39. VANYA: NO MORE DANGER

“Joy paid some kids to start a fire. It was supposed to be a small fire to scare us but it got out of control.” Ezra paused for a few seconds. “It’s why I stayed.”
“Are you sure that she’s dead?” Devrim asked him.
Ezra’s eyes darted to me. “Yes, she’s dead.”
Swallowing, I reached out to grab hold of his hand. “She might have been my stepmother but I assure you that she won’t be missed. She was a bitch and I’m sure that she got what she deserved.”
Relief flooded Ezra’s eyes, making me aware of just how much he was worried that I would hate him for killing her. I was a bit pissed that I hadn’t been the one to do it, but maybe it was for the best.
“While we were collecting water, I heard two teens talking,” he continued. “Joy was waiting for them. She promised them a ride off the island and some money.”
“And you took the opportunity,” Obsidian muttered.
“I took the threat out,” Ezra growled. “She was the only one standing between us and our future.”
Devrim scratched his chin. “Could she have been responsible for the Pride turning against us?” he wondered out loud.
“It wouldn’t really be a surprise if it was,” I muttered.
“She doesn’t have that much power,” Obsidian said. “Money is all she had to offer and that’s not something they would have wanted.”
I frowned at him. He was underestimating her. Joy always got what she wanted, no matter how dirty she had to be to get it. What I couldn’t understand was why she made such a show of leaving the island if she came back? Where had she been staying then? How had she known where we were if the guys claimed that nobody knew of Darial’s house?
My eyes dropped to our joined hands resting on my lap. Ezra’s thumb was moving back and forth across my wrist. We were all together again and Joy was dead. We didn’t have to look over our shoulders anymore. I knew that there would always be a chance of danger but at the moment, Joy had been our biggest problem.
*Your father’s still alive. *

I ignored that little voice in my head. We were related by blood but after what he did, I wanted nothing to do with him. Reeves was in prison and there was enough evidence to keep him behind bars for years to come.
Now we only had to worry about our home. They hadn’t talked about it much, but I knew that everything we owned had been destroyed. We were technically homeless. At the moment, Iris’s dad was paying for the hotel room. He even had some clothes delivered to our room. I winced when I remembered what a bitch I had been to Iris when she tried to help.
“Vanya.”
I blinked and raised my head. My eyes darted from one to another. With a sinking heart, I realized that Obsidian had disappeared.
“We’ll be back soon,” Devrim promised after pressing a kiss to my cheek.
I watched him leave and then looked at Ezra to find his eyes already locked on my face. He searched my eyes and frowned.
“How did you get here?” I asked him.
He looked away. “I got on one of the planes transporting the injured. The moment we landed, I snuck off and ran into Red. He was asked to fill in for another pilot.”
“He was supposed to fly Obsidian to the island to look for you.”
Ezra scoffed. “I landed two days ago, sugarplum.”
“Oh.”
“Besides, I’m sure that Obsidian would have been more than happy if I had died in that fire.”
“You can’t say things like that!” I snapped.
“Why not?” He looked at me. “I’m just stating facts.”
I turned to face him fully. We had walked in on an argument, and no matter how both of them wanted to play it off, I suspected that what they said to each other hurt more than they cared to admit.
“What did you say to him?” I asked softly.
Ezra pursed his lips.
“You’re the one who always says that honesty and communication—”
“Drop it, Vanya.”
“Ezra—”
“I don’t want to talk about it!” he interrupted. “If you want to know what I said to your mate, why don’t you go fucking ask him yourself.”
Ezra slid down a few inches and laid down before he turned onto his side with his back to me. It felt like he had slapped me in the face. No matter what, Ezra had never turned his back on me.
I stared at the bandages on his back until he fell asleep. Carefully climbing off the bed, I covered him with the sheets and then turned away. After closing and locking the window, I entered the bathroom and ran myself a bath. I would wait until Red arrived so he could look after Ezra while I enjoyed a soak in the warm water.

***

My body jerked and my eyes snapped. The sound of the thunder slowly faded into the distance. I could hear the raindrops hitting the windows and I could feel the breeze on my skin.
The air got locked in my throat when I realized that the window was open and the curtains dancing in the wind. I was certain that I had closed the window. My brows dipped into a frown because the last thing I remembered was sitting on the bed and staring at the door as I waited for Red.
Something moved in the shadows near the window. A figure. . .a man.
My lips parted, a scream building in my throat, but then lightning flashed, revealing the man who was walking towards me. The scarred face was instantly recognizable. I swallowed the scream and blew out a breath.
Obsidian knelt next to the bed and reached out to brush his finger across my cheekbone. “I scared you,” he rasped. “I’m sorry.”
“W-when did you get back?”
“A few minutes after you fell asleep.” His finger slid across my bottom lip. “It’s not so late, still want to take a bath?”
“Why?” I whispered. “Do I smell?”
Obsidian pressed his palms to the mattress and leaned forward to press his face against my neck. He rumbled, making me giggle because of the vibrations it caused.
“You smell good,” he growled.
My giggles died down in a low moan when he licked my skin with his raspy tongue. Swallowing, I tilted my head back to give him better access. He nipped my skin with the tips of his fangs, making pain shoot through me. Goosebumps broke out over my skin.
As he continued to suck and nibble on my skin, I struggled to suck air into my lungs. The familiar ache filled me. My clit pulsed and my pussy clenched. I was sure that the pants were soaked with my desire.
A low growl fell from his lips.
I whimpered when he pulled away. Forcing my eyes open, I blinked up at him. His face hovered inches from mine. . .so close. All I had to do was raise my head and then I would be kissing him. For a few seconds, I hesitated because I didn’t know how he was going to react, and I didn’t want him to walk away.
“Ezra’s sleeping next to you,” he breathed. “He needs sleep but you need something else, don’t you, sweets?”
I nodded. “You. I need you.”
“You can have me any way you want.” His tongue flicked out to lick the tip of my nose. “But I owe you a punishment. Two actually.”
A shiver raced down my spine. I recognized the note in his voice and it made excitement fill me. Unable to help myself, I slipped my hands into his hair and pulled his lips down to mine. Our lips were inches from touching when he jerked his head back.
“Punishment, sweets,” he rasped. “I don’t have the right. . .tools for the things I have in mind, but I’ll improvise.”
“If you don’t have the right tools then you can’t punish me. Besides, improvising means that you’ll have to think about things, and why think when there’s so much we can do.”
Chuckling, he gripped the hem of my shirt and pushed it up. I instantly arched my back and raised my arms to help, but it was clear that I wasn’t going to get what I wanted so easily.
Obsidian pushed my shirt up to my mouth where he gathered the material and then pushed it between my lips. Leaning forward with his hands resting inches below my breasts, he purred.
“What a pretty view,” he rasped. “That should keep you silent, don’t you think?”
I nodded.
Warm breath fanned hardening nipples for a few seconds before his head moved lower. Lips brushed my skin briefly as they moved lower.
I sucked in a breath when Obsidian pressed his lips to the surgical scar below my ribs. His lips lingered there for a few seconds before they moved lower. First, he kissed one hipbone and then the other one. I waited for his head to move lower, but once again, he did the opposite of what I was expecting.
Obsidian kissed the scar that remained after I was stabbed the night of the ball where Ezra saved me.
“I should have been there,” he whispered. “Should’ve stayed to make sure that you made it home safely.”
His words confused me but the material in my mouth prevented me from asking questions. Not that I would have been able to form a sentence.
Obsidian pulled my pants down to my knees and then pushed them up until my knees were pressed to my chest and my ass hovered a few inches above the mattress.
His hands gripped the back of my thighs and slowly slid down to my ass.
I jerked when he pressed his face to my pussy and sucked in a breath.
“Fucking delicious,” he growled. “First punishment, sweets. It’s called edging.”