Page 28 of Radiant

“But I care.” I got out of bed. After three steps, I thought getting yesterday’s clothes off here so Auris could watch was a good idea. I wondered whether I should, in fact, put some practice into stripping. It was something he made me want to do for him quite a lot.

My clothes hit the floor, another armchair in a corner, the top of the black dresser. Auris didn’t make any comments, not even when I closed the bathroom door behind me, fully naked. I peed, brushed my teeth, and turned on the shower. Given that I had started to wonder about all the things Auris could and couldn’t sense last night, I said—in a decidedly indoor voice—“Come join me.”

The door opened so fast I had to wonder whether he’d been standing right outside. He’d stripped too. He didn’t come into the bathroom straight away but remained standing in the doorway, one hand on the handle, his hair cascading over one side of his chest while the light from the bedroom windows spilled over his tresses.

I knew the light in the bedroom, and I knew he’d opened the curtains while he’d been waiting out there. He looked mysterious for the very fact that there was still something dark about him—there always was. At the same time, the light at his back brought out his pale skin, his silvered eyes, his not-quite-normal human features that had become so familiar to me.

I raised my brows. “You’re a calculating model.”

“Me?” Auris blinked his silver eyes like he was a child accused of eyeing the cookie dough. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“Yeah, like I believe that. It’s perfect morning light, but I can resist.”

I stepped over the lip of the shower and held the glass door open for him. The warm spray hit my back and the side of my head at about the same time he joined me.

The shower was large, done in black tile set at an angle. Auris took a moment to look at me, and he made very sure I noticed I was being stared at.

“Turn around.”

That went straight to my balls and I showed him my back, doing my best to make the movement sensual.

I never heard him move, but felt his arms come around me, and instead of offering him my neck to kiss, I turned again. Our lips clashed, and he pulled me close.

I gasped, everything inside me igniting until I could feel sparks skipping over my skin.

“Auris,” I breathed when his mouth worked its way to my throat. Water trickled into my mouth, and I swallowed, my eyelids fluttering.

He pushed me up against the shower wall in such a way that I had to rest my head against the black tiles if I didn’t want to catch the spray in my face. It forced me into a position where I had to watch, which, judging by the smile on Auris’s face when he dropped to his knees in front of me, was what he’d intended.

The sight of him kneeling and closing his lips around my cock while the water matted his black hair against his skin made me feel hot and cold, alive and like I’d died and gone to the good place. It wasn’t just his undeniable skill that had me coming in short order. It was the sight, that composition of light and dark, of silver, of the slick, smooth, wet rivulets all over him, like icing on a cake.

I was at his mercy, and he knew it. I mewled helplessly, whimpered, trembled so hard he had to hold me upright with his hands on the backs of my thighs while he licked my spent cock clean. And then when he opened his mouth and stood back up, I sagged against his chest, and he was holding me still, and I knew…I knew I needed him and I was his.

“Fuck.”

“Yes. That was shower sex, my sweet. You appear to like it.”

He twisted his fingers into my wet hair, and his other hand went down to my ass to cup a cheek in a lewd, possessive gesture.

I tilted my head up so I wasn’t looking directly into the spray. “You want me to⁠—”

“No. I’m quite satisfied.” The evenness of his pristine skin in contrast to his black hair sent a jolt of desire through me all over again.

“Okay. Okay, but I’d like you to have some of my blood? I didn’t notice before, but there’s no color in your lips at all, and the last time you had any blood was weeks ago. You only took a sip then.”

“That’s right. I should discourage you, Ethan, but I’m selfish. You make me indulge myself without regret.” He released me from his arms. “However, it’s daytime. My bite won’t be as precise as it is during the night, and my blood will do little to heal your wounds. That’ll have to wait until sunset.”

That was new information. I filed it away with everything else I knew about him and vampire-kind. “That’s fine. I mean, I don’t mind. I want you to—fuck. This is going to sound like an angsty vampire show, but I want you to have my blood.”

Auris kissed my cheek. “As you say. Soap up, get clean first. You’ll be lightheaded after.”

I nodded and washed up. Auris did too, and we shared the spot under the water to rinse the suds off. I had another moment of wishing for my camera when I watched him shampoo his outrageously long hair.

He stood outside the spray, eyes on me when we were all done. I glanced down his body. He was still hard, and I was feeling bad, as if I’d taken advantage.

He noticed. “It’s fine, my sweet. I enjoy taking you to the brink and pushing you over. I love to see your eyes go glassy and listen to your heartbeat. It’s almost like you’re running, like I get to chase you, only you never really try to outrun me. You want me to catch you, and I always do.”

“I sometimes forget how sexy you are when you talk to me like that.”