Scars

DELLA

“Sweetness? Are you okay?” My eyes snap up to the metal back door and see Micha and Sorin looking pale and a bit scared. Well, aren’t I just a piece of work?

“Just a bit confused,” I admit quietly.

“What’s going on, Della?” Sorin asks, taking me into his arms.

“You shouldn’t see me like this,” I whisper.

“What do you mean?”

“I just killed someone,” I mutter, trying to push him away.

Sorin’s arms only tighten.

“Sweetness. We know you. We know who and what you are. You don’t have to hide from us,” Micha states, his voice soft but firm.

“Besides, don’t think we all didn’t see the knife he stuck in your side,” Kade seethes. When did he get here?

“I almost killed him myself,” Gavin adds, coming over and starting to lift my dress. “I need to see if you’re okay.”

I let him and finally notice the blood on the dress. I don’t feel hurt, but there’s a fair amount of blood.

“How do you feel, sweetness?” Micha asks.

“Good. Confused but good,” I admit.

“Why confused?”

“Amazing…,” Gavin gasps, running his warm hands along my side. That’s distracting.

“What?” asks several voices in unison.

“There’s no wound. You healed as you fed,” Gavin says, looking up at me in awe.

I don’t know how to respond to that. I have enough scars to know I don’t magically heal, but at the same time, that’s a lot of blood and no wound.

“Let’s go home and we’ll talk about this more,” I manage to say. Everyone nods, and I see Gavin pick up Psycho Killer’s things and throw them into a dumpster at the end of the alley.

“I’ll grab the others and meet you guys out front,” Micha says before taking me in his arms and leaving me with a warm, soft kiss. “We love you, all of you. Don’t doubt that for a second, Della,” he says, looking into my eyes. My heart swells as I nod and watch him leave.

“Micha’s right, you know. You shouldn’t be scared of who you are.” Kade’s arms, strong and comforting, wrap around me. He’s so handsome; it’s almost distracting. I understand his perspective. Punishers have a bad reputation, even though Kade is nothing but a big softie.

“Della?” A voice echoes from the end of the alley. We all turn to see Death. “What have you been up to?” he says with a knowing smirk.

“Are you here for that guy?” I ask, nodding toward the dumpster.

“Actually, I’m here for someone else. But I saw you and thought I’d drop by.” He grins. Death seems a little disconnected from reality.

“We were just heading home. Mom’s here, so you’re welcome to join us.” I shrug.

“That sounds great. I was wondering where she’d disappeared to.” He smiles. I wish he had an aura; his lack of one is unnerving.

We step out onto the sidewalk and find Micha, Oz, Professor Coach, and Zeve already waiting for us.

“Darling! This is a surprise! Where did you come from?” Zeve throws herself into Death’s arms. I have to admit, they’re adorable together.

“I was just down the road. Before that, I was in Tel Aviv. I brought back those treats you love. They’re waiting at home for you.” He smiles at her, his golden eyes soft with affection. It’s endearing.

“Are you feeling better, sweetheart?” Zeve asks me. Death looks me over anew.

“Were you ill?” He frowns.

“No, I just hadn’t been feeding properly with everything going on, and I passed out.” I wave off his concern before turning to face Zeve. “I’m feeling much better. Thank you.”

“Anytime, sweetie. I will call you when I get in contact with my friends. You can count on us,” she vows.

“What’s going on?” Death frowns, and Zeve rolls her eyes.

“I’ll fill him in. Have a good night, sweetie.” She smiles before turning to her husband. “Take me home?” He melts immediately, and they wander off together.

Oz volunteers to head to his parents’ house to hide out for the weekend, and Isaac has Gavin set up a portal back to the academy for him.

The rest of us wander our way back to the asylum. Kade and I walk hand in hand while we watch Sorin terrorize Gavin and Micha by running up behind them, flicking them in the ear, and running away. What a weirdo.

“We haven’t had much time alone together lately,” I observe.

“Yeah, I got spoiled when I was on Della-sitting duty.” Kade grins. “Had you all to myself.”

“You say that like you had a choice.” I wink up at him.

“I’d gladly do it again, beautiful,” he says, lifting my hand to kiss my knuckles.

“Flirt.”

“Della! Save me!” Sorin shouts, scrambling behind me to hide from an angry Micha, who somehow is now wet. Gavin is watching from the sidelines, clutching his stomach and laughing.

“What did you do?!” I ask.

“That asshole spelled water above my head!” Micha shouts, shaking out his hair.

“It was a small sprinkling of rain,” Sorin argues, looking positively affronted.

“I saw lightning!” Gavin tattles. How did we miss this?

“Okay, yes, there may have been a tiny little spark.” Sorin grins as Micha walks away, grumbling about revenge.

“You’re trouble.” I giggle as he wiggles his eyebrows at me.

“Excuse us, we have very important business to attend to,” Sorin tells Kade before tossing me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes and running up the walk to the asylum.

I cackle as he sprints past Gavin and Micha and locks the door behind us.

“How are they going to get inside?” I fret.

“They’ll figure it out. Come on, my handful. It’s about time I got you all to myself,” he says, carrying me to the front office and setting me on the desk along the metal-grated window.

He closes the door, and I watch him saunter toward me. He’s so good-looking. His red hair is tousled from our run, and his crystal-blue eyes have a predatory glint, and it’s all directed at me. I watch his muscular body move toward me, each movement graceful and controlled. I’m one lucky girl.

I rise to my feet and walk toward him, sliding my hands up his firm chest.

He leans in, pressing his lips to mine in a soft, exploratory kiss. I nip at his lips, and our kiss grows more passionate. My hands move to feel him under his shirt, but he stiffens at my touch, and our kiss ends abruptly. I stiffen too. I recognize that texture. I have it too.

I quickly drop my hands and pull away from our interrupted kiss. His eyes are squeezed shut, his head bowed. He’s avoiding my gaze.

“Sorin?” I whisper. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m just not ready to show you yet. I know it seems silly after you’ve shown me your scars, but…I’m just…,” he trails off.

“Hey, it’s okay. Everyone heals at their own pace. I won’t ever make you do anything you don’t want to do. Just know I’m here if you need to talk or…anything. Okay? I love you. I want you to feel comfortable, however that may be,” I reassure him.

“Thank you, Della.” He sighs, burying his face in my neck as I hold him close. We stay like that for a while. Eventually, his shoulders relax, and we hear the others calling for us.

“Do you want to take some more time?” I offer.

“No, I’m good now. Thank you, beautiful,” he says before his lips crash against mine. His kiss is hard and demanding, but I can feel his need. He needs to feel loved—to be reminded that he’s not broken and that just because something ugly happened to him, it doesn’t make him ugly.

I kiss him back, pouring all my emotions into him. My love, my sorrow for his past pain, my anger at whoever made him feel this way—everything.

His arms wrap around me, pulling me closer as my legs wrap around his waist. I’m not sure when it happened, but I notice his pants are gone, and I can feel his hard length pressed against me.

I squirm against him, making him groan as his fingers dig into my hair and tug. I can’t suppress the moan as he kisses down my neck.

I make sure to shower his covered chest with kisses. Even if he doesn’t want to show me, I need to show him I love all of him, regardless. I hear him hiss as I kiss over his heart, so I take my time, making sure I cover every inch.

“Do you have your knives, baby?” he pants out through clenched teeth.

“No, but if you need the thrill, I can take control,” I offer, my breath heavy.

“Please.” He gasps.

Remembering his reaction to our first day of gym class when we sparred, I smirk before kicking my foot out and into the back of his knee, making him crumple into the wooden chair behind him. I stand up, stripping off my dress and panties, and walk over to a very excited-looking mage.

I kneel in front of him, watching his blue eyes blaze as I lower my mouth to his length. I stop just as I’m about to reach his tip.

“No touching until I’m done. If you do, I stop,” I explain with a smirk as his knuckles turn white, clutching the chair. Without any more teasing, I take him into my mouth, causing his hips to thrust involuntarily.

I continue licking, sucking, and kissing every inch of him until I feel his breathing quicken. Then I pull back from my worship.

I rise to my feet without a word and straddle his thighs before carefully sinking down onto him with a low moan. I see his hands hesitate to touch me, making me smile as I continue my fun.

He may not be allowed to touch me, but I hold no such rule for myself as I kiss, nip, and caress every part of him. I start my journey back up his length achingly slowly before sinking back down at the same taunting pace.

“Fuck, please, Della. I need you,” he begs. Just what I wanted to hear.

“You can touch me now. Take me how you want.” And he does. God, does he ever.

Soon I’m pinned to the wall as he thrusts inside of me, grabbing, pinching, and kissing as he goes—like he can’t get enough of me. I can’t contain the orgasm that strikes me as I cry out his name, clawing at his back.

He continues to slam into me until I’m in the throes of another orgasm when he follows, spilling into me. We sink to the floor as we catch our breath.

“I love you so much, Della,” he whispers, pressing his face into my shoulder.

“I love you too, Sorin.” I smile softly, stroking his gorgeous red hair.

We stay like that for a while, just soaking up each other.

“We should probably get back to the others,” I say, scrunching up my nose.

“Yeah, that’s probably a good idea.” He chuckles, tapping a finger to the tip of my nose.

“I found them!” Kade shouts from the doorway.

“Hey there, handsome.” I smile up at him.

“Hello. Did you guys have fun scaring the shit out of us?” Kade asks, raising a thick eyebrow. I grimace at the thought that I had scared them.

“Sure did.” Sorin grins. Kade just shakes his head with a small smile before leaving us to get presentable.