Page 21

Leah

I had never seen Maxine so vulnerable.

Her eyes glimmered with unshed tears, her posture timid and her shoulders slumped, like she might just curl up and vanish if I looked at her too long.

A heavy weight settled in my chest the moment I made up my mind to come clean. But I had to do it, I couldn’t hide things from her any longer–not when she’d finally told me the truth.

I perched on the edge of the bed, quiet dread curdling in my stomach. Maxine watched me with wary eyes and I found I couldn’t quite meet her gaze. I’m going to lose her forever.

“I–” I tried to speak, but my first attempt was nothing more than a crackling croak. Clearing my throat, I forced the words out in a stilted rush. “I haven’t been entirely honest with you either.”

Maxine tilted her head, damp curls clinging to her neck. “What do you mean?”

My lungs felt tight, and every beat of my heart pounded like a warning bell. Don’t do it. Don’t do it. Stop talking. Stop talking. Stop–

“Your family. They… they found me.” I admitted, trembling voice little more than a whisper.

“What?” Maxine straightened up, angling her body toward me and half-reaching across the gap between us. “What do you mean they found you?”

“I hadn’t heard from you in years. I thought you were long gone.

But a few months back, they came to my house in San Francisco—your mother and your brother.

I don’t know how, but they knew who I was.

They knew we were once… friends.” I sucked in a breath, swallowing hard.

“They said—they said you were an ungrateful runaway. That your father was ill, and they needed you back. They…”

I looked away, squeezing my eyes shut, but the memory of those terrifying beings haunted me still. Their raking claws would live forever behind my eyes. “They sent me to find you. Threatened me, too, if I didn’t get you to come home.”

Maxine’s expression shifted from confusion to a slow-dawning horror. “They sent you to find me?” she echoed softly. Then her pupils blew out and her face went pale. “Oh God. They blackmailed you.”

I nodded, my nails digging into the bedspread as I clamped down on a surge of panic.

“That's why I came to New York. They threatened to hurt me if I didn’t… do what they wanted,” I whispered.

“They threatened my grandfather too. It was– I didn’t know what else to do.

I just thought they wanted you back because…

well, I didn’t know about Gregor or the arranged marriage or–”

Maxine stood abruptly, turning her back to me.

My words came in a flood then, desperation kicking in. “I swear, I had no clue about any of that. If I’d known–” My voice wavered. “I never would have helped them, Maxine.”

But she didn’t look at me. Her shoulders were tense, her arms rigid at her sides. A cold, awful sense of finality tightened around my throat. She hates me. She’ll never forgive me for this.

I pushed up from the bed, stumbling toward her, my breath catching on a sob.

“Maxine, please,” I pleaded, voice cracking. “I’m sorry. I had no idea they were forcing you into—into that. I wouldn’t have?—”

Slowly, she turned to face me, and her gaze was fierce, but… not furious. She set her hands on my shoulders, her touch surprisingly gentle.

“Leah,” she said, her tone steady though her eyes glistened, “it’s not your fault. You did what you had to do to protect yourself and your grandfather.” Her fingers tightened a fraction, nails digging into my skin. “I’m angry at them . Not you.”

I stood there, stunned, tears slipping down my cheeks. “But… But I lied to you. I’ve been lying to you. You have every right to be furious.”

She gave a terse shake of her head. “I am furious—at my family, for manipulating you. For scaring you. For putting you in danger.” A flicker of guilt darkened her expression. “And I’m sorry I wasn’t there to protect you.”

The knot of fear in my chest loosened, replaced by an overwhelming relief that threatened to buckle my knees. I saw the regret in her eyes, saw the understanding, and the bittersweet melancholy there.

“You couldn’t have known,” I whispered, drawing closer even as her arms locked to keep me at bay. “It’s not your fault either. It’s theirs. They’re the ones who’ve kept us apart for so long.”

My arms slipped around her waist at the same moment that hers softened and slid around my back, and we clung to each other, anchoring ourselves in the raging storm. Apart no longer. And never again.

I buried my face in the crook of her neck, and her hand cupped the back of my head, fingers tangling in the damp tendrils. After a moment, I felt her gently pull back, her hands moving up to trace my face, my jaw, my throat. Her fingers fluttered on the nape of my neck.

Our eyes locked, and I could scarcely breathe at the proximity, the short distance between our lips.

I didn’t hesitate.

I leaned in, my heart pounding, and pressed my mouth to hers.

The kiss was soft like the first time, a tentative brush of lips that spoke of uncertainty and apology.

Then Maxine let out a small, trembling sigh, and something within both of us shattered simultaneously—the tension, the fear.

All of it rushing out in a breathy exhale. A long, deep sigh of relief.

The kiss deepened, and fire surged through me, burning away the final barriers between us.

A low sound escaped her throat, and I felt her arms tighten around me, pulling me closer. I responded in kind, my hands sliding up her back, tangling in her hair, tugging lightly.

Maxine’s eyes turned to heavy-lidded slits and I surged into her, teeth grazing her tongue. My hands fisted in the silky fabric at her back, hauling her close—all heat and urgency and quiet little moans as I sucked bruises down her neckline.

She pulled me flush against her, one hand cupping the nape of my neck. The other traveled down my spine, circling my ass, and kneading the soft flesh there. I groaned into her mouth, the sound reverberating in my throat.

Maxine let out a hum of approval against my lips when my own hand traveled downward—down her stomach, and under the seam of her pants.

I brushed past soft pubic hair and felt heat radiating in my palm.

Maxine groaned when I cupped her mound, curling one finger between the twin petals at her entrance.

Her grip on me tightened and her nails dug into my skin, her legs buckling and locking up again as my fingers began to stroke, seeking out her clit and massaging slow circles there.

“Leah…” She murmured my name against my mouth, a half-warning, half-moan as I plied my tongue between her lips, gliding it over hers.

Finding her entrance I slid two fingers inside, starting up a gentle beckoning motion against the soft pad of her inner wall.

“Leah– fuck .” Her body contracted around my fingers, a squeezing pressure that only riled me up further. I picked up the pace, my free hand rising to fist in her hair. I tilted her head back, bared her neck, holding her in place as I pumped my fingers into her.

Maxine snatched at my gown, tugging it off my shoulders as she whined and bucked, hips rolling upwards to meet my fingers. I fastened my lips to her neck, kissing and nipping my way down to the juncture of her throat; the irony of sucking at a vampire’s neck wasn’t lost on me.

I bit down for good measure and felt a groan rattle through her throat.

She was on the brink in a matter of moments, hot wetness pooling in the palm of my hand, slicking up her inner thighs. But it was too soon. I wanted to taste her, devour her entirely—I pulled my fingers out abruptly and Maxine was… very vocal about it.

She whined and stamped her foot, and then flushed a brilliant beetroot red.

“Relax, you diva.” I kissed her again, grinning against her lips. “I’m not done with you yet.”

She mumbled something incoherent, grinding her hips against mine, seeking out any sort of friction. In response, I tugged at her pants, dropping them to her ankles and urging her to step out of the silken puddle.

I knelt in front of her.

Maxine’s breath caught in her throat and she let me guide her closer, let me haul one soft, smooth thigh over my shoulder. She braced herself on the bedpost when my hands rounded her hips to grip her ass, dull nails digging into soft flesh.

I aligned myself with that cleft between her legs, inhaling the scent of her, and licked my lips.

And went to town.

“Fucking hell ,” was what I think she meant to say, but it was cut off halfway through when she sucked in a sharp breath, spearing a hand through my hair and lifting her hips to meet my mouth.

My tongue found her clit, circling the small bud before licking along her entrance and delving deeper.

I relished the taste of her, the warmth of her arousal on my lips, smearing on my chin.

My mouth found her clit again and I sucked at it, lapping at it with a rough tongue, and her hand tugged wildly at my hair.

Maxine bucked and writhed above me, hissing through gritted teeth, and I pressed hot, open-mouthed kisses to her core.

My tongue was soon joined by my fingers and Maxine’s moans rang around the room, her head tilting back, her hips rolling as she rode them to a violent climax. I kept up the rhythm, even as her own steady thrusting began to falter, stuttering to a halt as she hunched over and came on my tongue.

“Oh my god.” It was a breathy whisper that escaped her lips and she stumbled back a step, lowering her leg from my shoulder, panting hard.

I hauled myself upright, licking the last of her orgasm from my fingers and pulled her into a kiss, all clashing teeth and sweet, tart flavor. It was heavenly.

Maxine kissed me in kind, grasping fingers tugging me closer even as I lifted her shirt over her head, laying her bare. My gown quickly followed, slipping off my shoulders and whuffing to the floor, and then we were both naked.

I pulled her flush against me, skin-on-skin contact coaxing me into overdrive. Her breasts pressed against mine, soft and full and warm against my heaving chest. My fingers trailed through her hair, over her face, down her bare back.

I wanted to touch every inch of her, every soft secret place I had never dared dream of approaching before.

Maxine moaned quietly, putty in my hands as I tugged her toward the bed and pressed her down onto the mattress. She collapsed on her back in the crisp white sheets, parting her legs and reaching for me.

For a moment I merely stood there and drank in the sight of her. Her cheeks were pink, her whole face flushed, and her curls tumbled wildly on her shoulders. Her skin was smooth, faint freckles peppering her shoulders. Her thighs were damp and quivering, deliciously parted to welcome me closer.

I obliged, crawling up the length of her and locking my lips with hers again. I tangled myself in her, bent limbs and grasping fingers, until I couldn’t tell where I ended and she began.

She kissed me and the world spun out of view. All I could see was her, the faint flecks of amber in her eyes, her full lips – pink and raw from my teeth. My hands mapped out the shape of her, tracing over the curve of her hip, the soft mound of her ass, the drenched crevice between her legs.

At the brush of my fingers against her clit, Maxine whimpered, thrusting her hips forward, chasing the slightest pressure.

I wedged my knee between her legs, straddling her thigh where I lay on my side and we both groaned in unison at the contact. Then we were grinding, kissing, teeth occasionally clattering together in the desperate mess of our urgency.

The sheets tangled up around us, the pillows fell from the bed and I kissed her. I kissed her until I was breathless, until that hot heat in my belly boiled over and my body spasmed through a climax I hadn’t even anticipated.

And still, I kissed her.

On and on—I could have kissed her forever. It was all I ever wanted to do.