Page 18 of Bloodbane
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
A Prayer and a Plea
{ R U B Y }
I stumble along behind Thayne as he takes the steps two at a time, only saved from falling by the fingers still imprisoning my wrist, pulling me forward as effectively as a leash. Thayne’s long legs swallow up the ground quickly, and I half-hop into the ready-made footfalls in front of me to keep my shoulder in its socket. I drop my head low, focusing on the next step in my ready-made path cutting through the snow. So preoccupied with my foot placement, I don’t notice when Thayne stops suddenly—I crash into his back, bounce off him, and fall backward. Only the hold on my wrist jerking me forward keeps me from landing on my ass.
Now facing me, Thayne releases my wrist so he can use both hands to cup my shoulders. “You good?”
I run a quick mental checklist: hot guy inches from my face, check; hot guy’s hands on me, check; visions of hot guy dragging me to bed and putting those hands on other, more sensitive things, check. “Yep,” I nod, rubbing my now-free wrist absently. “Never better.”
Thayne’s eyes track the movement. “Shit. Did I hurt you?”
“Takes more than that to put a dent in me.” I drop my hands to my side, trying to ignore how those massive shoulders relax at the confirmation I’m unscathed.
Thayne opens the door of the cabin I haven’t noticed until now. He steps through and holds it open. “Sorry about that. Those walls have ears and a very loud mouth,” he mutters.
I blink rapidly, trying to force my eyes to adjust to the darkened interior once the door swings closed. My disorientation eases when warm light—courtesy of the collection of small bulbs set into the ceiling—glows to life. I spin in a slow circle, taking in what seems to be a well-lived-in, though sparsely decorated, guest house. “It’s fine. I think we have a matching set. If you come to the station when Cooper’s around, I’ll be the one fleeing from the unpredictable mortification slipping past his lips. But best friends exist to embarrass us. I think it’s their sole purpose in life.” My slow spin ceases as Thayne comes to stand in front of me.
“Does that mean you’ve been talking about me?” The unspoken ‘too’ is written across Thayne’s cheeks in an endearing wash of pink.
“Oh, well.” I shrug offhandedly, distracted by the way Thayne’s hair glows golden under the light. And how that same light drifts down to kiss his cheekbones and dance in his beard. He looks every inch the golden god—some kind of immortal that I have no right being in the presence of, let alone casting my eyes upon. Thayne is so out of my league, I’m not even in the game.
But those amber eyes twinkling down at me remind me he’s waiting for an answer. The problem is, it’s not a simple one. I have told Cooper and Milo about Thayne, though I’d chosen not to disclose the instantaneous attraction, heavy flirting, and neck-nuzzling moments. When they’re already side-eyeing me over my interactions with Grayson, I’m not sure I can muster up a plausible explanation of my actions around another murder-adjacent heart-throb.
“Should I take that as a yes?”
I hold Thayne’s bright gaze and try for a wry smile, motioning to my throat. “Kind of necessary exposition.”
“Ah, right. Of course.” Thayne takes a small step backward, the warmth in his voice fading. “That’s why you’re here. You came to speak with Arlo.”
I hesitate. Arlo may have been my excuse, but Thayne is the reason. But that confession is best left unspoken. “Is he back?”
“I’m not so sure he’ll ever be back,” Thayne says flatly. “And you don’t seem too surprised to hear that.”
“Not entirely, no.” I pick my words carefully. Offending Thayne is the last thing I want to do. Sure, there seems to be some animosity between him and Arlo, but they’re family, and families are complicated. Still, I can’t pretend Pretorius isn’t the number one suspect just to spare Thayne’s feelings. Not when it may be the difference in sparing a life if I’m right. “I know you don’t think he’s involved, but after everything you’ve told me… there are too many coincidences to ignore.”
“I’m not sure what to believe anymore. Things I thought were true have turned out to be anything but, and things I had never considered a possibility…” Thayne’s gaze drops to my lips. “I’m sorry you came all this way for nothing.”
“Cooper will track him down. He’s surprisingly good at finding people. Besides, it wasn’t for nothing. I had to return this,” I murmur, pulling the scarf from my neck in one long slide. After a beat of hesitation, I press it into Thayne’s hands. “I ran out of here so fast yesterday that I forgot I was wearing it.”
Taking hold of the ends, Thayne lets it drape from his hands. His fingers brush against my skin as he loops the scarf back around my neck. “Consider it a gift—an apology in physical form. It’s not much, but I don’t think they make ‘sorry my kin tried to kill you’ cards, so it’ll have to do.”
I breathe in the heady scent of Thayne. “Cards are overrated. Paper cuts, you know? Besides, they’re neither soft nor cozy, and they sure as hell don’t smell this nice.”
The desire in Thayne’s eyes is easy to read—no doubt a mirror of my own—but there’s something else clouding them too. Trapping the breath in my lungs, I wait, hoping for lust to win the silent battle raging across his face. The fabric of the scarf is soothing as I run it through my fingers, rubbing my thumbs in circles over the entwined fibers. It’s a distraction—the only tether keeping my hands from venturing to other places… places I might not be able to come back from. But Thayne remains stoic, and in the end, it’s my resolve that crumbles.
I trail my hands over Thayne’s chest—marveling at the warmth that radiates through the navy cotton—as they venture up to twine around his neck. He dips his head lower at my urging, and pressing onto my tiptoes, I close the distance between us hesitantly before brushing my lips over his. It’s sweet and soft… and not nearly enough.
Thayne doesn’t flinch away, and emboldened, I thread my hands through his hair and tug him closer, my tongue hunting over the seam of his lips, moaning softly as they yield to me, parting immediately. At my hungry sound, all Thayne’s earlier hesitation falls away, and his mouth matches my urgency—his tongue thrusting greedily, lapping up my taste, kissing me like he’s laying claim. And when sharp teeth nip at my tongue, I can’t stop the desperate whimper that spills into Thayne’s eager mouth.
He breaks the kiss with a growl and mouths over my jaw, tugging the scarf away before sweeping his tongue over the newly exposed skin. Without warning, he locks his mouth onto my neck with pressure enough to make my head swim, sucking a bruise into the tender arch of my throat.
Marking me.
My nerves light up like fireworks bursting bright beneath my skin, and my hips stutter forward. I throb wetly, almost losing control completely. Pressed tight against Thayne’s body, I can feel the reciprocated interest and, fuck, that is a lot of interest.
“Thayne…” The word is a prayer and a plea wrapped in one. I snake my hand down between our bodies to palm at what I want. What I need . Thayne hisses and grabs my wrist, stilling it but not lifting it away from his denim-clad cock.
“I can’t—” His words break on a moan as I squeeze the swell under my hand.
“The straining fabric would suggest otherwise,” I counter breathlessly.
Thayne hisses and grabs my wrist, stilling it but not lifting it away. “Ruby, I want to. You have no idea how much, but I need to—” His words are swept away by another moan as I squeeze the rise under my hand again.
“Need to what?” I trace the shape of him through his jeans.
My lust-addled brain registers my body being lifted before I’m sailing through the air. I land on the marshmallow-soft mattress, bouncing softly.
Thayne strides to the bed, and god, I almost come at the look on his face as he climbs onto the bed. I fight against the sinking pull of the mattress and struggle to my elbows.
“You didn’t finish your sentence. Don’t leave me hanging here,” I grind out as large hands make quick work of my boots before tugging down my jeans and thermals.
Licking his lips, Thayne stares down at me hungrily. “I need to taste you.” Without another word, his hands grip my thighs, parting them roughly as he surges forward and buries his face between them.
Thayne’s body is hot, but his mouth is pure fire.
He opens me up with his lips and tongue as if he’s kissing my mouth, soft and gentle. But the explorative motions become frenzied as he chases the source of my wetness. The thick line of his tongue spears into me, burrowing into my achingly empty pussy, coaxing out a new stream of my arousal, moaning like it’s the best thing he’s ever tasted.
“Thayne, I—oh, fuck, oh, fuck. ”
The fingers digging into my thighs are bordering on painful—Thayne holding his prize in place as I writhe on the bed—and fuck if that doesn’t notch the pleasure fissuring through me higher. Obscene slurping noises fill my ears as Thayne drinks me down, his tongue fucking into me with purpose.
I try to focus on the beads of sweat slicking my skin and collecting behind my knees, the way my legs are trembling, how my chest is heaving, and my heart is racing so fast that I may actually be having a heart attack… anything but the pure ecstasy of Thayne’s mouth and the spiraling heat between my thighs curling tighter, pushing me to the edge much too quickly.
“Fuck, no, no, no… stop, you’re gonna make me come,” I warn, tugging urgently on Thayne’s hair, trying to pull him up.
Thayne growls at me, a deep, chastising sound, but The urging has his tongue slipping out of my pussy and dragging up, flicking over my clit, and I arch off the bed with a guttural cry. There’s a pause before Thayne darts his tongue out again, a quick flick and then another, soft kitten licks that leave me gasping and bucking and losing my fucking mind. With a desperate moan, warm lips lock around my clit and Thayne sucks the throbbing bud into his scorching mouth.
“ Oh my god, oh god, oh fuckkkk! ”
My garbled cries fill the room as my orgasm tears through me. I jackknife on the bed, riding the waves of pleasure by grinding hard, fucking Thayne’s face. And oh, god, a sharp nip at my clit has me bowing off the bed again with a scream. His hungry growls drown out my shuddering moan as my tensed muscles go lax, the coils of pleasure releasing me quickly.
More quickly than Thayne’s mouth.
Electric aftershocks of pleasure volt through my overworked nerves as Thayne continues to lap lazily at me, drawing small whimpers that break through my harsh panting as I struggle to catch my breath. With my hands still tangled in Thayne’s hair, I pull him up to claim that scorching mouth again, licking the lingering taste of myself off Thayne’s tongue.
With a sigh, I break the kiss, pushing at Thayne’s shoulders, guiding him back onto the bed, and switching our positions. I straddle Thayne’s thighs. My fingers catch on the faded cotton of Thayne’s shirt as I rake my fingers down it, feeling the hard muscle beneath. “How are you real? Are you even human?” My hands come to rest on the button of the well-loved jeans. I pop it loose with trembling fingers before Thayne’s hands wrap around mine, stilling them once more.
“I’m fine. You don’t need to reciprocate.”
“The straining fabric would suggest otherwise,” I chuckle. I attempt to slip my hands free, but the firm pressure keeping them motionless only increases.
“It’s fine. I’ll deal with it later. I’d rather just lie here with you and talk.”
“Talk? But there are so many other things I can do with my mouth. Better things. And speaking of better things...” I grind down on the denim-clad rise pressing into me. I’m probably halfway to soaking Thayne’s jeans, but roused by the post-orgasm chemicals buzzing through me, I can’t find it in myself to care.
“I’m sorry.” Those big hands grip my waist and lift me as if I weigh no more than a rag doll, before setting me down gently on the bed. In one swift movement, Thayne rises, pulling away without taking a step. His face is an unreadable mask.
I look up at him stupidly, mourning the loss of his lips on my skin. After the breath-stealing kiss mere moments ago, the rejection is a dizzying slap in the face. I scramble to retrace the steps that led to this moment, trying to temper the burning humiliation with cool logic, but my brain is buzzing, and I can’t think straight.
“You should get that,” Thayne says flatly. “It could be another emergency.”
It takes a moment for me to realize the buzzing isn’t a looming panic attack but my phone. I give a curt nod without meeting Thayne’s eyes. Whatever spell existed between us has been well and truly broken, and my dignity is in a million pieces along with it. Squaring my shoulders, I scramble off the bed in the direction Thayne had thrown my jeans. My fingers fumble the phone, almost dropping it after plucking it from my pocket. I fix my eyes on the caller ID, grateful to have something to look at other than the man in front of me.
“What do you need, Cooper?”
“Well, good morning to you, too, Sunshine,” Cooper replies sarcastically. “I thought you’d want to know that I’m heading to King’s to pick up a D&D.”
I press my shoulder to the phone, holding it against my ear as I start tugging on my clothes. “A drunk and disorderly is hardly an emergency, Coop. And before noon? How drunk and disorderly can they be?” My attempts to keep the annoyance from my voice fail spectacularly.
“It’s Pretorius.”
My irritation clears instantly. “Do not go by yourself. Wait for me, do you understand? I’m serious, this guy is dangerous.”
“Well, you better hurry then. It sounds like he’s tearing up the place, and I’m not sure how long Tom will hold out before he pulls the shotgun from under the bar.”
That can’t happen. I don’t have time for another dead end that can’t answer questions.
“I’ll be there as soon as I can. Wait for me,” I repeat before I end the call. I turn to Thayne, now re-dressed, as I re-pocket the phone. “I’m sorry, but I need—”
“To leave, I know.” Thayne strides to the door and holds it open, a grim look on his face. “But this time, I’m coming with you.”