking testament to that.

There’d never been an exception. When prophecy was delivered via the usual riddle-lingo, it usually took centuries or more before it happened. When Cy said something was going to happen in a straight-forward manner without the riddles, as he’d done last night, it was a matter of weeks. Months at the most.

Cyake’s exact words the night before had been “you shall be mine.” No riddle there. No room for misinterpretation. Just a whole lot of blatant claiming.

“There’s something else,” Vedlyl said.

Ah, shit. His tone didn’t bode well. “What?”

“You have a great-grandniece. And by
great
, I mean over eleven-hundred generations great. Congrats.”

Zen’s heart seemed to stop for a second, then took off at full gallop.

“What the hell are you talking about?” he asked, barely stopping himself from crushing his cell in his grip.

“I ran a scan into Soleria’s ancestry. Had to go back nearly twelve thousand years, but turns out she’s related to you on your father’s side. Makes sense when you look at her, too. No human has hair that color.”