Instantly, his mouth came crashing down on mine. He shoved the hem of my dress up and gripped my thighs. I let out a low moan and grabbed his hand, moving it between my legs.
He growled against my mouth, his tongue sliding along mine and his fangs scraping over my lower lip. They might’ve nicked me, but I was too turned on to care. Feeling ravenous, I pushed Ethan down onto the couch and climbed on top of him. His hand found its way inside my underwear, stroking my clit before he plunged two fingers inside me.
“Fuck,” he swore, then began rambling in Romanian as he trailed kisses down my throat and scraped his fangs against my sensitive skin. My every pore tingled as he coaxed me to a fast release. Unfortunately, I didn’t quite get there.
My core tightened, and I moaned loudly. Then, just like that, he was gone. I blinked and sat up, finding him on the other side of the room.
“I don’t want this,” he muttered, shaking his head. “This is not what I want.” It was like he was thinking out loud, trying to convince himself.
“I want you,” I told him fervently.
“No, you don’t. Something’s wrong with you. You’re not wild like this. You surrender sweetly.” He approached me and ran a finger down the centre of my chest. “Look at you. You’re sweating far too much and you don’t smell right. You smell like you’ve been corrupted.”
I took stock of myself and realised he was right. I was dripping with sweat, my heart thumping a little too fast. With Ethan close, it took all my willpower not to jump on him again. I shook as I tried to maintain my resistance.
The door to the living room opened, and Rita and Finn stepped in. “Right, so we’ve decided we’re going to lock the jar up in the shed for the night,” Rita said before her eyes landed on me and Ethan. “Um, is everything okay in here?”
“No, everything is not okay,” Ethan replied, stressed. “There’s something wrong with Tegan. She’s being overly … amorous.” His exasperation was evident, which was very out of character for him.
Rita laughed, but she quickly stifled it when Ethan cut her a dark look. Finn came right up to me and placed his hand on my forehead. “Jesus, you’re burning up.”
“I know. I don’t understand what’s happening to me,” I said, still shaking. When I looked at Ethan, he was glowering at the back of Finn’s head. Evidently, he disliked him touching me. The foreign thing that had taken over my body rejoiced at Ethan’s jealousy.
Rita knelt before me. “How do you feel? Different from normal? Or are you just, uh, in the mood for a little ...” she trailed off and waggled her eyebrows in Ethan’s direction.
“Hey!” I exclaimed. “It’s not like I want this. Ethan clearly can’t stand me, and I don’t generally throw myself at people who hate me.” Now his glower intensified, though I wasn’t certain why. “I feel too hot. My pulse is racing, and I can’t stop shaking,” I said, holding out my hand for her to see. “I feel like some foreign lust has burrowed its way into my body and all it wants is him.” I threw my hand in Ethan’s direction.
Rita put both her hands on either side of my head and closed her eyes. She opened them a moment later and seemed to be having a hard time disguising her amusement.
“It looks like someone’s given you a lust potion.”
I gaped at her. “A what?”
“A lust potion. They generally take your attraction to someone and intensify it tenfold,” Rita explained.
Just like that, my cheeks went bright red. I glanced at Ethan, but he wasn’t looking at me. He stared at the floor, a multitude of conflicting emotions flashing across his face. As if this whole situation wasn’t already awkward enough.
“Did you eat or drink anything weird today?” Rita questioned.
“No, I haven’t …” I trailed off and met Finn’s gaze, my eyes widening in realisation. “The glass of water Marcel gave me!”
“That scheming rat bastard,” Finn swore.
“What? What is it?” Rita questioned.
“When we went to Indigo today, Tegan fell victim to a random coughing fit, and Marcel was conveniently there with a glass of water,” Finn said, his jaw working.
“But why would Marcel give her a lust potion?” Rita asked, confused.
“Probably because he wants to stir up trouble,” Finn muttered, raking a hand through his hair. “He knows we’ve made an alliance with the vampires and will do anything in his power to create conflict.”
Another wave of lust shot through me, and I groaned. This was so unbelievably embarrassing, especially with everyone standing around looking at me.
“How long is this going to last?” I asked Rita, feeling desperate.
“Usually a couple of days. There’s no antidote for a lust potion. You just have to wait it out. You’re sweating so profusely right now because your body is trying to expel it as quickly as possible.”
“Great. So, I’m basically going to be in heat for days?” I squirmed on the couch, my skin feeling too tight for my own body.
Finn got a weird, tense look on his face before he reached over and squeezed my hand. “You’re strong. You can handle it,” he assured me. “In the meantime, I’m going to pay Marcel another visit. I’ll get some of the boys down at the compound to come with me. The warlock needs to be schooled.”
I was surprised when Ethan gave him a nod of approval.
“Maybe you should go home, give my girl here some peace,” Rita suggested to Ethan. “Dee and Lucas have already left.”
Ethan frowned, cast me one last glance, then, without another word, exited the room. I instantly felt better once he was gone.
Rita went to get a damp cloth to put on my forehead, while Finn stayed with me. “This is my fault. I never should’ve taken you to Indigo.”
“Don’t beat yourself up. I’ve got a bad case of the vapours. It’ll pass. I’ve been through worse.”
A cheeky smile tugged at the edge of his mouth. “Well, if you need a helping hand to keep some of those urges in check—”
I cut him off with a slap on the shoulder. “Don’t even bother finishing that sentence,” I warned, and he chuckled.
Rita returned and placed the damp cloth on my forehead. “Thanks,” I said, shooting her a small smile. “I think I’ll take a bath. I need to wash off all this sweat.”
With that, I stood from the couch and made my way upstairs, trying not to drown in embarrassment that Rita, Finn, and Ethan had all witnessed me acting like a horned up lunatic.
4.
I spent over an hour in the bath, just sitting in the water and soothing my nerves and overworked hormones. When I finally managed to drag myself out, I changed into some PJs and crawled into bed. I fell asleep easily but was woken at two in the morning by shuffling noises outside.
Hurrying to my window, I peered out into the back garden. It took a moment for my sleepy eyes to adjust to the dark. Then I saw who was making the noise; Ethan, Lucas, and Dru were lugging crate loads of glass jars into the shed. What on earth?
I pulled on a long cardigan and made my way downstairs to investigate what they were up to. On my way down, I peeked in both Ira’s and Finn’s rooms, and both were fast asleep.