Steal the Light (Thieves #1)(43)

He smiled, a slow curving of his lips. “You have no idea how much I want to please you. How much I can please you. I come from a long line of men whose goal in life is to please a woman. The right woman.”

He tweaked my nipples, his fingers pinching lightly. I squirmed, the feeling going straight to my *. His lips kept up a slow grind against mine as his fingers made their way down my torso. I held on, pulling him close. I felt connected in a way I hadn’t in forever. He delved under the waistband of my jeans. I sighed against his mouth as he found his way to my clit. With an expert touch, he started to rub.

“Hate to break up a tender moment.” A bitter voice shattered the intimacy.

I didn’t have to look out the window to know that night had fallen, and Daniel was here.

It was just instinct that made me try to push Dev away, but he was having none of it. He helped me off the counter and turned to Daniel with absolutely none of the ridiculous shame I felt. I tried to get enough air into my lungs so that I could talk.

“Sorry,” Dev said in a voice that didn’t sound sorry at all. “I guess we got carried away.” He put one arm around me. It was a casual thing, like he’d been my boyfriend for a while, but the truth was I needed his support to stand. He nestled our bodies together. “I didn’t realize it had gotten so late.”

“Obviously.” Daniel’s slight lisp let me know his fangs were out. He kept his lips tight so no one could see. “I need to talk to Zoey. Alone.”

“I think that’s up to Zoey.” Dev tightened the arm around my waist slightly.

“It’s fine.” I didn’t really want to talk to Daniel. It was going to go one of two ways. Either he was going to be horrible about it, or he was going to act like he couldn’t care less. I wasn’t sure which would be worse. But I couldn’t avoid him, so I might as well get it over with. “Dev, could you go see if Neil needs help with the altar?”

He leaned down and planted a quick kiss on my lips. It was a small promise of things to come. “Will do, boss.” He nodded toward the counter. “Oh, I’m sorry about the herbs.”

I looked over and was surprised to see the thyme I’d been chopping had apparently grown. It was green and lush and there was a lot more of it, as though every piece I had cut had grown a new sprig.

Dev grinned down at me. “I’m afraid that happens sometimes when I get excited. My grandfather was a Green Man, you see. I might not have gotten his immortality, but I’m good with plants and…fertility rites. I’m good at making things grow and reach their full potential, if you know what I mean.”

I thought I knew what he meant, and I wished we’d had time to reach that full potential he’d been talking about. He walked out of the room, and I wished I had a tenth of his confident charm. I didn’t, and I was suddenly left alone with Daniel.

I didn’t owe him anything. He’d been with god knew how many women since he left me. From what I heard, the Vampire Council wasn’t exactly a monastery. The girls at the club were there for sex as well as blood, and Daniel had been seen with most of them. I didn’t owe him fidelity or an explanation. So why did a thousand excuses pop to the tip of my tongue? If he’d shown the slightest bit of hurt, I would have dissolved into an apologetic puddle.

“Seriously, Zoey?” His tone held a bitter bite. “You’ve known him for five minutes, and you’re already hopping into bed. I thought I knew you better. I didn’t think you were a…”

He stopped as though finally realizing he was crossing a line. He looked surprised and closed his mouth.

Any thoughts of apologies were gone. I was across the room before I even realized what I was doing. My fist met his jaw with a satisfying crack. I even managed not to scream when pain exploded across my skin.

“Damn it, Zoey.” Daniel grabbed my arm so I couldn’t get in another one. “I didn’t say it.”

“You thought it,” I snarled up at him. “That was enough.”

“What did you expect? I walked in here and you were practically f*cking him in your father’s kitchen.”

“I expected you to not give a damn, Danny. I expected you to cheer me on,” I said. “Didn’t you want me to find someone? And don’t you dare say anyone but him. I get to choose who I sleep with, not you. I thought you would be happy I was moving on. Now you can go wherever it is you’ve been planning on going once your conscience was clear.”

Daniel dropped my hand and seemed to deflate. He turned away. “I want you to be happy. I just wish you hadn’t been happy here. It was a shock.”

I took a deep breath and steadied myself. I knew what he was talking about. I felt it every time I walked into my dad’s house. “Daniel, there isn’t a room in this house we didn’t make love in.”

It was true. There wasn’t a room in the house that didn’t hold some memory of us. He first kissed me in my bedroom when we were just barely fourteen. The first time he held my hand was on the stairs. We spent nights in the study doing homework and planning our future. Anywhere I went in this house there was a ghost. I was just surprised he still felt it, too.

“I was happy here,” he said as though he heard my thoughts. “It was the first time in my life I was really happy. I always thought we would end up raising kids in this house.”