He stilled, and then muttered, “You’re killing me here, sweetheart. That was some of my finest work and it didn’t satisfy you?” When I teased him by only chuckling quietly, he growled low, his Vampire taking voice. “Well, we probably have time for a little more.”
Arms hanging over the edge of the bed, my head dangling so that my hair brushed the ground, I mumbled, breathless, “I must have done something damn fantastic in another life.”
Ezra chuckled quietly, his panting breaths fanning my shoulder where he lay across my back.
“Really, really, f**king fantastic things,” I muttered, waving a hand. “That was…unbelievable.”
“Why, thank you,” Ezra drawled lazily, his hands barely squeezing my hips, where they rested. His stomach growled again. “But I get half of your food since I made you come two more times after you said you couldn’t anymore.”
I grunted, my own stomach growling now. “Not gonna happen.”
“Where’s the justice in that?”
I waved my hand, my eyes still closed. “When I caught your ass from falling off the bed when you came so hard you damn near passed out.”
Ezra grunted. “I could claim it was lack of nutrition.”
“And I can already smell the lie.”
A pause. “Fucking Shifter nose.”
“You know, I’ve often thought the same thing about your Vampire nose.”
Ezra sighed, biting my shoulder gently. “Are we done procrastinating the inevitable?”
I sighed myself. “Guess so.”
We re-positioned so we were lying on our sides, staring at each other.
I touched his nose mildly, running my finger up and down it. “Are you really prepared to run?”
He bit my finger lightly, growling softly as he moved closer, and placed a heated palm possessively on my hip. “If it means you won’t be hurt and we’re together, then yes.”
I nodded slowly, staring him in the eyes, seeing his resolve. “Same for me.” My gaze darted between his eyes. “I couldn’t take you being hurt again,” my chin trembled from my near loss, “and if Antonio says he can’t stop what’s coming because he’s not powerful enough…well, I say we go into hiding.”
Ezra smiled gently, running his thumb back and forth over my hip, his wedding ring cool against my skin. “And you’ve definitely got enough places for us to hide.”
I nodded. “Antonio doesn’t even know about one of them, so we should go there.”
Ezra stared. “Jack and Pearl?”
I bit my lip. “They deserve to know we’re leaving.”
“Agreed,” Ezra murmured, and tilted his head forward, biting my bottom lip and tugging. “But I don’t want to tell them about our marriage. I want to keep something just between you and me. Plus, for their own safety, they probably shouldn’t know.”
“Agreed.” I rubbed my nose against his. “We should probably start packing so we can leave before the sun comes up, when there aren’t so many awake yet.”
Ezra’s eyes roamed my face, his expression quickly setting with determination. “Then let’s get it done.” He helped me up, tossing me a t-shirt from his dresser. “That’s my favorite old shirt, so don’t forget it tomorrow.”
I put it on and stared down at the worn grey t-shirt, which read: Live Hard Or Die Bored.
I snickered. It was perfect. “Can I also borrow a duffle? Mine’s lost somewhere.”
He entered his closet and brought me an empty duplicate of his full one. “You’re already stealing my shit.” A cocky eyebrow rose as he pulled on a pair of pajama pants.
My eyebrows rose. “Need I remind you about my Hummer?”
He snorted. “Our Hummer.” Grinning at my cross expression, he grabbed his full duffle off the floor. “And besides, you may be rich…but I’m filthy rich. So quit complaining.”
I blinked as I watched him saunter into his closet. “What are you talking about?” I hadn’t thought he was poor, most Mysticals weren’t — even I had a decent amount for someone my age.
His laughter boomed from his closet. “Let’s just say, when I turned twenty-two I came into enough money to buy a small country.” A pause. “A few of them.”
My jaw dropped in shock. “You’re a trust fund baby?” I just couldn’t see it.
“Yes,” he stated factually. “And none of those forms you signed when we got married were a prenup, even though Judge waved it at me and told me I was nuts when I tore it up while you were talking to Jury about our wedding DVD. So when I said before what’s yours is mine, and what’s mine is yours, I meant it.”
My heart kinda melted. I peeked around his door, grinning like a fool. “I love you.” He gave me a crooked grin over his shoulder before digging through his massive amount of clothes again. My lips twitched. “But the Hummer’s still mine.” I barely dodged the shoe that was thrown at me.
The sheets were changed, our bags were in our closets behind their respective closed golden doors, and Ezra and I were now stuffed on a portion of the enormous amount of grub Pearl and Jack had brought back with them. We sat on the love seat together while Pearl and Jack sat warily on the couch next to each other, staring at us after we had asked them to have a seat so we could talk. It was remarkable the shift that had occurred in them since we had first arrived here, when the news of their mates had literally crushed them, but together they had found an aspect of peace, even if it was new, telling by the way Pearl tentatively scooted closer to Jack, and by the way he carefully placed his arm over her shoulders, bringing her closer.
I watched how Pearl physically relaxed inside Jack’s gentle embrace, and I smiled softly. “I almost don’t want to tell them now.”
Ezra nodded, eyes just as quick as mine. “They’re damn sweet together.”
Jack scowled. “Quit analyzing us.” He pointed between Ezra and me. “You two don’t know how alike you are. You sit the same way,” huh, guess we were, “You watch people the same way,” I already knew that, “Hell, you even tilt your heads the same way,” I had noticed that a few times, “and it’s like you two have telepathy the way your brains work the same way, finishing each other’s sentences and automatically knowing what the other’s going to do.”
Ezra and I both grinned.