Page 29 of Kiss the Dawn (Order of Helsing #4)

EZEKIEL

O rina’s pulse is steady, and her wounds have healed. She’ll wake soon, and I’ll be here, in New Town, in the apartment I bought for her. Waiting to greet her, to tell her that she did it. That I’m free of my curse.

I feel whole for the first time in…forever. I feel…hope.

There’s a soft knock on the bedroom door, and Hemlock enters. “Blinds are down,” he says. “If you want to come into the sitting room. I picked up some blood for you too. You’ll need it after…” His gaze drops to Orina. “I’ve sent a message to Ordell letting him know what’s happened and contacted the Order. A white wing liaison will be in touch to confirm that Loviator’s prison is fully sealed now. ”

“There must be something they can do about?—”

He shakes his head. “It doesn’t matter. Ordell and I can live with our curses so long as that bitch never gets free. I do worry about the triplets, though…”

Learning that I was an uncle had come as a nice surprise that was quickly tainted by questions of whether I would have the chance to be in the triplets’ lives. Ordell and Hemlock had assumed that our curses were linked. That once I had my humanity back and Loviator was locked up, then Ordell would be free of his beast and Hemlock free of the destructive power that yearns to course through him.

But it seems that their curses have no relation to mine. The only person that can lift them is Loviator herself. “Maybe there’s time for the white wings to negotiate with her before?—”

“No more deals,” Hemlock says. “It’s over. We should live our lives the best we can.”

His gaze is on Orina as he says this. “She overcame her darkness to save you, didn’t she?”

“Yes.” A surge of love for this woman leaves me breathless. “The spell meant for me almost bled her dry. She was willing to give her life for me. I can’t even…” My throat tightens. “I will honor and love her for eternity. No harm shall befall her. I’ll cut down anyone who tries.”

“Of course you will.” There’s a wistful edge to his smile.

“I want her to be happy. Fulfilled.” I take her hand and force myself to utter words that cut deep but need to be said. “If that means she must love more men than just me, then so be it.”

He looks at me with sharp eyes. “What are you saying?”

“I know how you feel about her. I’m not blind, Hemlock. I know she’s mated to Ordell and has feelings for Kaster Black.”

“And Lorenzo Crescent,” he adds.

I stifle a groan of displeasure. “I’ll speak with her once she’s awake and fully healed. I will not keep the woman I love in a cage. Her heart will never be a prisoner.”

“I’ve missed you, brother,” Hemlock says. “It’s good to have you back.”

Although the memories of my past returned to me when Orina pulled me out of my cycle of nightmares, the emotions that accompanied them had been absent. Now, with my humanity restored, I feel them all. I know this man. I love him. My baby brother.

I cross the room and pull him into a hug. “I’m sorry I was gone so long.”

He tenses for a beat and then hugs me back, squeezing me to him. “I fucking missed you.”

A soft groan from the bed has us breaking apart. We rush to Orina’s side as she opens her eyes. It takes a moment for her to focus, and then she looks from me to Hemlock, a small frown marring her forehead.

“Is this one of those dreams? ”

Hemlock chokes back a laugh, and I don’t bother masking my grin.

She blinks sharply at me. “You have a beautiful smile. You should do it more often…Oh…Oh!” She sits up suddenly, panic tightening her features.

“It’s okay,” Hemlock says, pressing her back onto the bed. “Everything is okay.”

She breathes fast and shallowly as she centers herself. “You best fill me in.”

Hemlock smiles and nods my way, giving me the floor.

I exhale and say the words that will set her free. “You did it, Orina…You broke the curse.”

Her eyes flare, and then she smiles, and I’m bathed in sunlight.

How can watching a woman take a call be so fascinating? Probably because the woman is Orina, and she’s wearing a loose T-shirt and shorts with fluffy socks that make her look adorable.

She paces as she speaks and plays with tendrils of hair that have escaped the messy knot on her head.

It’s been three hours since she woke, and she’s full of energy. Vampire blood can do that to a human, and she just had her fill of vampire king blood. It’ll take a few days for it to filter from her system .

“No, I’m fine. I’m good,” Orina says into the phone, shooting a smile my way. “I’ll be back in a couple of days. Yes, I will.” She laughs, a beautiful, carefree sound. “Okay…Yes, we can supercharge on the case…Does she need more blood?”

My ears perk up at the mention of blood.

“Okay, but let me know if…All right. See you soon.”

She ends the call and then joins me on the sofa, snuggling up as I draw a throw over us. I’m not cold, but it feels…nice. This whole scenario feels good.

“Is everything all right at work?”

“Yes.” She peers up at me. “The team is holding the fort. Padma is going to get a transfusion tonight and?—”

“Transfusion?”

She makes an ‘o’ with her mouth. “I don’t think I ever told you, did I?”

“No, you did not.”

“Well, Padma was infected by mullo a while back, and it’s all related to this fire that took place at this boathouse restaurant and the Order was sent there to put it out…” She waves a hand. “It’s this ongoing case. Let me start from the beginning.”

I listen as she tells me all the things she didn’t feel she could share with me before about black-market vampire dealers, teapot artifacts, and missing people. Too many missing people in my territory.

“I want to help with the cases.”

She blinks sharply. “You do?”

“Of course. This is my territory, and someone is kidnapping my people. I want to help with Padma’s infection too. If Edwin can’t find a cure, then I’ll do everything I can to help her.”

A slow smile spreads across her face. “I love you.”

This is the first time that she’s said it to me directly and meant it, and I feel the words deep in my soul. “I love you too.”

She takes a breath and exhales, the smile still on her lips, her eyes alight with joy.

How is it that she can shine so brightly?

But her smile drops, and I want to annihilate whatever thought has muted her joy.

“What happens now? With Loviator?” she asks.

“The white wings will be sealing her up as we speak. She lost the deal. The curse is broken. She has no choice but to retreat into her prison.”

“Won’t she fight?”

“The terms of the curse prevent her from doing so. She’s powerless now. She’ll stay trapped.”

“Forever?”

“Yes. The white wings will ensure the prison is fortified so that no fool can ever summon her again.” My words seem to ease her mind, and she relaxes. “Once Hemlock and Ordell return and we’ve had our meeting with the white wing liaison, then we’ll have a gathering. To celebrate.”

“It could be a while for Ordell, though, right? The triplets are still cursed so… ”

“I’m afraid so, but I’m sure he’ll call once he gets the message.”

“I can’t believe Micah was the one who took me off the Isle,” she says softly. Still plagued by worries.

I want to wipe this Micah off the face of this world. “Hemlock will deal with that. Once the Order knows what he did, they’ll find him.”

I expect a smile of relief, but her frown remains. I don’t like it. “What is it? What’s worrying you now, Little Silver?”

She chews on her cheeks. “I’ll have to go back soon…to the Isle…”

Damn that place. Damn those people. “Like hell you will. They can’t have you. I’ll demand retribution for the crime against you. The witches’ heads on silver platters.”

“Ezekiel!” She stares at me with wide eyes, but I see the gleam buried beneath her shock which tells me that she would like that. My little vixen. “You can’t do that to them,” she says.

“Why not?”

“Because that will make us as bad as they are.”

“Fine, I won’t take their heads, but I will demand retribution. Their lives in exchange for them relinquishing their claim on you. In fact, the consortium should have already done that.”

“I’m sure Lorenzo is sorting something. He said he would.”

“Have you been able to speak to him today? ”

She shakes her head. “I left him a message, though, letting him know the curse is broken. I’m sure he’ll call as soon as he can.”

I don’t like the way her gaze softens when she talks about him, but I swallow my irritation and remind myself of my vow. “Good, because you belong here. With me…with…us.”

Her gaze flies up to meet mine, searching.

I pinch her chin and lift her face to mine to drop a soft kiss on her delectable lips.

“I want you to have your heart’s desire. To love freely. I will never cage you, Orina.”

She rests her forehead against my jaw. “I never expected you to say that.”

“I wouldn’t have…before. But when you broke the curse, you freed me from a phantom cage of numbness. I hurt people, pushed them so that they would feel pain or rage or any emotion so that I could experience it through them. There was a rage inside me all the time. A frustrated yearning for the thing that had been taken. The ability to truly connect with the world, to feel. I would have kept you for myself. Mine to enjoy. Orina, I would have caged you and justified it to myself. I could have convinced you it was what you wanted. But that man is gone. That was never truly me. But make no mistake. If anyone you choose to share your heart with hurts it in any way, I will end them.”

She exhales softly. “This feels so surreal. As if it’s a dream. ”

“It’s not a dream. This will be our life now. Whatever you want, Orina. Whoever you want.”

She plucks at the throw. “Right now, all I want is you.”

Now that I can give her. She squeaks as I scoop her into my arms, then clings to me as I carry her into the bedroom.

I want her to have a four-poster bed and silk sheets, but crisp cotton sheets will have to do.

She looks up at me with dark eyes as I lay her down, chest heaving behind the thin T-shirt she’s wearing like armor.

Not for long.

I brace a knee on the bed and undress her, peeling away the fabric that hides the delights of her body.

I can smell her arousal, see it in the hard peaks of her nipples and the rosy tint to her areolas. I drag my gaze down to the juncture of her thighs to the neatly trimmed triangle that will be my playground soon enough.

She gasps when I kiss it, and I pull away to look up at her face. Her eyes are bright with anticipation, my eager little vixen.

I don’t want to rush this. I want to savor her. Every inch of her. So I take my time undressing. The rustle of fabric as it slides off my body, the snap of my belt as I release it, seem to heighten her arousal. Her breath quickens, and her scent spikes. My body responds with a tightening at the base of my spine, and I reach down to grasp my cock, my gaze locked on her. She follows the motion of my hand, mouth parting.

“Fuck…”

I run my hand up and down my thick length, and she sits up, mesmerized. “I want to feel you.”

“My body belongs to you now, Little Silver.”

She crawls across the bed to me, naked, bare, and vulnerable, and it takes every bit of willpower I have not to pounce on her and bury myself in her heat.

Instead, I stand still, each breath faster and shorter as she touches me, fingers gently questing over my skin, down my Adonis belt, and to the base of my cock. She grips it then looks up at me, as if asking permission.

I’m so hard now that it’s painful. I swallow past the knot in my throat and nod.

Her pink tongue flicks out to lick the bead of arousal at my tip, and my hips buck toward her.

She looks up at me then takes me in her mouth, and my thoughts shatter. All I can do is feel what she’s doing to me and try to remember to breathe because it’s too good, too fucking?—

I fist my hand in her hair to stop her and gently draw her off me. “Not like this.”

I don’t want my first climax with her to be like this. I push her onto the bed, but I don’t cover her with my body. Not yet. I want to play first. To touch her. Tease her. Taste her.

Her skin is soft and smooth, warm in places, hot in others. Wet there…Yes, oh so fucking wet and swollen with need.

“Oh…don’t stop,” she pleads.

I love this. The feel of her on my fingers, around my fingers. The sounds she makes. The rosy hue of her parted, panting mouth. She’s close. So close.

I stop then swallow her cry of frustration with a kiss that pins her to the bed.

She writhes beneath me, trying to touch herself and finish what I’ve started, but I grab her wrists and pin them above her head, wrangling her into submission with my kisses while I cover her with my body and settle between her thighs.

She lifts her hips to meet mine, rubbing her pussy against my cock. Eager, wanton. Mine. I grab her hip and force her to be still as I take the lead, thrusting against her in controlled movements that make her sob my name over and over as she begs me not to stop.

But I do stop, and she growls. “Dammit. Stop playing and fuck me.”

“Patience, Little Silver.”

I release her wrists and cup her breasts, losing myself in the swell of creamy skin. She tastes like strawberries and summer. Her pulse beats fast and heavy, the scent of her blood an aphrodisiac to my senses, and I’m lost .

ORINA

Ezekiel consumed me, demanding sensation from my body that I didn’t knew it had. I was in his power, his puppet to play with as he awakened every part of me. My skin buzzed, so sensitized it was almost painful, and my pussy clenched over and over, demanding his cock.

“Please…” I looked up at him through a sheen of tears.

He pinched my jaw, his gaze raking over my face, looking for something I didn’t understand, and then he released me, rearing back to kneel between my thighs.

I reached for him, frustration a knot in my chest because this was too much. I was ready, so fucking ready.

“I know,” he whispered. “I fucking know.” He grasped my hips and dragged me up his thighs until he was pressed to my entrance.

“Look at me, Little Silver. Look at me when I fuck you.”

I forced my eyes open and locked them with his as he entered me, painfully slowly, holding me captive so he had all the control and I…I could do nothing but take it. He filled my body, completing my soul. The puzzle piece that had been missing for too long, the element I’d ached for and never been able to identify.

Ezekiel was it .

I blinked back hot tears, pleading with my eyes to hurry, to give it all to me.

He obliged with a deep thrust that whited my vision and rocked my head back onto the bed, and for a moment, it hurt. Too big. Too much.

“Relax.” His tone was tight. “Orina, relax.” He touched me, circling my clit until my body eased around him, accepting him. “Good?”

“Yes…” My voice was a breathless whisper.

He adjusted our bodies, still joined, so that he was lying on top of me, and the motion, the shift, touched places inside me that made my toes curl and my limbs lock with pleasure.

He stroked my hair off my face and cradled my throat, squeezing a little. “Are you ready?” he asked, his voice just as breathless as mine.

I lost myself in the inky depth of his pupils. “Yes.”

He withdrew, leaving me momentarily empty before snapping his hips back to fill me once more. A guttural sound clawed its way up my throat, followed by another and another as he thrust, hitting the spot that twisted my lungs and sent cold fire spiraling through me.

My body spasmed as I came, vibrating as the orgasm ripped through me. Ezekiel’s golden eyes bled to crimson as he found release.

We remained locked together for several minutes as our bodies recovered from the assault of pleasure .

Then Ezekiel smiled and said, “Was that good for you?”

I stared at him for several beats because, had he just made a joke? Laughter bubbled up my throat and spilled from my lips in a giggle.

His smile turned into a grin, and his laughter joined mine.

And it was the most beautiful sound in the world.