Love Me to Death (Underveil, #1)(65)

She scrubbed down his legs. “On and off for two years.”

He almost choked. “Two years?”

“Yep. Turn around.”

She ran the sponge over his chest, studying him as if memorizing his body.

“Two years…” he mused. “Less orgasms than you’ve had with me today.”

“Definitely. He sucked and I mean that figuratively.” She ran the sponge lower, then systematically scrubbed the rest of him efficiently and effectively, and by the time she was done, he was so hard it hurt. “Rinse time,” she said, taking the hand-held nozzle from the wall and rinsing his body. “Now, my turn.”

He thought he just might die when she began lathering her body as if it were the best feeling on earth. She rubbed the sponge in circles over her breasts, and her eyes drifted shut. She even moaned when she scrubbed between her legs. By the time she rinsed, he was a total wreck. “Now, Mr. Itzov. You had me eye spying tables and crossing my legs all morning after you told me your plan, so here is my retaliation.” She stepped out of the shower and wrapped in a towel. “I make plans, too, you see.” She pulled a towel out of the cabinet and handed it to him. “Because we have a limited amount of time, and even though we don’t know what ‘all hell’ is, we know it’s going to break loose around this time tomorrow, I think we need to maximize our time together.”

Nikolai couldn’t agree more. Nor could his aching cock straining against the towel around his waist.

“So, while you had me thinking about tables, what I want you to think about is my tongue, okay?” She leaned forward and swirled it around his nipple. As difficult as it was, he kept his hands at his sides. This was her show, and he needed to give her the floor.

He swallowed hard as she unwrapped the towel around his waist. “So, I’m thinking after we eat something—because when all hell breaks loose, we don’t know when we’re going to get to eat again—I could use my tongue here, kinda like this.” And she leaned over and circled the head of him with her tongue, but pulled away after only two passes. He groaned.

After securing the towel around his waist again, she pulled a brush from a drawer and drew it through her hair. “Yeah, like that, and then I’d see how much of you I can take in my mouth because that’s a real consideration, seeing how large you are. Not that I’m complaining or anything.”

“No, of course not,” he said in complete disbelief as she strolled out of the bathroom.

“So, what do you think of my plan?” her voice called from the hallway.

“I…um. It’s a very sound plan. I like it.”

She leaned against the wall. “I’m a little sore still, but I guess being immortal, that will pass soon. Look, the bruises are almost gone.” She opened her towel and showed him the fading marks along with the rest of her lovely body. What hadn’t faded were the glyphs under her collarbone, and those turned him on almost as much as the red in her eyes or the thought of her mouth on his body.

Her gaze dropped to the bulge in his towel. “Are you thinking about my plan?”

“I am.”

“Are you hungry?”

“Not for food.”

She grinned. “Too bad. I am. Get dressed and let’s go. I’m craving pancakes.” And with that, she left him all alone in the middle of the hallway wearing nothing but a hard-on and a bath towel.





Chapter Twenty-One


Elena shook her head. “You can’t take the sword to breakfast. You’ll scare people.”

“We’re in danger. I won’t go without it,” he said. “I should never have had it out of arm’s reach this whole time. We’re lucky no one found us.” He tightened the strap one notch and checked the location of the hilt. “I’ll put it under the Veil. I can put my whole self under it if you’d feel better, but I’d rather not leave that kind of signal and trail.”

“No. I want a real date. Like two regular people going out.” It was probably silly and maybe just an attempt to hold on to the last vestiges of being human, but she needed this affirmation.

“Let’s just get something to go.”

“Look, Nik. I don’t know why it’s important to me, but it is. I just want one more normal human experience before whatever is going to happen tomorrow happens. We’ve never done anything remotely natural or normal together.”

“We’ve had sex.”

“Was that normal, really?”

“It was natural.”

“It was freaking supernatural.” She sighed when he grinned. “Please.”

“It’s nonnegotiable. Sword under the Veil. Normal date.”

She shrugged. “Okay.”

Then it dawned on her that she didn’t even have her car anymore. It had probably been towed from the convenience store when she’d been shot. She sighed. That seemed a lifetime ago. They’d have to teleport. So much for a normal date. She held out her hand, and Nik took it.

“May I?” he asked. “I know an excellent all-night diner. I think you’ll like it.”

She grinned. “Sure.”

He placed his hands on either side of her neck and chanted. Her mind rushed back to the first time they’d ever done this. She’d envisioned herself straddling him, and he’d been furious. She chuckled. No way would he have that reaction now. This time, she just emptied her mind and enjoyed the buoyancy that came with her molecules shifting for transport, then the slam of reconfiguration as they reached their destination. Nearby, a car honked. The warm air was scented with exhaust fumes and the faint taint of sewage. When she looked around, buildings towered on all sides. The sun was not even up yet, and already, the sidewalks buzzed with people.