My gaze flew to his neck. His pulse beat strongly, a steady rise and fall, just under his mocha skin. I licked my lips. Just the idea of his spicy blood touching my tongue had my fangs extending. My breath caught, and I snapped my mouth shut, glancing left, then right, but luckily the area was still deserted.
Ezra’s soft chuckle had my gaze slating to his, and he murmured, “I’ll hurry.” He started ambling the other way. “Jessica, the Vampire I met earlier this morning — who was so kind as to assist in my search for a TV — offered already, so it shouldn’t take long.”
I shook my head, snickering. “I’m sure that’s all she offered.”
Ezra glanced over his shoulder, still wearing a cocky grin. “No more than Finn did you.”
My eyebrows puckered. “How are you going to find her again?”
A deep chuckle reverberated inside his chest. “I got the TV from her room.”
My blink was sluggish. Sometimes I was a complete idiot. I should have seen that one coming. “Now who’s jumping into whose bed?”
He laughed outright, his back muscles flexing as he continued sauntering away.
“Ezra! Don’t take too long!” I hollered when he didn’t comment. I was thirsty, dammit.
He continued chortling as he turned the corner, and then he was no longer in view.
“Damn man,” I muttered under my breath, seriously hoping he didn’t decide for a round — possibly his second — with this Jessica woman. Pivoting, I squeaked and jumped straight into the air, thanking God my fangs had retracted during our bout. Landing hard, I stumbled and slammed my shoulder against the unforgiving black wall, utterly startled by the man who had snuck behind me.
Dark brown eyes stared down at me, his mien just as peacefully beautiful as his skin, which was the color of melted chocolate mixed with cream due to his Native American ancestry. Ezra’s fucking dad. Watching me make a fool of myself, he placed his hands in the pocket of his black dress pants, only staring, not a word said.
Swallowing hard, I pushed off the wall. Damn if I didn’t start babbling. “I’m going to check on Pearl and Jack, since their mates died yesterday.” I edged around him when he only cocked his head. “Ezra’s going to pick us all up some drinks. We need them after the day we had yesterday.” He had heard something like that anyway, spying on us as he must have been. I pointed in the direction Ezra went as I started walking backward. “He went that way, if you’re looking for him.” Still…he said nothing, so I mumbled, “Well, see ya later.” Hopefully not. I turned a corner, getting the hell away from his too intuitive line of sight.
Chapter Five
Standing stunned inside the doorway to our bedroom, I whispered, “Pearl?” Gently shutting the door so I didn’t startle her, I crept forward, hands out in the worldwide gesture of I mean you no harm. “Pearl?”
“Hmm?” She stared at the shard of glass in her hand, sitting in the middle of our living room. The furniture had been blown to bits once again during our absence. Apparently she had wanted to fix everything earlier so it would be pretty when she destroyed it again. Not only that, but lying around her cross-legged position on the rug were large chunks of her golden hair, which she had obviously cut off with the sharp piece of glass she now fisted. There was no scent of blood in the air; she was fortunate not to have cut herself. Yet.
To top it off, as if the killing object in her hand and her new hit-or-miss haircut weren’t enough, she was glowing so brightly I could barely see the bed. Where Jack lay. Just…watching.
“Okay, okay,” I murmured softly, maneuvering through the new debris and slowly lowering to one knee in front of her. “How about you give me that,” I held my hand out, “so…I can finish cutting your hair for you.” That didn’t sound so bad working on the fly.
Pearl seemed to think so, too, as she easily handed over the sharp object, nodding in an almost childlike way and turning so I could finish cutting her hair. With a fucking piece of glass.
Breathing heavily through my nose, I didn’t dare move away; there was more glass everywhere for her to reach for if she wanted it. I went to work on her hair. That was how Ezra found us fifteen minutes later when he walked through the door, cheeks flushed from drinking. I didn’t stop, just kept concentrating on my work.
When Pearl, with her decently cut hair if I did say so myself, passed out in the middle of fixing the furniture again three hours later, I finally settled on top of Ezra where he sat on the couch — now perfect and clean — and impatiently waited for him to recline, and then sank my fangs into his warm skin, sighing as his hot blood finally spread into my mouth.
Being a Mystical, one would think having your tubes tied wouldn’t be such a big deal. Mysticals heal much faster than Commoners. Add in the fact that the more powerful you are, the faster you heal, and I thought it would have been a breeze, even given the fact that the Mage who had done the procedure on me inside the back room of the medical unit of King Cave — while under a spell from Antonio — had to do it alone, without assistance.