Page 41 of The Fang Arrangement (Celestial Witches #2)

I ’m quick through the night, holding Ember until I get us to my townhome on Burgundy street.

I glide Ember down my body as I shut the door behind us and Ember glances around my oldest home.

“Another house?” she questions.

“To be fair, I bought this eighty years ago,” I reply, cupping her face.

She’s still here. She’s still her .

I would have never forgiven myself if I lost her or if Oz would have changed her against her will.

She grabs my wrist and squeezes. “Are you okay?”

“I should be the one asking you that,” I say, and she shakes her head. “I’m so sorry my selfishness brought you here. I wish I was a better man and that I could let you be free of me, but I can’t. Every day, I’ll try to be better for you, but I can’t do that.”

“I don’t want you to,” she whispers.

I clear my throat and look away from her for a moment. Nothing I’ve done in my life has led me to deserve her, yet she wants me anyway.

When I turn back to face her, I push her hair out of her face, cupping both sides of her chin. My thumbs rub against her smooth, soft skin. She already had some blood on her face, and I only added more by touching her.

I glance down at myself, realizing that I’m covered in blood, and sigh.

“Let’s go get cleaned up?” I ask, not knowing how to say the words that are spiraling in my head.

That I love her, that I can’t imagine a world where she wasn’t in it. That my life is meaningless without her. But how, at the same time, I feel like I’m going to be the root of everything horrible in her life. It’s an endless cycle of self-loathing and endless selfishness.

I lead her down the hallway, starting the shower and undressing myself. It’s a massive glass rectangle with no door and I step in, needing to get the evidence of the night off me.

Red-tinged water swirls down the drain as I look at my feet and I finally let myself feel the fear of what could have happened.

I’ve felt pain. I mourned my ma when Oz changed me and again when she passed, but nothing could ever prepare me for what it would feel like to lose Ember.

I just need a minute to calm down, to accept the reality of everything that happened. That she’s okay, that Samantha’s okay, that Oz is actually gone this time.

The spray hits my shoulder blades and hair as I lean against the tile, red staining the perfectly clean white tile.

Is that what I do to Ember? Stain her? Hurt her?

I meant what I said. I’m too selfish, too obsessed to let her go, but is that what I should be doing?

Hands wrap around my chest, her bright pink nails in view as she rubs my chest.

“Hey. We’re here, we’re okay,” she says.

She’s the one assuring me.

What in the fuck is happening here? I should be the one comforting her, assuring her that we’re safe now.

Which I suppose we are. Oz is actually gone, Joyce is out of the picture, and her friend seems to have a true handle on the Slayer.

Not to mention my progeny is fucking the leader of the vampire council.

Yet, there’s still this lingering fear in my gut over how fragile Ember is, how she could be taken away from me at any moment.

I turn in her arms, giving her more access to the shower, since I don’t feel cold. Her wet hair plasters against her magnificent body as water driblets drip down her skin, Oz’s blood washes away.

Her hands are still on my chest as she looks at me inquisitively.

“I’m okay, Warin,” she assures me and I lick my lips.

“I could change you. You could be immortal,” I blurt out, just needing to say it, selfishly asking for even more than I deserve.

She sighs, her hands falling off my chest, so I grab her wrists and put them back there.

“I’ve never been so afraid as I was tonight. If you were a vampire, you’d live forever with me. You’d be safer,” I try to argue.

“I need some time to think about it,” she says softly. If I were human, there’s no way I’d be able to hear her whisper.

There’s no way I can push her on this. If she became a vampire, the only reason she would be doing it is to make me happy.

Selfish. Selfish. Selfish.

“Okay,” I whisper, taking a step forward and wrapping her in my arms.

Her heartbeat is frantic and now that she’s washed off any evidence of tonight, she smells like her again. If I changed her, I’d be taking those things away. She’d have to give up her coven, the sun, who she is, and I feel sick thinking about it.

Ember’s nails slightly dig into my shoulders as we hold one another.

“We’re safe,” she repeats and I nod, kissing her wet hair.

“Yeah, we’re safe,” I reply, wondering just how true that is. I’m not even sure if I have adrenaline as a vampire, but it feels like all the fear and worry from the night is hitting me. All I want to do is hold Ember and put today behind us.

“Warin, look at me,” she says, and I pull away from her body just enough to look down at her. “There’s no one out there trying to get us. We have time to figure out how to make this work. But I’m here. I’m right here in front of you and I’m not going anywhere.”

I cradle the back of her head and bring my lips to hers. The warmth of her mouth is addictive. The way her curves press against my body is perfection.

Ember kisses me deeply, like maybe she’s trying to convince herself that we’re safe too.

Being wrapped in her embrace is keeping me tethered to reality. The rest of the night washing away.

Ember’s fingers toy with the hair at the nape of my neck and I shiver as I grab her ass, lifting her into my arms. She doesn’t hesitate, her legs wrapping around my waist as I press her against the shower wall.

She sighs into my mouth as my cock hardens between us. The scent of her arousal mixes in the shower and I yearn for the feeling of being inside of her, the way the rest of the world disappears when I’m blissfully lost inside of her cunt.

“Do you need my cock inside of you, witch?” I ask as I grip her ass and rub myself against her stomach.

“Yes, I need you,” she says, her hands tangling in my hair.

Has anyone ever needed me before? Certainly not like she does.

I easily hold her up with one hand, using the other to push myself into her warm, waiting pussy.

She gasps, her fingernails digging into my scalp.

Her breasts press against my chest as I push into her as deep as I can. It’s like the deeper inside of her I am, the more real she is.

“I’m so fucking obsessed with every part of you. This ass,” I say, squeezing the full flesh, “is perfect. These tits? Do you know how often I think about feeding from you there?”

“Do it,” she rasps out.

“After your potion,” I hiss out, shifting back and into her. Ember’s head falls back against the shower, exposing her beautiful throat. “You need it, don’t you? My fangs and cock so deep inside of you?”

“Hecate, yes. I need it,” she says, her nails digging in hard on my shoulders, making me shudder.

“I’m going to fill this pussy up so many times tonight, so much that you won’t remember a time that I wasn’t inside of you.”

“I-I. Right there, War,” she says.

A shiver passes through me as she uses my nickname as I thrust my hips at the angle she wants. I grip her ass hard, knowing there will be bruises in my wake, but when I give her my blood, they will heal.

“Are you going to come all over my cock, sunshine? Mark it as yours?” I ask.

Her lips part, her eyes going hazy as she does just that. Ember clenches around me, milking my cock, and there’s nothing left for me to do but follow suit. Trembling, I finish, cum filling her magical, sweet cunt.

She’s panting, her wet hair stuck to her face and shoulders as I lean forward and take her lips against mine.

“You’re mine forever, witch, no matter how long that is,” I say against her mouth.

She doesn’t respond with words, just nods as she kisses me again. I turn the shower off and carry her over to the bedroom, a trail of water in our wake. Ember’s lips don’t leave mine.

I’m about to toss her onto the bed, spill that potion down her throat, and fulfill my promise of finally drinking from her perfect tits, when she whispers something, her wand careening toward her hand.

She flicks it with a little spell and suddenly we’re both completely dry.

I smile as I kiss her again.

“That’s extremely handy. Why don’t you fetch your potion while you’re at it, witch?”

“You’re insatiable,” she says with absolutely no heat, because she is too.

It’s like no matter how many times I have her, it won’t be enough. No matter how many inches of our skin touch, I can’t get closer. There’s no world where Ember Hallow doesn’t consume my thoughts.

“How do you feel about Ember Auclair?” I ask her, taking her off guard as the potion comes whipping through the room and landing in her hand, as I toss her on the bed, climbing up her marvelous body.

“I could be convinced,” she says, biting her bottom lip.

“Is that so?”

She adjusts us so that she’s now on top, and I can’t focus, not as her tits hang right in front of my face.

Ember uncorks the potion, tossing the cork across the room as she swallows it down, her throat bobbing while she does. She doesn’t hiss at the taste, and actually licks her lips after, which pleases me.

“Now. What was I promised?” she asks.

I grab her ass, shifting her on my length, rubbing her wet pussy that’s dripping with my cum over myself.

“Hmm. I think ladies first, right?” I ask, squeezing her left cheek for good measure before bringing my hand to my chest.

I could bite my wrist, prick my finger, but the idea of her lips against my flesh sucking my blood has me harder than I’ve ever been in my life.

I know when she’s had my blood, she’ll be voracious.

I want her to orgasm with my blood in her system and hers in mine.

I need to be part of her in every fucking way I can.

With my free hand, I open the nightstand, grabbing the lancet ring, and slicing a small cut on the base of my throat.

Ember looks at me with wide, green eyes.

I toss the ring onto the nightstand and trail my hand up to her spine until I have a fistful of her hair, bringing her mouth to my throat.

She’s hesitant as her tongue swipes against my skin, but quickly she becomes ravenous, her full lips pressed against my skin as she drinks.

I can’t help it as my cock leaks and I thrust myself against her pussy lips.

This witch is mine in every way I can have her.