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“No, it’s fine,” she lied before finishing the worst tasting food ever made.

Moments later, she handed Elena the mostly empty plate and stood up. “I’m going to take a shower.” Zuri stood and stretched, her muscles aching from the long sleep, the mind dive, the weight of the world on her shoulders.

Elena’s gaze followed her, a flicker of light in her eyes. “Need a hand? Or two?”

Zuri replied with a wry smile. Her attention darted between Marisol and Elena. The air crackled with unspoken desires, the invitation hanging between them like a promise. Marisol’s cheeks flushed a delicate pink while Elena’s lips curved into a slow smile, her fangs glinting in the dim light.

Zuri watched them for a beat, expression noncommittal. When she turned and walked towards the bathroom, she felt the weight of their gazes on her back.

Later, she thought, anticipation coursing through her, energizing her depleted spirit.We all need a little escape, she decided, knowing exactly how she was going to give it to them.

Chapter Thirty-Four

Elena walkedinto the kitchen and tried to will herself to walk normally. She hated that her left leg refused to move smoothly. It was like there was something preventing her range of motion and she had the overwhelming desire to tear the foreign object from her body.

“You did a good job fixing the back door,” Marisol said while she wiped down the counters that were already clean. “Were you a carpenter in another life?”

Standing next to her, she was surprised to find that Marisol was taller than both her and Zuri. Not by much, but just enough to notice.

“What you did today…” Elena moved into her space. “It was incredibly brave and unbelievably stupid. It’s becoming a pattern with you.”

Marisol tossed the rag on the counter, leaning with her hands braced against the ledge behind her and putting the cleavage peeking out of her loose tank top on display.

“I don’t know who is better at compliments, you or Zuri,” she joked.

Elena made a low, throaty sound that vibrated in the shrinking space between them. “Neither of us is known for oursubtlety.” She leaned closer, her gaze tracing the delicate line of Marisol’s throat, the pulse point fluttering beneath her skin.

God, she broadcasted every single emotion in her beautiful body.

“But I meant what I said. Letting Zuri get so deep inside of you.” She inhaled the chemical reactions on her fragrant skin. They all wanted each other. There was no sense in so much self-denial. “And when you faced that vampire in the hospital… Putting yourself at risk to protect Zuri… It was reckless. Foolish. Admirable.”

Marisol’s breath hitched, her eyes widening. “I didn’t really think about it,” she admitted, her voice a hushed whisper, attention dropping to Elena’s mouth. “I just... reacted. I couldn’t let him hurt her.”

“And what about me?” Elena asked, lips hovering over her jaw and up to the shell of her ear. “Were you worried about me, too? A poor little monster.”

Marisol’s cheeks flushed, a delicate pink that spread down her neck, disappearing into the tempting swell of her cleavage. “I’d protect anyone who needed me.”

Fangs itching to lengthen, Elena held back. She reached out instead, her fingers brushing against Marisol’s cheek, tracing the line of her jaw. Marisol held her breath at the touch, her gaze snapping back to Elena’s, eyes wide and luminous.

“You’re still healing,” Marisol whispered, her voice husky with a mixture of concern and desire.

“Maybe I need a little... encouragement,” Elena murmured, her gaze dropping to Marisol’s lips. “A little... motivation... to speed up the process.”

Marisol’s breath quickened, her chest rising and falling in a ragged rhythm. She leaned closer, her lips parting slightly, her gaze locked with Elena’s.

Elena smirked, fangs exposed. She could taste Marisol’s arousal, a sweet, intoxicating scent that mingled with the lingering aroma of Zuri’s perfume. The combination was combustible. Nuclear fission. Heat radiated from Marisol’s skin, pulse throbbing in her neck. She was a feast waiting to be devoured. And Elena was starving.

She brushed her lips against Marisol’s mouth. When Marisol leaned in to close the gap, Elena held herself just out of reach. She needed Marisol to see just how much she wanted this. To give herself permission to take it.

“Are you teasing me?” Marisol whispered, eyes closing and body leaning back in a way that made Elena’s body ache with desire.

It was the smallest power move, but it ignited every part of Elena. With a growl in her chest, she wrapped her arm around Marisol’s waist and pulled her flush against her.

Meeting Marisol’s hungry mouth with too much force, the very tip of one fang caught on her lip. Blood, sweet with lust, trickled onto Elena’s tongue like the tiniest hit of a most powerful drug.

“Fuck,” Marisol sighed, offering her nicked bottom lip as a gift.

Starving, Elena ran her tongue along the wound just as it sealed. Chasing more, she swept into Marisol’s mouth, kissing her hard and earning a pained groan.