“I left before it got worse. Richard and I didn’t speak for months. Then one day he found me, barely making it, but making it. How do you turn down your older brother when he says, ‘let’s start over’? He’s not dealing or using anymore, he says. And because you need to believe him, because you must have already hit rock bottom, you let him back into your world.
“The first time he’d only just come off using. I won’t gross you out with the details, but he ended up in the ER that time. So here comes this vicious cycle. Me leaving. Him swearing it would never happen again. Him dealing and using.
“Then one day, by the most miraculous damned luck ever, I got a job as a receptionist in a small office. Decent money. I could buy things. Got a tiny apartment I didn’t have to share. But if it’s too good to be true, again...I got sick. This time it was me who went running back to Richard. And when my sickness took all of my hard-earned money, and later started dipping into some of his funds, he kicked me out.” Alice laughed, the bitterness of it burning her throat. “I get by now on a miniscule bit of disability, but it’s nowhere near enough to support me and my illness. So I live like this. I lived that way until you found me.
“I think I’m telling you all this to say that if I can survive everything I went through with Richard, with going hungry, with living on the street...then dealing with a vampire dragon is a walk in the park.”
It was, too. It might explain why she never felt true fear around him or why she could lie before him now, ready to come to his aid if he needed it.
She stretched her arm forward, bringing her hand closer to his face. He tensed, as if ready to spring away if she tried to touch him, but it wasn’t what she wanted right now. He could take her hand if he felt compelled or simply lie beside her in the knowledge that she was nearby.
When he moved again, Alice’s breath caught. Although he crawled toward her with exaggerated patience, she didn’t know what it meant. Drew hissed out a sound from nearby, but Alice kept her eyes on Sebastian. He wasn’t growling or doing anything threatening, so she just kept watching.
What she didn’t expect was for him to come to a stop when he fully covered her and then tuck her beneath his arm. The heat his body threw off could have cooked a chicken, but she remained still. He rested his cheek over hers, his touch surprisingly light. One of his wings blanketed the area in front of them, blocking her view. His breathing evened out, a gentle pace that put her further at ease.
It had been a long night for everyone involved, hadn’t it?
Drew would just have to find someplace of his own to get comfortable, but for now, Alice followed Sebastian’s lead. Closing her eyes, she went to sleep.
* * *
“Wake up, princess.”
The words were a whisper next to her ear, so close she felt his lips tickle over her skin. Alice groaned softly, stretching her limbs at the same time.
She turned into the heat of his body, taking comfort in it. He was naked and aroused, seemingly a common state of being for Sebastian. His thighs parted slightly to allow a leg to slip in between his. She walked her fingers over his chest, memorizing all over again the definition of muscles and the light spread of hair.
She kept her eyes closed but responded to his nearness by gliding her lips over his skin. And it was skin she felt. Not the scales she’d last seen on him.
Sebastian’s mouth moved over the ridge of her hair, delicately nuzzling her and sending more goose bumps scattering across her skin. His teeth nipped at the shell of her ear before grasping the lobe. His tongue dragged along the sensitive area, dipping and teasing.
A moan tumbled from Alice’s mouth, responding to Sebastian and coming so, so easily. And when his mouth moved lower, gently biting along her neck, she involuntarily turned toward him, seeking more. His bite became more feral, marking her as if he would stake a claim. The possessiveness of the move turned her on that much more, and Alice let out a small whimper of need.
The sound of a man clearing his throat snapped Alice to attention, her entire body tensing.
“As much as I love hearing a lady being pleasured, in this case, it’s probably best I’m not witness to it. Right, Bast?” Drew drawled the other man’s name.