38. VANYA: SNOOPING

“You don’t sound yourself.”
I sighed and fell back onto the bed. “I don’t feel myself. It’s all so strange, staying out here—not that I don’t love it—but it’s strange you know?”
Charlene scoffed. “I’d go mad! All that nature. . .oh god, not even to mention all those wild animals.”
I laughed. “It’s not so bad, really. I haven’t encountered any wild animals except for a snake.”
“What about the shifters?” she questioned. “Have you seen them shift yet? Have you found out if. . .what’s his name? Anyway have you found out if he’s as hung as Joy made him out to be?”
Colour flooded my cheeks. I bit my lips as I debated on answering her or not. I knew that I needed to be careful about what I said. Surely it wouldn’t do any harm if I told her about them, right?
“Yes and yes,” I answered. “I’ve seen. . .two of them in their shifted form and. . .” I trailed off.
She instantly caught on. I pulled the phone away from my ear when she screamed.
“You have sex with a shifter!”
I sat up and scooted over to the edge of the bed. My eyes darted over to the window and then to the door. I was the only one at home, but it could change at any moment.
“You won’t tell anyone about this, right?” I asked her once she had calmed down a bit.
“You know I won’t!” she exclaimed. “Cross my heart.”
I licked my lips. “I. . .I slept with two of them.”
I heard her spit out whatever she’d been drinking. After a coughing fit and a few curses, she finally found her voice again.
“You have sex with a shifter!” she whisper-yelled. “What was it like? Do they make noises? Are they rough?”
I winced. “Keep it down!” I hissed. “I don’t want the whole island to know.”
“Oh hush,” she muttered. “Nobody’s around. I’m throwing away the garbage. How was it? What do you call it? Shifter sex?”
“They purr,” I blurted before I could stop myself.
She gasped and then cursed. “Shit, Vannie. I need to go.”
“Go?” I was instantly on alert. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing, nothing,” she denied. “I haven’t been watching the time. If I don’t get back inside now, I’m definitely getting fired. I’ll call you later, okay?”
“Char—”
She ended the call before I could complete my sentence. Sighing, I locked the screen and opened the top drawer to place my phone inside. The frown stayed in place as I walked out of my bedroom. Since when was she so worried about getting fired?
Shaking my head I paused in the middle of the hall.
My mind trailed to the cameras in my bag. I was alone which gave me the perfect opportunity to plant them. It was my ticket off the island. I wanted to leave; I wanted to go somewhere where nobody knew me.
But what about them? What about Ezra, Devrim and Obsidian?
For the first time I felt like I had finally found the man—well men—I wanted to spend the rest of my life with.
Of course I was dreaming about one man but I ended up getting three. . .or rather two since Obsidian didn’t want me.
So instead of doing something I knew I was going to regret, I decided to explore. Without me realizing it, my feet carried me to the basement door.
Obsidian’s space.
I knew that I wasn’t allowed inside, but I was curious to see all of his space.
Obsidian had blindfolded me when he carried me to his bedroom and the next morning he had carried me out. All I’d seen was his bedroom, bathroom and little sitting room.
My hand grabbed hold of the door handle and twisted. The air got locked in my lungs when the door opened without any trouble. Why hadn’t he locked it? He always locked the door.
Pushing it open all the way, I stared at the stairs that led all the way into the darkness.
I hadn’t seen Obsidian since that day which was about two weeks ago, and although I’d spent almost every night with Ezra and Devrim, it just wasn’t the same without him.
Blowing out a breath, I pushed the fear aside and made my way down the stairs. It was not what I expected.
The space was huge unlike most of the basements I had seen; there were no windows at all. I found the light switched by feeling around the walls, but the single bulb hanging from the middle of the ceiling didn’t help much.
A door to the far right led into the sitting room and the bedroom. There was a boxing bag hanging from the ceiling and below it one of those thick gym mats.
What drew my attention was the stereo against the wall and then the weapon display right next to it.
Not just any weapons thought—knives.
Knives in all colours, shapes and sizes.
I pressed a finger against the cold blade of one of the knives and shivered.
Turning away from it, I spotted a chest of drawers in the corner of the basement. All the drawers were locked so I headed towards the sitting room.
My eyes instantly darted over to the wall with newspaper clippings, but I ignored them and walked past it to the curtain and into his bedroom.
I was searching for something that might help me understand him a little more. It was the man goal of my snooping—to get to know them better.
Much to my surprise, Obsidian’s bed was made neatly—his room was spotless too—unlike Ezra’s whose was always a damn mess.
As I was going through his closet, I spotted a bag similar to the one my father had given me.
Knots filled my stomach as I stared at it. What was he hiding inside?
Shaky fingers gripped the zip. I realized how badly my hands were sweating when the zip slipped.
My breathing sped up as I slowly unzipped it.
It certainly wasn’t what I was expecting it to be.

***

Obsidian was into some dark shit, which I guessed wasn’t really that much of a surprise. It also matched his name. . .and it explained a lot about his behaviour.
Ezra on the other hand was a jack of all trades. He liked a lot of different things.
Devrim. . .Devrim was hard to figure out because his room gave nothing away. He was probably a bit in between Ezra and Obsidian.
I wanted to know everything about them, but they wouldn’t allow me to get close. Like Devrim had pointed out numerous times—I was human therefore I wasn’t allowed to know anything.
Was this what our whole life was going to be like? Secrets and secrets and no communication?
I hadn’t forgotten anything they said about mates. It was normal for them to have more than one woman. What if they meet someone who they wanted too? What if they expect me to share them with her?
“Your food is burning.”
I was jerked back to earth with a start. Jumping up from the chair, I hurried over to the stove and reached out without thinking.
“Shit!” I cursed as red hot pain shot through my hand.
I had grabbed the handle of the pan without using a dishcloth.
Devrim was next to me in an instant. Reaching past me, he switched off the stove and then steered me towards the sink.
His chest pressed into my back as he gripped my wrist and held my palm under the cold water.
“You were thinking deeply.” His lips brushed my ear as he spoke. “What were you thinking about?”
Colour flooded my cheeks. I shook my head and pulled away from him, but I only made it a few steps away before he caught me.
Gently spinning me around, he gripped my wrist and lifted my hand to his face to inspect my palm.
“It’s red.”
I smiled at him. “It’ll fade in a few minutes. I jerked away fast enough. Nothing serious.”
I tugged on my hand but he didn’t let go. Devrim lowered his head and surprised me by licking my palm. The feel of his raspy tongue on my skin, made shivers race down my spine. He licked my skin a few times before moving his lips to my wrist.
My legs weakened and my mind blanked. I concentrate on anything but the feel of his lips trailing up my arm. He paused when he reached my shoulder. Slowly he pushed the shirt off my shoulder and started kissing me there.
My head dropped back when he started kissing up my neck, and finally his lips reached mine.
I was breathless and clinging to him within seconds.
Devrim’s hands gripped my hips and picking me up. I instinctively wrapped my legs around his waist.
He broke the kiss and stared at me. “I want you, Vanya.”
I had to swallow a few times to find my voice. “Want you too.”
“Good.”
I gasped when he started moving. “T-the food.”
“I’m only hungry for you,” he growled.