31. EZRA

“Stop pacing.”

I glanced at Devrim over the top of the book I was reading. Devrim only stopped long enough to glare at me before he continued pacing.

“Where are they?” he growled. “It’s almost noon.”

“What exactly are you worrying about?”

I slipped the bookmark in place, closed the book, and leaned forward to place it down on the small coffee table.

“You don’t know what he’s capable of,” he said, spinning around to glare at me.

I think I know enough, but

I didn’t voice the thought out loud. I’d seen enough over the years to know exactly—well, almost exactly—what Obsidian was capable of.

 “He locked the door. He never locks the door.”

Standing, I walked over to him and stopped as close to him as I dared. Our eyes locked, and I smirked at him.

“Relax.” My smirk widened. “They’re probably enjoying another round of—”

Just then, a soft click reached our ears, cutting off my words. We both turned towards the sound, and not even a second later, Vanya appeared.

I bit my lips as my eyes trailed over her.

Vanya wore a shirt I knew belonged to Obsidian. It was two size too big and ended just under her knees. One side was slowly sliding down her shoulder, but just before I could catch a glimpse of more skin, she pulled the material back into place. I sighed and studied her face. Her lips were swollen and cheeks flushed with colour. No marks branded the skin that were visible which meant that Obsidian hadn’t hurt her again.

“I’ve gone to hell,” Devrim muttered.

“You mean heaven?”

He shook his head and moved towards her. Shaking my head, I took a seat on the couch again and picked up my book.

“Are you okay?” Devrim instantly started questioning her.

I rolled my eyes, but listened carefully for her answer as my eyes dropped to the book, then snapped back up when Obsidian stepped into the room.

He scowled at Devrim as he walked past them and into the kitchen. So early, yet he was already pissed at something. I concentrated on my book with a shake of my head.

I smiled up at Vanya as she stopped next to the couch.

“Hey,” I greeted.

Her eyes darted towards the kitchen and then down to the couch. Without any warning, Vanya suddenly moved and climbed onto my lap. She curled on my lap and rested her head on my shoulder. I blinked and then wrapped an arm around her body to pull her a bit closer.

I pressed a kiss against her forehead and then moved my nose into her hair to sniff at her. She smelled like Obsidian and sex. How many times had he taken her?

“Okay?”

She nodded. “Yeah.”

I hesitated before I asked her another question. “Was he gentle?”

“No. There’s nothing gentle about him.”

“I just thought he would’ve been…you know, since…” I trailed off and pulled a face at her.

Vanya pulled back to look at me. Her eyes darted over my face and then dropped to my chest. She was smiling again—that small secretive smile of hers.

“What?”

“You think yesterday was my first time?” She suddenly frowned at me. “It wasn’t the first time we had sex, Ezra.”

“I know,” I told her. “You’ve been through an ordeal. I just figured he’d take things slow.”

Vanya took the book from my hand, closed it, then leaned forward to throw it onto the table.

I swallowed when she sat up which made the shirt dip at the front, giving me a view of her bare breasts.

A purr rose and escaped before I could stop it. Vanya rolled her eyes.

“Men are all the same,” she muttered with a small shake of her head.

“Not all men,” I said, gripping her hips. “We can’t all be the same if we’ve never experienced the same things.”

She tilted her head to the side and blinked at me. “What experiences might that be?”

My hands slid up her sides and to her back to rest there. Vanya’s lips parted when I pulled her closer until our faces were only inches apart.

“I’ve never had sex before. Never seen a woman naked in real life. Never tasted—”

 “Breakfast’s ready.” Devrim interrupted us.

***

“Let’s talk.”

Devrim took a seat opposite me while Obsidian walked over to the window and kept his back to us. Vanya was once again curled up against my chest.

“What do you know about panthers?”

She shifted until her face was pressed against the crook of my neck. “The basics: that you’re fast and that you can leap high.”

“We’re great hunters, too,” Obsidian muttered.

I rolled my eyes at him. “What do you know about us?” I rephrased Devrim’s question.

“We weren’t taught a lot in school. We knew about your existence and that’s about it. Besides, it’s been years since then and I can barely remember what we learned in class.”

“We are a bit different from the others that were created the same way we were…” Devrim paused.

The room fell silent.

I held my breath as I waited for her to start asking questions. We had all agreed that we were going to avoid talking about how we came to be and instead use the lies Reeves had told everyone to explain things when she asked.

Luckily, Vanya didn’t question his choice of words.  

My eyes locked onto Vanya’s bare thigh when she bent her legs. I could look at her pale skin all day; in fact, I wouldn’t mind her walking around dressed in Obsidian’s shirt at all.

After only a moment’s hesitation, I placed my hand on her knee and slowly slid it up until my fingers brushed the hem of the shirt. The knowledge that she wore nothing underneath the thin material, that I only had to take the shirt off to see her completely bare, made my breathing speed up.

Holding my breath, I slipped my hand underneath the material to test her reaction.

Devrim started speaking again which confused me for a few minutes because I couldn’t remember what we were talking about.

“Panthers have more than one female mate,” he said. “Usually, a male has up to five females. In our case, it will be the opposite.”

I looked at him and waited for him to continue.

“You will have three males. I know that it is not something humans do, but since you are attracted to all of us, I think that it won’t be a problem for us.”

Vanya sat up and leaned against the back of the couch. She was frowning at Devrim this time. “What does the whole mating-thing entail?”

“They want to mark you with their scent, so no other males show interest in you,” Obsidian said, turning away from the window to face us.

“They?” she questioned. “Not you?”

“No.” Obsidian gave her a nasty smile. “I don’t want you as a mate.”

I could smell Vanya’s hurt.

Without a word, and before I could stop her, Vanya got up and ran up the stairs.

“Why do you always have to be so mean to her?”

Obsidian chuckled. “Humans are good for one thing and one thing only: fucking.”

I jumped to my feet, ready to give him a piece of my mind, but Obsidian was already walking away.

The floorboards above us creaked and then a door slammed shut, making my heart sink. Vanya had heard his last words.

“You take care of Vanya, and I’ll take care of Obsidian,” Devrim said.