I bury my nose in his hair and rest my eyes for a second, but before I know it, everything goes black.
I wake, my limbs aching and my eyes peeling open. Lifting the sheet, I peek underneath to see the blood smudges between my legs. My cheeks flush. Oh shit. I bite on my lower lip to stop from smiling.
I won.
I didn’t even have to do what Bishop said I should do; I just had to tease him with something as immature as saying someone else would have sex with me. I shift my legs to swing over the edge of the bed when I wince, the pain rocking my body so hard I almost spin out.
There’s a knock on the door before it’s being pushed open and Tillie’s pink hair is taking up the space. I can’t tell how far along she is anymore, because her bump is so small and cute.
“Jesus…” Her face pales as she shuts the door and makes her way to the bed. “What did he do to you!”
“What?” I ask, pushing up from the bed but yelping when the pain vibrates through me even worse than before. It’s not just between my legs now, it’s everywhere.
“I’ll run you a bath…” Tillie ducks behind the wall before I hear the rush of water spraying into the tub. “People will start coming in today, and I need to prepare you for tonight.”
“What’s happening?” I ask, finally pushing through the pain and standing on my feet. I open the bedside drawer and find painkillers, popping them out of the foil and throwing the others back, while clutching the debased sheet around my body.
I lean against the wall in the bathroom, Tillie’s back turned to me. She’s pouring salts and scents into the tub that fill the room with sweet hints of lavender and playful notes of bubble gum. “I don’t know, that’s the problem. Something is happening, I can feel it in my bones. They only ever bring us out here when something is about to happen that they don’t want gaining attention.”
Sighing, I make my way to the edge of the tub and she looks up at me from the other side.
“You slept with him?”
I nod. “I did.”
She groans, turning the faucet off and swirling the bubbles around in the bath. “Your first time should not have involved all those piercings.” Then her eyes drop to my neck. “Jesus Christ. Don’t tell me. He’s also a vampire…” She rolls her eyes, flicking her fingers down my body. “Hop in. I’ll turn around.”
I drop the sheet before she turns, unfazed by my nudity. Dipping my toes into the warm water, I sigh as my muscles begin to relax. “I don’t have any issues being naked around people.”
Tillie snorts, covering her mouth to stifle her laughter. “If I didn’t find you so adorable right now, I’d be swearing about all of the bruises, bite marks, and finger marks around your neck and body.”
I ignore her, taking slow, deep breaths as I leisurely slip beneath the water.
I bite down on my bottom lip to stop myself from screaming when the water touches my every wound, erupting an entire band of stinging. Squeezing my eyes closed, I slowly lean back against the tub and blow out a steady breath as the stinging starts to dissipate and transform into relief. “It’s okay,” I whisper, reaching for the soap. Tillie comes in behind me and scoots me down, lifting a random cup and pouring it over my hair.
“You liked it?” she asks, but it’s not in a way that I feel judged, more making sure that it was consensual.
I did. I liked it a lot. There was something about him tasting me everywhere. It did things to me that it probably shouldn’t. Bad things. My cheeks flush. “I really did.”
Tillie giggles. “I have heard stories about him. You know, from the two girls I know he has been with, but I never thought they were true. I always thought they were exaggerating, because really? Is that even… clean?”
Other girls that he has been with. The words cling to me like a bad smell, and no amount of Tom Ford can mask it. As though a storm comes in over a sunny day, my mood instantly shifts.
“What’s happening tonight?” I ask, in hopes to distract myself. I think I might have an underlying anger problem. Maybe. I’m not sure.
Tillie rubs shampoo into my scalp and I close my eyes as a cotton candy scent fills my nostrils. “Something not good. The Kings have been up to something behind the scenes, something big, and Nate is doing everything to leave me out of it.”
“Why would he leave you out of it?” I ask, confused. “He always seems to want to include you in everything.”
“Mmmm, that was before I got pregnant. Now, since we lost Micaela, he’s been over-the-top. He will not tell me anything that he thinks will stress me.”