I cracked my neck, some of my sated high falling away with this conversation. Turning my face from him before he could ask me exactly what day I planned to see Finn again, I watched the Mysticals traveling round the circular living quarter’s walkway. We were mid-level currently, so we had quite a few more rounds to go before my exit. So I watched others, and eventually felt a semblance of peace return when King Kincaid kept quiet.
Until two more rounds up where a sight caught my eye. I knew it was Ezra, even if all I saw was his back. He was stepping backward outside a door. He had on only a pair of jeans, and what appeared to be his t-shirt dangled from one of his hands as a red- and black-haired beauty of a Vampire followed him outside the room, wrapping her arms around his neck. I couldn’t hear her from here, but her head tilted back as she laughed from something Ezra must have said. His own arms slid around her waist, pulling her flush against him, his biceps bulging with the action.
My feet faltered, but Antonio accidently bumped into me from behind at my abrupt stop, shoving my thoughts into gear. I quickly pedaled into motion, glancing at King Kincaid to see if he had caught me watching Ezra. He was still grinning, his gaze forward, so I peeked back over, a bit of anger beginning to flare inside my gut. Ezra was supposed to be with Jack and Pearl. Not…I blinked…sticking his tongue down a Vampire floozy’s throat.
My fists clenched, and I quickly stuck them into my pockets and began regulating my breathing and heartbeat so none of the Vampires talking behind me would notice. Especially since, as we rounded the area and grew nearer to where they were, Ezra’s lips were still glued to the beauty’s. He was obviously leaving her place, done having his fun, so it seemed he was giving her one hell of a goodbye kiss, the woman appearing damn near ready to faint.
I checked my anger, since I didn’t want the Vamps scenting it, and rolled my shoulders just as Vivian mumbled from behind me, “Isn’t that…” She was quiet for an extended moment, and then she stated heatedly, “Dear, you are going to have a talk with your son about circumspection.”
It sounded like Cahal chuckled quietly.
“Cahal,” Vivian grumbled in a warning tone.
“Let him have his fun,” Cahal murmured softly. “He’s only young once.”
Vivian sniffed, but didn’t argue that point.
I, on the other hand, stopped eavesdropping and plastered a blank expression on my face when King Kincaid glanced my way. His damn grin was still in place. He stated, “It looks like King Cave is treating our Prodigies well.”
Respectfully, I managed a decent nod.
Almost as before, except that this time it was with Ezra and his King, King Venclaire stepped forward, brushing passed King Kincaid and me, and called loudly, “Ezra!”
Ezra’s head snapped back from the woman, who blinked open slow lids, as his attention swung in our direction. His lips were swollen, his cheeks flushed, and his spikes mussed. He even had a few red marks on his arms and back where she had obviously dug her nails in. His gaze probably appeared much as mine had earlier as he caught sight of King Venclaire: his eyes widening marginally, and a look of barely masked frustration beginning to harden his jaw. It was only then that he seemed to notice everyone else behind his King, his spring green gaze swinging to each person.
Ezra wasn’t doing a fabulous job hiding his emotions. King Kincaid got contempt mixed with respect. Antonio received watchfulness. His mom, embarrassment. His dad, acquiescence. A passer-by moved directly in front of me a second later, and Ezra didn’t notice me.
“King Venclaire,” I heard him murmur evenly as I moved from behind another individual walking in front of me. That’s when Ezra saw me. His gaze stilled for a moment, his eyes darting back and forth between mine and his nostrils flaring, before he turned his attention back to his King. “Is there something you need?”
King Venclaire rocked back on his heels, placing his hand in his pant pockets. “Since we’re heading to lunch, and you appear to be almost free, we thought you might join us.”
I watched, my anger slowly building again — which I could hardly keep banked and appear peaceful at the same time — as Ezra extracted himself from the woman with the remarkable dark eyes. He yanked his shirt over his head when the woman appeared steady on her feet, then…good God…began zipping his f**king jeans and fixing his belt. Nostrils flaring, I glanced away and stared across the cave’s abyss, more than pissed. He had let me down. Even if he needed to let off sexual tension, he could have f**king waited until I came back to watch over Jack and Pearl.
Not to mention, the damn woman. My nose crinkled. Her scent was cloying, and it was mixed with him. The two scents didn’t mingle together well. I wiggled my nose, then rubbed it as my wrath bubbled. Pretty sure I was interrupting them — and not giving a shit — I stated, “I’ve got to go.” I glanced at Ezra from under my lids as everyone went mute. “Jack and Pearl might need something.”
Ezra’s lips only lifted at my covert, cross glance. “Their parents hijacked them.”
My foot literally stopped in midair as I froze. “Oh.” Said foot lowered to the ground, but bizarrely my temper didn’t lower any. Turning to everyone who was staring, I tried to push the attention from myself, asking Ezra, “Who’s your friend?” Honestly, I was a little curious. I had never seen him kiss a woman like he had been doing her. Normally, he immediately left them after f**king them, not lingering as he had been doing.
Adjusting his belt so it was straight, he stated absently, “This is Jessica.”
I blinked, my attention swinging to the woman, her own natural scent bugging the hell out of me. My gaze roamed over her, taking in her disheveled appearance, which did nothing to distract from how gorgeous she was: her large dark eyes, her skin tone close to Ezra’s, her plump lips swollen like his, her cheeks still flushed, the fitted navy silk robe she wore that accentuated her large, full br**sts and perfectly shaped hips. One of her long, shapely legs was showing through the slit of her robe while she rested against her doorframe. My gaze went beyond her into her room, where candles were lit and her bed, like Finn’s, in perfect view, the red satin sheets rumpled, not torn to bits as ours had been. Unlike Finn, she didn’t shut the door to hide the evidence of their time together. My gaze met hers, and I already knew what I would see there: confidence that she had screwed him and screwed him well.
I wasn’t wrong.