Euphoria surges through me at the thought we’ve done something good. We managed to free the girls without any hitches. Jared’s power seems limitless, and when I started to doubt that he could pull through, he simply grinned at me and told me it was a piece of cake. The girls who didn’t want to be part of the Belladonnas thanked us profusely as they left, freeing themselves from their chains.
Diamond is gone.
She left with the others after much convincing. There was no point in her lingering with Jared and me, as much as she wanted to convince herself she loved Jared. They don’t love each other. Of course not. They’ve barely known each other for an afternoon, and it was little more than a fling.
Just like how whatever I feel with my three captors is nothing but lust.
“Damn,” Jared says, brushing his fingers through his auburn hair. “She really did leave.”
“You’ll get over it.” I’m sitting in my temporary room, tracking Jared’s pacing. I can’t seem to keep still, because my legs keep shaking. There will be consequences for what we just did. I’m hoping Jared and I don’t get torn to shreds. I tried to convince him to leave, but he was insistent.
He slumps onto a couch. “My heart’s torn apart, Val.”
“It’s been torn apart so many times it’s a scientific wonder you’re still alive. You’re one to complain.” I give him an eye roll. “You’re the one breaking hearts left and right.”
“Hey, it’s for their own good. I’m just trying to find the perfect girl.” He peers longingly at the door. “Diamond might have been it.”
“Probably not.”
He shrugs. “Yeah, you’re right.”
“And to think Kylie’s interested in you,” I mutter.
“Kylie?” He raises a brow. “That chick who came to our house a few times? With pink hair almost like yours?”
“Mine’s lavender,” I remind him. I point to my head. He puts his arm behind me on the couch. There are better and more interesting places to sit—this is a strip club in Vegas, after all—but I like the peacefulness of this quaint room, only marred by the music from outside, which actually isn’t much. The peace is transient, though, because what we just did will start a shitstorm. “And I’m not letting you anywhere near her.”
“What if she’s the one?”
“There’s no such thing.” The three, maybe. I snort at my lame internal joke.
“C’mon, you have to help your brother out.”
“At what? Getting laid? You’re plenty good at that.”
“Finding love.”
“The only thing that’s finding love is your penis. Not your heart.”
He fakes a sour expression. “Ouch, sis, you’ve gotta—”
A loud bang sounds from across us, and the entrance swings open. Xeres stands in the doorway, looking enraged. His eyes look different… red around the tear ducts. Vickal and Sylver are behind him, and they don’t look happy either.
Uh oh.
I stand up. My pulse begins an erratic rhythm. I ask it to calm down, but it’s being stubborn, just like I am, and isn’t keen on listening.
“What did you do?” Xeres asks. His eyes shift to black. My heart sinks to my stomach. I don’t want to be afraid, but primal instincts kick in, and suddenly I worry about being eaten alive. Though I’m more concerned about Jared. I encouraged him to free the girls, but he was the one who carried out the deed.
My mind runs around in circles, trying to find a way out, but Xeres has me ensnared in his stupid compulsion spell.
Jared phases—the lovable prick is getting good at his powers—but Vickal and Sylver catch him where he reappears.
“Take him someplace safe,” Xeres orders them.
“And Valerie?” Sylver asks. Jared’s struggling against his grip. I thought my brother was strong, but he’s nothing against these demons.
“I need a word with her.”
They move off, and the door clicks behind them. I’m staring at the door and trying to tamp down my panic. They’re not going to hurt Jared. Jared’s their cipher. They’re supposed to keep him safe, and I’m worrying for nothing.
Right?
Xeres returns his gaze to me. His eyes are now completely black, and there’s no hint of the gorgeous, smoky-ash color that normally enraptures me. He’s completely predator. A growl vibrates from his throat. “It was your idea, wasn’t it?”
Jared and Diamond were responsible for the idea, but I don’t want to dig my brother into deeper trouble, so I keep the truth to myself. “What makes you think that?”
“When it comes to your brother and you, you’re the one leading things. The one with the tricks up her sleeve.”
I shrug.
His body slams against me. I sound an oof as he pushes me up against a tiled wall. The tiles are cool against my back, contrasting starkly with the warmth of Xeres’s torso. His chiseled form presses against mine, and it feels too good. It’s wrong.
He tilts my chin up. “You think this is a joke?”
“No,” I say. My voice comes out breathier than I expected. “Calm down. What’s wrong with you? You sound… different.”
“We’re at war, dear kitty cat. The orb has respawned, which means it’s a free-for-all between angels and demons. The realm war is just beginning. The angels are at our throats. And the other demons are stupid enough to try to overthrow us as well. Those girls were the pawns we needed to win. Do you understand?”
“They’re not your pawns.” Frustration prickles my skin. I hate this man, but my body refuses to behave. One part of me wants to throw my fist in his face, but the other, controlled by feminine urges, wants me to pull his lips to mine. I’m still looking at the door, wanting to go to Jared. But Xeres is being a tad distracting here. He’s feral. Hungry. His scent, normally luscious yet sweet, now carries a heady edge.
His eyes narrow. They’re still black—two empty pits that suck me in. “They were. And now you’ve stolen them from me. Vickal and Sylver are going to try to get them back, and maybe Bella won’t be too pissed off.”
“Don’t.” I shake my head. “Don’t force them back here.” Their eyes were so bright, and their expressions so filled with hope when they left. I don’t want to imagine how they’d look like if that hope is brutally torn from them.
Xeres draws back his upper lip, revealing a canine. At first, I think he’s disgusted with me. I’m wondering what he’s thinking when he forces my chin up even higher and pushes his tongue into me.
My breath catches in my throat.
This man has to be fucking bipolar, because I thought he was supposed to be angry. He cups my ass with his rough hand and pulls me closer to him. I grab his shoulders. Just like with everything else he does, he exudes dominance, and even in the throes of lust, he wants to win.
Fire lights in me, and I accept his warmth, even though I should be thrashing and yelling and pushing him away. But he’s too much because of his assertiveness and how he simply takes. So overbearing that I can’t help but give in.
He draws his head back, letting the cool air slip between us. I want more.
“Xeres,” I whisper.
“You’ve been disobedient,” he says.
“I’m not yours to command.”
“You are. Everyone is.”
Ziiip.
He pulls my jeans down. There’s no gentleness in his touch. My stomach churns as it tries to fight against the knot that’s building inside it.
“Wh-what are you doing?”
He fiddles with my jeans and tugs them down. “You’ve pissed me off, Val… You… Fuck. Maybe it’s the drug that’s making me this… Uncontrollable. Sylver was right.”
“Drug?”
There’s no warning, no sign. One minute, I hear questions ringing in my ears. The next, his cock is pressed against my center, throbbing, pulsing, hard and fully erect against my folds. He positions it there, not entering. I think he’s trying to torture me.
“I want you,” he says. “I’ve wanted you since I laid eyes on you.” The blackness retreats from his eyes, and his human side returns.
“The contract?” I grip him tighter. I steady myself with his shoulders and move my hips in tandem with his. I hate him. I’m supposed to. But my body doesn’t listen.
“Fuck the contract.”
My chest hurts, but my center aches even more. To agree or not? I remember how I gave in, acted on my need for them earlier. I bite my lower lip and want to reject him. I harden myself to his advances, but my mind blanks.
I take too long to respond. Xeres grows impatient. He buries his face in my neck and nips me there. Pain pinches my skin, but excitement and pleasure immediately replace it. I arch my spine and let out a raspy breath.
That’s when he dives into my folds. He’s long and thick and all I could ever ask for. He spreads me apart and lifts one of my legs so I’m more accessible to him, and I let him do as he pleases, because I’m putty in his hands.
The music of the strip club continues to drum away in the background. It’s a fast beat, but Xeres is faster, and he ravages me with his cock, going deeper with each thrust.
“Fuck, Val, fuck, fuck, fuck.”
I bite my lower lip and grip him so tightly that I don’t know if I’m going to make my mouth or nails bleed. Intensity shoots up my body, turning my mind into liquid.
“Yesss,” I hiss.
“I thought you’d feel good, but I didn’t imagine this.” He’s propping my thighs up with his arms. His fingers dig into my flesh, perhaps forming bruises, but that doesn’t bother me. What I care about is how his cock is filling me, and how hard yet comforting his body feels against mine. I’m afraid I’m ruined forever, because Xeres is the forbidden fruit, and I’ve just taken a bite. A large, delectable one that’s too much for me to swallow.
Sleeping with the enemy shouldn’t feel this good.
“I hate you,” I tell him. “I…I hate you so much.” I continue to whisper my mantra as he pushes in over and over and forces me close to the edge.
“That doesn’t matter.” His voice is just as throaty as mine. Knowing that he’s as affected by our fucking as I am makes my heart throb faster. “It doesn’t. You won’t eventually. You won’t because I want otherwise, and I always. Get. What. I. Want.” He punctuates each word with a merciless pounding. My skin crawls because I feel violated, but it’s not like when the customers in Club Sin looked at me. I feel violated because I shouldn’t be enjoying this so much.
A hard slap hits my ass. Then another. He’s fucking and slapping and shoving me against the wall. He doesn’t kiss me anymore. I get the feeling that he’s just using me for release. I tell myself that I’m just using him for the same, that there’s no emotion in this. Just pure, unadulterated fucking where cock meets pussy, and that’s all there is to it.
Then why do I feel scared?
We’re not close to release yet. It’s on the distant horizon. I gyrate my hips against his to try to find it, but it’s not coming as fast as I want it to.
And despite how far away it is, Xeres slides out of me.
I want to beg. I hold my tongue between my teeth, stifling myself. He’s gone too soon, as quickly as he entered, and there’s now a gaping emptiness at my center, dripping wet and needing to be filled once more.
His eyes are intense as he studies me through his long fringe.
“What is it?” I ask, hoping I don’t sound too meek.
“Bella. I hear her coming. Dress up. We need to go.”
“We should have left earlier,” I say, as some semblance of logic trickles back. I press my thighs together because I’m still throbbing with need. What he’s doing to me is torture. Maybe he planned this punishment. If so, it’s working.
“Yeah, we should have,” he says. He brushes his hair back with his large, coarse hands, but it falls back into place. “But you were too fucking hot. And I’m… altered.”
A traitorous blush creeps up my cheeks. I quickly adjust my underwear, sliding it up, and fiddle with the zipper of my jeans. Xeres takes care of his clothes, too, but his stare doesn’t let up as he works with his jeans.
In fact, he’s quite shameless about staring. He lets his eyes fall to my boobs, and they linger there for too long. I have an urge to slap him.
After we make haste to tidy ourselves, he catches me in an embrace and we phase a couple times. We reach the end of a corridor. An exit sign hangs above the door in front of us.
Xeres holds me to phase one more time. Bella’s rushing to us from a distance, her black, cascading hair still framing her ridiculously beautiful face. That face is now tainted with an expression of pure anger.
Xeres starts, “Bella, I thought we ought to talk—”
Something pierces my throat.
“Val!”
Shit. What was that? It hurt. I’m numb for a second, before giddiness rushes through my skull and takes me in a wave.
Pain. Throbbing. Numbness.
I place my hand on my throat, where whatever it was hit me. “What… just…”
It’s difficult to keep my eyes open. My head is too heavy, and it slumps against Xeres’s shoulder. I breathe out a soft sigh. I should stay awake. We have to run…
But I let myself slip away. It’s a challenge to stay conscious. It’s easier to give in.
I think I sense Xeres phase again, but I’m too lost in the darkness to know for sure.