Page 36

Defiant, I give in to all the lurid images I’ve been holding back, of Celeste’s skin against mine, my face buried in her hair, her hands on me, inside me. With a shiver, I stifle a quiet moan in the pillows. I roll my hips greedily. While I’ve never thought of her hands around my neck before, just tonight has me wanting nothing more. I picture her pinning me down, choking me, that damn arrogant smile on her lips.

I wouldn’t say I’ve ever been the kind of person who struggles to keep quiet, but damn if I don’t struggle tonight. And the dirtier I feel, heart fluttering at the thought of her just in the other room, the better it gets.I like to make my girls beg.

My legs tremble and I bury my fist in the sheets, imagining her hungry lips on my body, her tongue…

“You’re thoughts are incredibly loud.”

I spin around, at the same time ripping the duvet off the bed to cover myself, breathless, messy, and mortified.

She leans in the doorway, eyes shamelessly wandering over my body, just the same smile on her face that I was just imagining.

Fuck. Fuckfuckfuck.Screw Casey turning me into a vampire – this is the worst thing that’s ever happened to me.

“What are you doing here?” My heartbeat is suddenly high in my throat. I want to vanish, I want todie, anything not to have to look at her right now.

She walks over slowly, her hips swaying softly. Her robe is tied loosely around her waist, the fabric falling open just a little as she bends over me, leaning one hand against the bedhead behind me. Her gaze snakes over my naked body or the parts of it that aren’t obscured by the duvet. I pull my bare leg under it to try to hide.

“Thinking of a witch is like calling her name,” she says. “I was curious why I was so acutely on your mind.”

I swallow, looking everywhere but at her face. “I just… I mean, I wasn't…”

She grabs my chin and lifts it until I have to raise my eyes to hers. My face is burning so hot it nearly brings tears to my eyes.

“You weren’t thinking about me just now?” Her face is amused, almost mocking.

It makes me blush even more. I shake my head, like the idiot that I am.

Her lips curl into a pitying smile while her hand goes from my chin to my temple. For a brief moment, it feels like my brain is freezing over and she is at the heart of the ice-storm. Her presence in my mind is sharp and refined, like a diamond amidst the rubble. “What were you thinking about, then?”

All the dirty images I’ve been conjuring up for my own pleasure flash through my mind, like an old movie reel being wound back. I try to resist her powerful tug on my consciousness but it’s futile, my mouth is already moving. “I thought about what it would feel like if you fucked me,” I begin. The heat spreads from my cheeks to my neck as I listen to myself recount every single fantasy in vulgar detail. Of her undressing me, pinning me down, choking me, making me say her name. It’s horrible and so hot and I want to die but I also wanther.

When I’m done and she withdraws from my mind, I find my thoughts strangely languid and pleasantly quiet, a little like after giving in to my vampire side.

She bites her lip. “That’s so adorable.”

I clench my jaw, surprised by her assessment.

“I suppose I was right about sweet and boring, then,” she says simply before straightening up and turning to leave. “Sorry to interrupt.”

She can’t be serious.

“No!” I’m surprised how desperate I sound.Great,I think.I have officially lost my goddamn mind.

She stops.

“Please don’t go.” Never in my life did I think I’d do this. “Please?”

When she turns, her expression is amused again, though I can see by the pained furrow in her brow that my words have had the desired effect. “Is this your best approximation of begging?”

I bite my lip and nod.

Shaking her head, she sighs, “You’re going to wish you hadn’t done this.” She nods at the door. “Come with me.”

I climb out of the bed, still dressed in nothing but my panties, and walk after her. She holds up her hand, making me stop in my tracks.

She points at the floor. “Hands and knees, remember?”

Swallowing, I get to my knees and crawl after her.