Blood Stained Tranquility (38 page)

“Zen . . .”

“I love you.”

A tiny sob rattled out of her, his declaration lancing her with a sweet pain that overwhelmed her. “Oh God . . . Zen . . . how can you?
How?
I’m tainted.”

“You are no such thing,” he said, his voice a growl in her ear.

“I killed a man—”

“You had every damn right to do so.” He lifted her hand up to his lips, kissing the scar where the shard had once cut into it.

She’d wondered why the fuck that scar had remained after she was brought back to life and given a new body.

“But I’m not pure. How can
you
love me?” And she was talking to Mavrak in that moment, something she knew he understood.

“No. You’re not pure,” he agreed.

Eve tensed.

“But you’re fucking perfect to me.”

More tears fell and Eve burrowed deeper into his embrace. “I killed a man. Isn’t that wrong?” she whispered.

“No. It isn’t. It wasn’t born of selfishness. And even if it had been, he deserved it. I have no desire to punish you because of that. That’s the difference. A difference you are teaching me.”

“Zen . . . fuck . . . Zen . . .” She pulled back and forced him to do the same, enough for their eyes to meet. “I love you more than I can handle. And it’s not just because you’re my
R’mann
, understand?”

“I love you,” Zeniel repeated, his voice pure gravel. He was going to eat her. Just chomp into her. Everywhere. As soon as he could move. He was shaking so hard she was jostling in his arms.

Beautiful. She destroyed him. All black hair and huge brown, red, yellow and black eyes staring up at him full of emotion. Her cheeks were still wet, and the tip of her nose was pink. Sexy and adorable, and all his.

No, not yet.

He was going to remedy that. The moment his limbs got with the program, he was claiming her once and for all. It didn’t matter that he was still struggling with Mavrak.

He wanted her. All of her.

He wanted her right fucking then.

Cupping her face, he brought her up to his mouth. “I want you.”

Eve trembled at his words. He leaned into her, sucking her lower lip into his mouth with the intention of just giving her one nip and letting go. The feeling of her plump lower lip got to him, though, and drew him in. Lost in the feel of her mouth, he suckled her softly.

His eyes were heavy-lidded, but he fought to keep them open. He held her gaze, biting down gently. Eve’s lids fluttered, her thick lashes fanning prettily in front of her eyes. A sexy, small moan left her. Her pupils were huge. Zen groaned at the sight, giving her lip one last, long suck before letting go.

Eve’s breath came in pants, her lips parted and wet with his saliva. Her little hands shook as she raised them up and cupped his face, fingers stroking his jaw.

“You have stubble. I didn’t know Gods had to shave. It’s sexy.”

He closed his eyes, basking in her voice. So different from moments before when she’d been hurt and crying. Pulling her in tighter, he skimmed her lips with his. “I don’t. I just haven’t been focusing on keeping my face smooth.”

“So, you’re smooth everywhere you focus on?”

“Yes.”

Eve froze at his answer. He opened his eyes, wondering what the hell—

“Fuck!”

She was out of his lap in a flash. He jumped off the bed, heart pounding, wondering where she went. The sound of the shower turning on had him exhaling loudly. Shaking his head, he went to the door, grabbing the knob with every intention of going in there.

“Wait!” Eve called out from inside. “I haven’t been focusing the last few days. How long was I out, anyway?”

“Five days,” he told her, hating the reminder.

“Fuck, shit. Ah, God, that’s just wrong. I’m totally wolfing it. And I can’t believe I just admitted that to you. And you’re so not coming in here till I’m smooth, you got it, Mister?”

Zeniel chuckled, leaning his forehead against the door. “Baby, I wouldn’t care about th—”

“But I do! So shut it and wait.”

He gave her one more minute, then opened the door and barged in, uncaring of whether she got angry or not. He found her under the showerhead, soaking wet from head-to-toe with her arms crossed as she glared at him.

She hadn’t even bothered pulling the curtain around the tub. A part of her had known he was going to go in there despite her warnings for him not to.

She’d wanted him to find her naked, wet, and willing.

At least, that’s what Zen’s instincts had convinced him of.

He stopped in front of the shower, feeling himself slipping deeper into his war-demon side. And not because of a need for vengeance. The God in him was entangled with what made him an animal, both strands of his code twisting and mutating and darkening. He could feel the blackness spreading inside him.

The darkness that demanded its mate.

He reached down, palming his cock through leather.

Eve stutter-stepped into the wall behind her, mouth gaping and arms falling limply at her sides.

Zeniel chuckled again. The sound was demonic. Just as possessed as he was. He wouldn’t have been surprised to hear a third timbre pop into his voice. He jerked his chin in her direction. “You’re feeling better.”

Eve’s eyes were still glued on where he was fisting his cock. “Not really.”

He smirked, taking a step toward her. “Any chance you won’t bite your
R’mann
’s head off for trying to go near you?” He punctuated the question with three hard strokes of his cock.

She squeezed her eyes shut, swallowing hard. The moment her brow scrunched up and a flicker of pain rushed through her expression he was in the shower with her, pulling her up against him.

He couldn’t give her time to remember. He had to take her before the memories of what she saw got to her again and then he wouldn’t be able to touch her for days.

“Look at me.” Fisting her hair, he brought her up to his height, biting
hard
at her lip. They both moaned as he sucked in her blood, his tongue lapping at her. Her blood mixed with his, pumping hot through his veins. “I won’t ask you again, little mate. Look. At. Me.”

Eve opened her eyes. In them, he could see the anger rising, the residual hurt.

“You’re mine. And I’m yours. And I’m going to prove it to you right fucking now.” He cupped her ass, feeling her slick skin against his, nearly losing it right there.

“Nothing you do is going to make the images go away,” Eve said in a low voice, gasping at the end when he pressed her smooth, wet mound to his dick.

“Is that a challenge?” he breathed, leaning down and sniffing her. “Fuck. Smell so good . . . Eve, answer me. Are you challenging me?”

“No.” She clawed at his shoulders, seeming to be caught between pushing him away and pulling him closer. “I’m just being honest. How would you feel if you saw another male fucking me?”

He growled out a curse, slamming her into the wall and covering her with every inch of his body. Clenching his eyes shut, he fought the images. The mere idea of seeing another cock sliding in and out of his woman made him crazy.

“See?” Eve’s voice was small. “Just imagining does that to you. Imagine actually
seeing
it.”

The idea sent pain shooting into his cock. His mind actually went as far as to hit him with a visual of some nameless motherfucker’s dick sliding in and out of
his
little pussy.

“You’re mine.” Snarling like some wild beast, he cupped her jaw and lifted her off the wall, bringing her to him. “All mine.”

Eve said something. He heard her, but didn’t quite catch what. It didn’t matter. Her small arms tightened around his neck. Her heart sputtered inside her.

Visions of her blood rushing through her veins warred with the other images. Ones where some other man had touched her. Felt her clench around him. Made her come.

There was a loud crack—probably the wall breaking where he slammed her into it. He ground into her, out of control, an orgasm about to burst out of the tip of his dick.

“Zen?
Oh . . . oh,
fuck. Zen—wait!”

He pushed into her. Harder.

Plaster and tile fell down around them, bits of it hitting his arm.

Lost. Gone.

He couldn’t focus on anything other than what mattered most at that moment. “You’re mine.” He bit at her earlobe, sinking his incisor in. Her blood slashed through his spinal cord, igniting every last nerve receptor in him. “Taking you.
Now
, my
R’ma
.”

“Zen . . .”

Whatever else she had to say was lost. He wanted her. Her pussy. Her blood and juices all over him. All around him. He wanted what was fucking
his
by right, and there’d be no more waiting. He needed to finish claiming her.

All
of him.

Every damned, gods forsaken part.

And he knew exactly where he was going to do it.

Lifting her roughly, he wrapped her legs tight around him. Then, he shot them both back to Enzyria, determined to finish this once and for all.

Chapter 28

-Mavrak’s Temple, Valley of the Gods, Enzyria.

Eve’s eyes went wide, taking in the temple as he stormed inside.

“Zen . . . is this Mavrak’s temple?”

“Yes,” he grunted, his focus single-minded.

“But you haven’t been in here in thousands of years, right? Why now?”

He dematerialized, stopping in front of the huge altar with marble carvings that represented both his mother’s side of the family and his father’s.

Probably the wrong place for what he had planned.

Fuck it. He was too out of it. And in answer to Eve’s question, he detangled her legs from around him, and forced her down to her knees. She stared up at him with an expression that heralded an impending tell-off.

He didn’t give her the chance. Almost ripping the laces at the front of his leathers, he wrapped his fist around his cock, sliding it out. His own touch was enough to make a moan drag out of him, low and deep.

Eve bit her lip, eyes glazing over as she whimpered with anticipation.

“Fuck. I need this.” With a fist tight around her hair, he dragged her closer. “No one’s ever . . .
gods,
female. I need you to suck me.
Now
.”

Eve snapped her lips shut, glaring petulantly up at him. “No.”

He hissed at her defiance. His dick somehow throbbed even harder than his heart. His cockhead was swollen, a deep, angry red, and as soon as he brought it to her face, it spurted pre-cum onto her skin.

She jerked, her nostrils flaring and her eyelids fluttering shut as a moan escaped from her parted, juicy lips.

“You want this.” Holding his length still, he rubbed the tip along the curve of her cheek. The sight of his pre-cum smeared on her skin made his head fall back as he pushed himself closer to her. “Take me in, my female.”

“Zen.”

“Now. Gods, no one has ever done it. This is yours.” He had to force his neck to lift his head, and a crack sounded out into the temple when he looked back down at her. “So beautiful. I need to come inside your mouth.” Panting, he fisted her hair harder, pressing his tip against her parted lips. “Do it. Take it—
fuck
!”