“Wel , that’s not a very nice way to ask, but okay.”
A laugh escaped her and was quickly stifled, but it was breathtaking while it lasted. Deep and husky, it was rusty, but as ful -bodied as she was.
He scooped her up and set one knee on the mattress, then the other, until he reached the center, where he laid her out. Joining her, he stretched out along his side and propped his head in his hand. He laid the other on her taut, smooth stomach with his fingers splayed, holding her down without pressure while also anchoring her for his questions.
“Who hurt you, Vashti?”
She shook her head. “It’s none of your business.”
“Sure it is. I can’t kil them if I don’t know who they are.”
“It’s not your problem.”
“The hel it isn’t.”
“We screwed around once. Don’t make anything out of it.”
“Actual y”—he grinned—“it was more like a dozen screws. Give or take a few.”
“Leave it alone, puppy.”
“Can’t do that.”
Her gaze narrowed. “Shit. You’re a f**kin’ Boy Scout, aren’t you? Saving the world one problem at a time.”
“I’m helping you find the ones who kil ed your mate, but you won’t trust me with those who hurt you? Do I get to you in some way, Vash?” he goaded. “Do I make you feel vulnerable?”
“You flatter yourself.”
“So put me in my place.”
Vash took a deep breath, her muscular abdomen lifting into his palm. “Syre took care of it.”
“Took care of what?”
“I don’t want to talk about it, Elijah. It’s done and over with. Ancient history.”
“You’re gonna tel me.” He lifted his hand to her mouth, running his thumb across her bottom lip. He slid it inside when she started to protest.
“Maybe not today, but soon.”
He groaned when she sucked on his finger, her bottom teeth scoring over the pad. His c**k lengthened and thickened, remembering what it felt like to have her mouth on him. She’d taken from him by force what he would’ve given her wil ingly, but the pleasure had been there nevertheless, his hunger for her so sharp he’d wanted her however he could have her. But what he real y needed was to be gentle with her and she needed that tenderness, even though she fought so damned hard against it. Fought enough for both of them.
He parted her lips with a gentle downward press of his thumb and bent his head to lick teasingly inside, barely enough for her to feel him. As badly as he’d wanted to devour her in the parking lot the night before, he wanted something softer and sweeter now.
Her hand wrapped around his wrist. “We don’t have time for this. We’ve got a lot to get done.”
Cupping her cheek, he took her mouth in a deep, wet kiss. He kept the pace slow when she tried to speed it up, resisting giving her the swift plunges of his tongue that she begged for with her plaintive whimpers and heated enthusiasm. Instead he stroked and he licked. His lips moved softly against hers.
She gasped, slinging one long, lean leg over his hip. “Stop playing with me.”
Elijah rol ed over her and pinned her down. Linking their fingers, he restrained her hands on either side of her head. “We need to play, Vashti. I need to. After this last week…the last f**king month, real y.”
She stared up at him, looking younger and more fragile than he’d ever seen her. She was ageless, a fal en angel who’d existed for mil ennia.
She’d kil ed countless beings, some viciously, as she had Micah, and she would kil countless more. And yet she was soft and lax in his arms, warm and open, exposed for a moment due to a nightmare she’d avoided facing for decades. He wondered if he would ever have her like this again or if she would always be as she’d been last night, brutal y determined to objectify him.
And he wondered why he gave a shit either way when he was going to kil her.