Page 35 of Blood from the Marrow (Lilith’s Legacy #2)

Zuri kissed her shoulder where Sayah had savaged her with a bite. The place where her body had healed, but the unseen injuries had been spreading. The ones Zuri wanted desperately to reach.

While Marisol leaned in to kiss Elena again, Zuri ran her mouth over Elena’s collarbone. Using just her lips, she followed the curve of Elena’s shoulder and up the side of her neck. Shivering under her touch, Elena groaned into Marisol’s mouth and pulled Zuri hard against her thigh.

Desire spreading low in her belly, Zuri watched Marisol and Elena kiss until a new need arose. She slipped out of Elena’s possessive grasp and moved in behind Marisol. Palms sliding up Marisol’s sides, she gripped her breasts with both hands and squeezed harder than she’d intended.

Swinging her hips backward, Marisol cursed while grinding her ass into Zuri.

As if she hadn’t left her strap at home because she couldn’t have imagined the night ending this way, Zuri thrust into her.

She wanted Bambi so fucking bad that she nearly felt her grinding against her.

Almost felt her easing the ache without touching her.

Zuri couldn’t find the will to drag things out. Kissing the back of Marisol’s neck, she slipped her hand between the press of Elena and Marisol’s bodies. When she found Marisol dripping wet, Zuri groaned and rested her head on Marisol’s shoulder to focus all of her attention on her fingers.

It was hard to get a rhythm when Marisol didn’t stop moving, but she was apparently so turned on it didn’t matter.

A fact that only made Zuri’s hunger more insatiable.

The more Zuri’s fingers slipped off target, the more Marisol moaned into Elena’s kiss.

The more perspiration gathered over the small of her back. The more she rocked her ass into Zuri.

Fuck, why hadn’t she packed the strap?

“Bite me,” Marisol begged, breathless when she broke from Elena’s kiss and tipped her head to the side. “I’m so close.”

Zuri’s eyes snapped open, and she found Elena looking at her, eyes black as midnight.

It took several disoriented seconds for Zuri to realize Elena was waiting for permission.

Zuri didn’t need to control when the hell Bambi decided she wanted the bite.

Her concern had only been with Marisol knowing she was sure before doing it the first time.

But now, Marisol understood how letting Elena drink from her would make her feel. Understood how intense her feelings for Elena could get… how deeply bonded they would be. It was Marisol’s decision, but Zuri didn’t have to tell them so right then.

Fingers slick with Marisol’s arousal and her gaze on Elena, Zuri moistened her lips. “Are you sure that’s what you want, baby?” she muttered against the shell of Marisol’s ear.

“Yes,” Marisol panted, grinding against Elena’s thigh while Zuri picked up the pace with her fingers. “Please.” She swung her hips so fast, it was all Zuri could do to keep up. She was on the edge. Desperate.

“You’re irresistible,” Zuri groaned before kissing the spot on her neck where Elena would bite.

She ran her teeth over the spot, deciding that she would live this memory from Elena’s vantage point later. That she would know, even if in borrowed skin, what it was like to sink her teeth into Marisol and drink her in. To consume her. To keep a piece of her.

When Marisol was leaning on Elena more than she was standing on her own, when she was on the verge of tears, Zuri kissed a line from her neck to her shoulder.

When she was unbearably desperate, Zuri straightened.

Her fingers moved at a blinding speed over Marisol's clit.

With her back and bicep burning, Zuri gave Elena permission with a curt nod.

Fangs extended, shadows materialized around them like the fog rising from the Venetian Lagoon. Elena bit into Marisol with a thunderous groan. Zuri made a fist in Elena’s hair, pushing harder against Marisol’s neck… urging her to drink deeper.

Marisol stopped moving. Stopped breathing. With one arm wrapped around Marisol, Elena picked her up when her legs faltered.

“Fuck,” Zuri cursed.

Marisol grinding hard against Zuri’s hand trapped between Marisol’s body and Elena’s thigh was devastating. Entire body trembling, Marisol threw her head back and unleashed a curse that must have echoed through the entire city of Venice.

Elena eased out of the bite but Marisol was nowhere near satisfied. On trembling legs, Bambi turned in Elena’s arms. Her eyes were dark with lust when she trapped Zuri under her gaze.

Blood streaming down her neck and over her chest, Marisol shoved Zuri backward. Overwhelmed by the dominant energy that buffeted Zuri back like Marisol had sprouted her wings and forced her to stumble, Zuri landed on Elena’s bed before she realized she’d gotten close to it.

Marisol shoved Zuri’s legs apart, looking down at her body with indescribable hunger. “I want you to feel what you did to me,” she said, voice dark and sending an agonizing spike of desire through Zuri’s body. A body that was already teetering on the edge.

With her hand around Zuri’s throat, Bambi pinned her to the bed. She climbed on top of her, straddling Zuri’s thigh before she shifted forward and pressed herself to where Zuri was aching for her.

“Do you feel that?” Marisol rocked her hips forward, grinding against Zuri’s swollen clit.

“Fuck, Bambi,” Zuri gasped, mouth hanging open in a silent cry.

The anticipation had been so intense, Zuri was sure that she wouldn’t last long. Not when Marisol was squeezing her a fraction above too tight, and the sight of blood running down her chest was creating a brand-new kink.

She rocked into her more forcefully, pressing her thumb firmly against her throat. Zuri’s back arched off the bed, but she couldn’t make a single sound.

Marisol eased the pressure with her thumb and raised her brow. “Answer me.”

Zuri had nearly forgotten the question. All of her energy was working toward not falling over the edge. “Yes,” she managed. “You feel so good.”

Marisol let go of her neck before Zuri could tell her to keep it there.

Before she could beg her not to leave. But then Marisol was positioning herself between Zuri’s parted thighs, pushing them apart as far as they would go, and all Zuri could do was watch.

Watch while Bambi stuck out her tongue and licked her with one long, slow swipe.

Zuri’s entire body trembled in response, hands grabbing at the sheets while she shook.

“We taste so good together,” Marisol groaned before she tossed her head back to look at Elena—Elena, who was giving Zuri the thrill of being watched. “Come here,” she demanded.

Elena obeyed, lips red from Marisol’s blood when she slipped in at Marisol’s side between Zuri’s legs. She kissed Marisol, moaning when she tasted their combined arousal on Marisol’s tongue.

Zuri dug her hips into the mattress as if that might relieve the unbearable ache. She was about to take matters into her own hands when Marisol broke her kiss with Elena.

This time, when Marisol’s mouth was on her again, dragging her tongue slowly directly over her sensitive clit, Elena’s mouth was on her thigh.

With a fist in Marisol’s hair, Zuri was half off the bed again. “Stick out your tongue, Bambi,” she panted.

Marisol gave her what she wanted without hesitation. Held her head still and her tongue flat while letting Zuri grind against her tongue and controlling the pace. The slower Zuri went, the more her thighs shook, but she couldn’t stop. She was already so close.

“Bite me,” she groaned when Elena’s fangs grazed the delicate skin of her inner thigh.

This time, Elena didn’t hesitate. She bit into Zuri with a guttural moan and drank.

The bite was an earthquake shattering every defense Zuri had used to keep herself together. Every fear Zuri had been holding back, every sleepless night she’d spent wondering if they’d ever have this again. If they’d ever be together.

Elena’s love poured into Zuri and crashed into the relief of having her. Zuri lost her grip on the string holding her together. Sweat stung her eyes as she came and unstoppable tears blinded her immediately after. She was sobbing with nowhere to hide.

“Did I hurt you?” Elena’s panic-stricken face paled, looking down at the small punctures that weren’t streaming more blood than usual.

Zuri couldn’t stop crying, couldn’t stop shaking. Couldn’t explain that she’d tapped into something that wasn’t bad. It was intense and beautiful and overwhelming. But she couldn’t speak while her throat burned and the pressure in her chest squeezed her lungs empty.

Marisol’s wings unfurled, massive and solid white and covering the entire king-sized bed. She bent down, lips touching the small wounds from Elena’s bite and filling Zuri with electric light and so much love that it only made her cry harder.

Looking at her with terror in their eyes, Elena and Marisol were desperate to fix it. They couldn’t understand that they already had. Already healed her in every single way that counted. Already returned her faith in some universal balance. Showed her she deserved to receive the love she gave.

She pulled them down on top of her and wished she could feel both their full weight at once. Half of each would have to do.

“Baby, talk to me,” Marisol said quietly from where she was nuzzled into Zuri’s side. “Was it too much? Did I do something wrong?”

Elena was wiping the tears off the other side of Zuri’s face. Fingers trembling.

“I’m just”—Zuri’s throat was so raw, her words so faint—“Apparently I’m one of those pussies who cries after sex.”

Marisol leaned back and Elena laughed like she couldn’t have been more relieved at the news.

“Well, if we’re being technical...” Elena kissed Zuri’s cheek, her jaw, her neck. “You were crying before you even started coming.”

“Don’t be crass,” Marisol said, voice too playful to sell her attempt at sounding clinical. “It happened at the same time. I felt it on my—”

“Okay. That’s enough from both of you.” Zuri sat up, running her palms over her face like that might snap her out of her sentimental bullshit. “It’s been a long day and I’m probably just getting my period.”

Elena was still laughing, dark brown eyes trained on Zuri like they might actually morph into hearts. Like she finally believed Zuri was lying when she said they’d never get back together.

“And, also, um, you love us,” Marisol gloated.

Zuri’s chest expanded, her skin too tight to contain her. “Yeah, well. Don’t fuck that up.”

Marisol’s smile was as soft as her hazel gaze. She leaned in and kissed Zuri so tenderly, it almost made her start blubbering like an asshole again. “Never,” she promised with such shattering sincerity in two syllables that Zuri’s stupid eyes watered again.

Elena’s fingers were gentle where she touched Zuri’s cheek. Her kiss was as soft as Marisol’s when it was her turn. “Certainly not twice, baby.”

Sunrise was a riot of bright pink and warm orange when Bambi got up to close the heavy curtain.

They’d meant to sleep, but none of them had found the will to stop.

It was like they’d hunted for the time they’d missed in every untouched inch of skin.

Maybe their brains were all delayed like Zuri’s was…

Not believing that the time for missing was over.

“Are you going to tell me about this?” Propped up on one elbow, Elena traced the interlocking triangles etched into Zuri’s forearm. The tattoo hummed to life at her touch. Her magic had always yearned for Elena.

“I don’t know,” Zuri said, sitting up to accept the glass of water Marisol had walked in with. “Are you going to ask like a normal person?”

Marisol chuckled, sipping her water before setting it on the massive side table next to the bed. She slipped in under the covers next to Zuri, her leg hooked around hers.

“Zuri, my love, please tell me about this new tattoo,” Elena said, voice saccharine exaggeration.

And Zuri did. She opened her mouth and talked until Elena knew everything she’d missed.

While Elena listened, she tried to stifle her surprise that Librada and Sofia had been so helpful.

That they’d trusted Zuri and Marisol enough to follow their lead in her absence.

She couldn’t hide her pride, though. Couldn’t pretend that people she loved most working together didn’t make her a weepy little bitch.

“So that’s what we have to fight Sayah with, huh?” Elena leaned back on her pillow, chest exposed and hand tucked behind her head. “My cartel of vampires, mostly untested. A coven of three souped up witches. And a caravan of angels of varying potential uses.” She chuckled. “I like those odds.”

“Don’t forget a very sexy and culty vampire, who is definitely coming with us to Miami,” Zuri joked.

“Oh my God.” Marisol laughed, cheeks flushing. “Do you mean Hel? Do you think she got that nickname for being hot as hell?” she asked, like she’d been dying to gossip about Hel since last night.

“Hey, I’m right here.” Elena gestured at her naked body and its objective perfection.

“Do you think she got those muscles before she became a vampire?” Marisol asked, expression somewhere between smitten and lecherous.

“And are we thinking she’s always a top, or sometimes a switch?” Zuri asked, drunk on the flames of possessive jealousy cracking in Elena’s eyes. “God, I’d let her—”

Elena cut Zuri off with a furrowed brow and a tense jaw. “She’s not coming back with us. Lib has until we leave for the airport tonight to—”

“Oh, no.” Zuri shook her head. “You’re not doing that to her—”

“Holy shit, were Lib and Hel a thing?” Marisol sat up, crossing her legs and pulling the sheet over her lap. “There was so much going on last night, but they had such a vibe.”

“Majorly a thing,” Zuri said, finding herself excited to root for Librada’s love life. Fuck. She was going so soft it was embarrassing.

Elena relented after an annoying amount of prodding and told Marisol the story. She shared more details about how heartbroken Librada had been. How badly she’d wanted it to work, but neither she nor Hel had known how to cope with what they’d been through.

And here they were, thrust into battle again. Could it be a fire-fights-fire thing? Could the same thing that broke them bring them back? Damn it if Zuri didn’t hope so.

“I thought Librada had moved on, but I guess there’s no getting over a love like that,” Elena muttered.

Zuri sighed. I know that stupid-ass feeling.