Page 73 of The Star's Sword
Zadis hung his head slightly, nodding. “So be it.” He put his hand up. “I know Samael and you have a connection I can’t touch. But I also know you have a connection that is unique with me.” His eyes shuttered, and he looked slightly sad for a moment. “And in the future, that connection might be more important than you could realize.”
Dread moved through me. “What?”
But then Zadis was kissing me, as if he couldn’t wait any longer. His lips came down to claim mine urgently, intently, searching for the perfect fit. When we locked together, pleasure moved through me, and he gently worked his tongue at the seam of my mouth until I opened, letting him in.
I had thought this would feel wrong, but it felt so right.
Our tongues meshed together, exploring, testing, tasting. I moved my arms up to wrap around his shoulders, both to see how it felt, and for steadiness against the drunkenness.
Even though we’d had the wine a while ago, it felt like it was still taking effect, making my head light and fuzzy.
Everything felt stronger and more sensitive at the same time.
I arched back as his lips met mine and moved down to seek my collarbone.
Then a knock sounded below, and I heard Samael’s deep voice. “Cleo? Zadis? You in there?”
I gasped, and we jerked apart. Even though I knew we were doing nothing wrong, it was hard not to remember Sam had once killed Zadis.
“I left Mark at the keep,” Samael called. “Got his wine flask though. This stuff is the shit.”
Oh gods, Samael sounded even drunker than we were.
I heard rummaging in the fridge, then the sound of glass breaking. “Oops,” Samael said.
Zadis grinned, stepping back from me reluctantly and letting his eyes wander over me. “We’ll pick this back up in a minute. We should probably go get him.”
But as we moved over to the stairs, Samael lunged up and into the room, holding the flask in one hand and swaying slightly. His outfit, like ours, was covered in blood.
He looked between us, then sighed in relief. “You didn’t start without me. I wanted to be here.” He took another swig from his flask, then walked over to hand it to Zadis. “Warrior form, hm? You want to mate her?”
Zadis nodded. “Of course I do. Do you think anyone could know Cleo and not want her forever?”
Sam shook his head, sitting back on the bed moodily. “Forever isn’t even enough.”
“Agreed,” Zadis said, sitting on the bed with him.
“I’m too drunk to perform,” Sam said. “I’ll watch you two first.” His red eyes were gleaming, matching streaks of red blood that were still sprayed across his face.
“Maybe we should all take a shower first,” Zadis said, grabbing a drunk Samael by the sleeve and then grabbing me by the hand, pulling us both toward the shower again.
Lucky for us, the shower room was large and glass, with at least eight shower heads. Clearly equipped for a group of people.
“Does Simon always have revelries?” Samael muttered, looking unbothered as he began to strip out of his bloody formal wear right in front of Zadis.
Zadis began unbuttoning his shirt, similarly unbothered. “He needs to feed a lot,” Zadis said. “Like, from everyone in the group. Not that anyone minds. It’s like a super-orgasm and it lasts forever. Some people get addicted to it, even.” Zadis grinned at me. “You should let Simon join next time.”
I shivered, still unsure I could stand the bite. But then I remembered how the humans hurt Simon, not trusting him. Yes, I would let him feed eventually.
When the time was right.
Right now I was overwhelmed enough to just be with Samael and Zadis.
Something about it did feel right though. The three of us had known each other almost since the start of our journey, and gone through so many highs and lows.
“Nice body,” Samael said, once he and Zadis were both only in black boxer briefs.
In partial-warrior form, Zadis’s body was strong and extremely ripped with muscle. Only slightly less so than Samael, who was tanner than Zadis and still slightly taller as well.
