Better

Better
Kai

It was so quiet, perfectly quiet. 

Layla lay beside me, her fingers drawing circles on my chest as we rested from the hours we had spent together. The morning light was beginning to shed into the room from the window. 

“How are you feeling?” I asked, turning so that I could face her, enveloping her in my arms. 

She smiled at me, a gift I wasn’t quite sure I would ever deserve in this life. “I feel amazing.”

She stretched her arms over her head, arching her back. It placed her nipples right at eye level, and I couldn’t help but reach out, sucking one of them deep into my mouth. 

A moan left her lips, her skin breaking out into goosebumps, that needy, honey like scent filling the cabin. “Kai.”

I smiled against her skin. 

“We need to stop.”

“Why?” I asked, rolling her nipple around my tongue. 

She laughed at the tickling sensation. “Because.”

I pulled away, already hardening between my thighs. I crawled over her, placing my elbows beside her head. “Tell me why. Give me a good reason why we have to stop and I won’t fuck you again until tomorrow morning.”

Her eyes widened, hands holding onto my sides. “Umm, because—”

I tilted my head, already nudging her legs apart with my knees. A breathy moan met my ears, her calf soothingly caressing the back of my leg.

“Because we need to eat.”

I tilted my head, frowning. “Are you hungry?”

She shook her head, her nails biting into my skin. “You?”

I shook my head, lowering my face until her nipple was right below my mouth again. 

Her body trembled. 

“Give me a reason, my love.” I sucked her nipple into my mouth again, letting it pebble around my tongue. 

“Because people are probably wondering where we disappeared to.”

“They’re not, trust me. And I don’t care.” I licked my way up her chest, to her neck, softly kissing her there as I lowered my hand between her legs. 

“I know you don’t.” She smiled, breath catching when I dragged my mouth to her jaw. “But we can celebrate with everyone.”

I hummed against her skin. “Everyone can wait.”

Layla laughed softly, squirming beneath me. “Kai.”

“What?”

“Come on.”

“We are celebrating.” I pressed my fingers to her clit, reveling in the way her body arched into mine. 

“That’s not what I meant,” she moaned.

I lifted my head just enough to look at her. “The festivities have been over for hours.”

Her eyes widened beautifully. “They have?”

I nodded, my fingers slowly burying themselves in her. “You need another reason.”

She lifted her hips to keep up with my movements. “I—I—”

She was losing control over her reactions to my touch and I was enjoying myself more than I ever thought possible. Her wetness filled my palm, sending shivers of need down my spine. 

Fuck. I would never get tired of her, never lose the need for her taste. 

I pushed myself up, drawing my fingers out of her. She frowned then, her pupils wide and dark. “I don’t want a reason.”

I smiled at her, pressing my cock right at the entrance of her soft, wet pussy. Slowly, I closed my eyes, inhaling the sweet, addicting smell of her honey. She was delectable in a way I don’t think she even understood. 

I fucked her slow. Let her gasp and moan as I gently, languidly pushed myself in. It was torture for me, feeling her heat wrap around me like a vice. But she enjoyed the slow stretch,
the way she sucked me into her. 

“So beautiful,” I grunted, seating myself all the way inside.

I could live like this, wrapped in her, beside her, loved by her. I wouldn’t need to go anywhere else, talk to anyone else, see anyone else. 

She threw her head back, the arch in her spine heightening. “Kai.”

It was a wet, needy sound that left her lips, only making my cock harden. “Tell me what you want, my love.”

She didn’t answer me with words. She simply wrapped her arms around my neck, pulling me toward her as her lips found mine. Her tongue was demanding, rolling around mine, sucking it into her mouth. 

It was her leverage, using me to lift her hips up. I didn’t have to move at all. She fucked me, rolling her hips as she moved up and down my length. 

Delicious. 

I moaned, burying my fingers into the soft flesh of her ass, kneading her as if I could never get enough. It didn’t take long for us to come together, for our combined pleasure to leak from her pussy to her thighs. 

I held her against me, pressing kisses to her neck. The ground beneath the cabin was vibrating, and I could feel it through my veins. I lifted a hand, specks of dirt flying around us. 

Layla watched, intrigue in her eyes, as if she still could not believe what I was capable of. 

The earth was quieter. Not so anxious anymore, a soft hum with new magic in the air. It felt open, free. 

The bond flared sharply in my chest, and Layla gave a loud inhale. Her skin broke into goosebumps, her eyes still on the dirt that flew around us. 

“Do you feel that?” She whispered.

I nodded, rubbing my thumb around the soft skin of her waist. “Yes.”

She shifted, eyes going to the window. We couldn’t see much from our position on the bed, but the light shone in, regardless. “It’s quieter.”

A faint hint of a smile tugged at my mouth. “Yes. It’s clearer. The magic isn’t so muddled anymore.”

She turned in my arms to face me fully. “Is it really different now?”

I studied her for a second. “It is.”

Her gaze sharpened slightly at that. “So, things will be different, too? Humans will be safer?”

I let my awareness stretch outward, feeling it move through everything around us. I followed the movement of my thumb on her skin. I missed the red blush that used to cover her, the rush of her blood when I touched her. 

But nothing would ever beat this, having my mate beside me, the possible future that awaited us. 

“Yes,” I breathed, already feeling my body repair itself, ready to love her again. 

“They won’t like that,” she said, her expression unreadable for a moment. “Some people like having others to prey on.”

I lowered myself to her level on the bed, gripping her chin to force her gaze on my face. “Those people have no place in our world.”

A soft smile caressed her lips. “Good.”

I pulled her in, kissing her without rush, without intent. I just wanted to savor her, taste every inch of her skin. Layla smiled against my mouth, her fingers finding their way into my hair, and then a laugh bubbled up through her throat. 

The sound was beautiful, melodic, and I found myself joining her. 

There had been a time when I thought I would never laugh again. A time when every thought I had revolved around survival, hiding myself and keeping my parents’ secret. 

Now all I could think about was her, the woman in my arms.

My mate and my future.

I rested my forehead on hers, closing my eyes as I let myself melt into the moment. 

“What are you thinking about?” she asked.

I tightened my arms around her. “You.”

She smiled, contentment softening her features.

Every future I could imagine felt possible now, perfect, even. 

A home filled with laughter. Children racing through the forest. My mother’s garden. Draven somehow convincing Maelis that he’s worth a chance. Humans and vampires living beside one another without fear.

It probably won’t be perfect, but it would be better.

I held her tighter and vowed then to never let her go.