31. EZRA: CURIOSITY

“Stop pacing.”
I stared at Devrim from above the book I was reading. Devrim only stopped long enough to glare at me before he continued.
“Where are they?” he growled. “It’s almost noon.”
“What exactly are you worrying about?”
I slipped the bookmark in place, closed the book, and leaned forward to place it down on the small coffee table.
“You don’t know what he’s capable off,” he said, spinning around to glare at me.
I think I know enough. I didn’t voice the words. I’d seen enough over the years to know exactly—well almost exactly—what Obsidian was capable of. A shudder raced down my spine when I remembered the state he was in when we were rescued from the facility.
No matter what, a part of me knew that Obsidian would never intentionally hurt Vanya.
“He locked the door. He never locks the door.”
Standing, I walked over to him and stopped as close to him as I dared. Our eyes locked and I smirked at him.
“Relax.” My smirk widened. “They’re probably enjoying another round of—”
Just then a soft click reached our ears, cutting off my words. We both turned towards the sound, and not even a second later, Vanya appeared.
I bit my lips as my eyes trailed over her. She never looked sexier.
Vanya wore a shirt I knew belonged to Obsidian. It was two sized too big and ended just under her knees. One side was slowly sliding down her shoulder, but just before I could catch a glimpse of more naked skin, she pulled the material back into place. I sighed and studied her face. Her lips were swollen and cheeks flushed with colour. No marks branded the skin that were visible which meant that Obsidian hadn’t hurt her again.
“I’ve gone to hell,” Devrim muttered.
“You mean heaven?”
He shook his head and moved towards her. Shaking my head, I took a seat on the couch again and picked up my book. Leaning back, I stretched my legs out in front of me and relaxed.
“Are you okay?” Devrim instantly started questioning her.
I rolled my eyes and bit back a laugh. Trust Devrim to make things worse than what they were. My eyes dropped to the book but snapped up immediately when Obsidian stepped into the room.
He scowled at Devrim as he walked past them and into the kitchen. So early and he was already pissed at something. Shaking my head I concentrated on my book instead.
“Hey.”
I smiled up at Vanya as she stopped next to the couch.
“Hey,” I greeted.
Her eyes darted towards the kitchen and then down to the couch. Without any warning, Vanya suddenly moved and climbed onto my lap. She stretched one leg out along mine and threw her other over my leg while wrapping an arm around my waist and resting her head on my shoulder. I blinked and then wrapped an arm around her to pull her a bit closer.
Lowering my head, I pressed a kiss against her forehead and then moved my nose into her hair to sniff at her. She smelled like Obsidian and sex. How many times had he taken her?
“Okay?”
She nodded. “Yeah.”
I hesitated before I asked her another question. “Did. . .Was he gentle?”
“No,” she giggled. “There’s nothing gentle about him.”
“I just thought he would’ve been. . .you know, since. . .” I trailed off and pulled a face at her.
Vanya used her elbows on my thighs to push herself up slightly. Her eyes darted over my face and then dropped to my chest. She was smiling again—that small secretive smile of hers.
“What?”
“You think yesterday was my first time?” She suddenly frowned at me. “It wasn’t the first time we had sex, Ezra.”
“I know,” I told her. “You’ve been through an ordeal. I just figured he’d take things slow.”
Vanya took the book from my hand, closed it and then leaned forward to throw it onto the table.
I swallowed when she sat up which made the shirt dip at the front, giving me a perfect view of her bare breasts.
A purr rose and escaped before I could stop it. Vanya rolled her eyes and sat up.
“Men are all the same,” she muttered with a small shake of her head.
“Not all men,” I said, gripping her hips. “We can’t all be the same if we’ve never experienced the same things.”
She tilted her head to the side and blinked at me. “What experiences might that be?”
My hands slid up her sides and toward her back to rest there. Vanya’s lips parted when I pulled her closer until our faces were only inches apart.
“I’ve never had sex before. Never seen a woman naked in real life. Never tasted—”
“You need to work on that,” Devrim interrupted as he stopped behind the couch and frowned down at us. “Breakfast’s ready.”

***

“Let’s talk.”
Devrim took a seat opposite me while Obsidian walked over to the window and kept his back to us. Vanya was once again curled up against my chest.
“What do you know about panthers?”
She shifted until her face was pressed against the crook of my neck. “The basics: that you’re fast and that you can leap high.”
“We’re great hunters too,” Obsidian muttered.
I rolled my eyes at him. “What do you know about us?” I rephrased Devrim’s question.
“We weren’t taught a lot in school. We knew about your existence and that’s about it. Besides, it’s been years since I was in school. I can barely remember what we learned in class.”
“We are a bit different than the others that were created the same way we were. You’ve met three Lycan’s so you know a bit about them.” Devrim paused. “Lycan’s usually have only one true mate, but we know now that even that doesn’t always happen.”
“Lara has two,” Vanya muttered.
“Yes.”
The room fell silent. My eyes locked onto Vanya’s bare thigh when she bent her legs. I could look at her pale skin all day; in fact I wouldn’t mind her walking around dressed in Obsidian’s shirt at all.
After only a moment’s hesitation, I placed my hand on her knee and slowly slid it up until my fingers brushed the hem of the shirt. The knowledge that she wore nothing underneath the thin material, that I only had to take the shirt off to see her completely bare, made my breathing speed up.
Holding my breath, I slipped my hand underneath the material to test her reaction.
The only reaction Vanya had was to curl her hand into a fist.
Devrim started speaking again which confused me for a few minutes because I couldn’t remember what we were talking about.
“Panthers have more than one female mate,” he said. “Usually a male has up to five females. In our case it will be the opposite.”
I looked at him and waited for him to continue.
“You will have three mates and we will have only one female.”
Vanya sat up and leaned against the back of the couch. She was frowning at Devrim this time.
“What does the whole mating-thing entail?”
“They want to mark you with their scent,” Obsidian said, turning away from the window to face us.
“They?” she questioned. “Not you?”
“No.” Obsidian gave her a nasty smile. “I don’t want you as a mate.”
I could smell Vanya’s hurt. Without a word and before I could stop her, Vanya got up and ran up the stairs.
“Why do you always have to fucking be so mean to her?”
Obsidian chuckled. “Humans are good for one thing and one thing only; fucking.”
I jumped to my feet, ready to give him a piece of my mind, but Obsidian was already walking away.
The floorboards above us creaked and then a door slammed shut, making my hear sink. Vanya had heard his last words.
“You take care of Vanya and I’ll take care of Obsidian.”