Calix balled his hands into tight fists against the binds, staring through the dim light of his room at nothing in particular. His mind sought to tug him into the vault where his darkest memories awaited him. Body shaking with the effort of holding on to his consciousness, he slammed his eyes shut and willed happy thoughts to arrive, ones that might weaken the hold of those threatening to pull him under.

Months ago, when he’d sat at the bar with his brothers, laughing and drinking Elysia as they lightheartedly bantered Zeke about one of his bat-shit exes.

Lying underneath the stars with Ava, sweat coating their naked bodies after he’d laid his claim to her.

Please. Anything to peel his mind from the dark cloud that loomed at the back of his head.

A pang of hunger struck his stomach, and a flash of Calix, lying against the cement floor with the blood-stained burlap draped across his groin and his arms tethered to the wall, slid behind his eyes.

He winced and recoiled, tugging the chains that bound him in reality.

No, no, no.

The screams of his sister pierced his thoughts and Calix slammed his head back into the pillows, eyes clamped as he whipped his head back and forth.

“You hear that sound, love?” The female’s voice had been programmed to incite him, evident in the hardening of his muscles. “The male who’s taken your sister loves watching her bleed.”

“Why are you doing this?” The panic in Calix’s chest had weakened his voice.

“You’re a dirty mutt, Calix. Filthy scum of the underworld. And you’re an incubus. A slave.”

“Please. Let us go. We won’t say a word about this.” Calix knew his pleas would fall on deaf ears, but he was desperate to save his sister, yet far too frail to fight.

“My mate is a prominent figure. Letting you go would destroy his reputation.”

“I won’t say a word! By gods, I swear!”

Kicking her head back, she let loose a mirthless laugh that bounced off the empty walls. “No, no, Calix. You will feed my sexual desires, ones my husband wouldn’t dream of entertaining. That is your lot in life. The sooner you accept this, the more you’ll come to enjoy my hands on your body. Whether it’s a hard slap, or a kind caress.”

A stroke of Calix’s hard cock alerted him to the pangs of starvation roiling in his gut, and he arched off the ground with an outcry.

“You’re starving. So fucking hungry. And hard.” Leaning down, she tongued the tip of his dick, teasing the small bit of pre-cum that leaked from the head as she sucked him.

The sensation tightened his stomach with a wave of nauseating pleasure, and he hated himself for enjoying it. For craving the fullness of her lips, taking him to the hilt.

“Such a beautiful cock you have, Calix. I could suck you for days.”

At the release of her grip, hot jolts of pain needled his stomach like the stab of a knife. “Fuck!”

“Yes, it’s nearly time for that. And I have a surprise.” Lips to his ear, she nipped his lobe with her teeth and whispered, “A female. Taken as a slave by a gang of incubi. For weeks, they had their way with her. Tormented her. Kept her prisoner. Starved her. And nearly left her for dead. I lied and told her that I had a brother of one of her captors locked in my dungeon. She can’t wait to meet you.”

“Why do you hate us? Why do you do these things to us?”

“Because I can.” The white of her teeth glowed in the dim light of the room as she smiled, taunting Calix’s fists to knock her back on her ass. “I enjoy watching you suffer.”

“I’ll drain this female. You’ll bear witness to her murder.”

Another laugh rattled his skull, and when her finger stroked his cheek, his lip peeled back in disgust. “Silly boy. You can’t drain a succubus.”

Flames tore through his veins as the hunger made itself known. The salve had worn off, and Calix needed another fix.

Arms stretched above his head, he curled his body into the angry lash of pain and thrust his hips into the air, while his rock-hard erection pressed against his pants. He writhed atop the mattress, needing to bury his dick so deep, he’d sleep like the dead after. Not even the luxurious silk of his sheets could abate the tension that held his body so goddamn stiff he could hardly move.

A mouthwatering scent drifted across his face, and Calix wanted to lick the air, to swallow the smell of Ava, to consume her. He flipped to his stomach, arms crossed over each other, burying his face into her pillow, and moaned at the delicious taste of her that filled his mind.

So fucking good.

He rolled his hips, dry fucking the bed, imagining her small body beneath him.

He needed her. Gods, he needed her.

Not having her sparked a rage inside of him that had his hips slamming harder, his lip peeled back into a snarl.

“Fucking mine!”

Visuals filtered in, of Xander’s hands fondling her tits, his tongue in her mouth while he kept his eyes on Calix, watching his reaction. Taunting him. The fury twisted in his gut, and the roar that cracked from his chest would’ve been the only warning before he snapped the fucker’s neck.

Mine.

He dragged his hips against the sheets, savoring the friction against his cock, but it provided no relief. Only Ava could do that for him, and she’d left him alone. Chained to a fucking bed to suffer.

Light filtered into his room, and Calix lifted his head toward the opened door.

Ava stood in the center of it, her willowy silhouette calling out to him like a siren. Something inside of him snapped at the sight of her, and as much as Calix fought his mind to stay put, he felt himself beating the chains like a caged animal. He flipped onto his back, his dick harder than even moments ago and tenting his pants like a flagpole.

“Ava! Get out of here.”

“No, Calix.” Her stepping inside the room shot bullets of excitement down his spine, and more of his willpower slipped as he slid against the bed. “I want to help you.”

She lifted a key where he could see it and a stab of panic struck his chest.

“No!”

“Yes,” she argued, and the click told him she’d set his hands free, hovering dangerously close, and as she unlocked the second bind, her sweet smell wafted past him, hitting his senses like a potent drug.

A scratchy, hazy cloud blanketed his skull like static and all sound muted to silence. He shook his head and beat at his ear, and when he lifted his gaze, Ava stood beside the bed, staring down at him.

Her eyes were wide and brimming with desire. “Take me, Calix.”

“You’re telling me what I want to hear.” The cloud slipped behind his eyes as he clamped them shut, the sound filtering in and muting to silence, before pulsing through his skull again. “Go. Please.” He shot up from the bed, nabbing her elbow on his way toward the door.

Christ, he’d only have his senses a few more minutes, and then she’d be in deep shit.

So would he.

“No.” She snapped her arm from his grasp. “I want you. Take from me, Calix.”

No, no. Stop. Gods, stop!

A demonic chant, the ancient charm of the incubi, rattled inside his skull, and Calix screwed his lips shut to keep from speaking the words that would seal Ava’s fate. The sounds grew louder, though, overpowering his desperate implorations for her to keep her distance.

“I’m charming you. I don’t even know it, because I can’t hear what I’m saying to you.”

“You’ve not charmed me.” Ava’s voice held a touch of amusement, and she stroked a hand down his arm.

His lids flipped open again, taking in her serious expression as she stared back without a hint of vacancy that would suggest she were in in a trance.

“The Sang virus, or whatever the hell it is, it can’t hurt you, Calix. I know that now.”

“It’s not me I’m worried about right now, Ava. It’s you.”

Her hand held his face and the satin touch of her skin had his fists clenched tight, for fear he’d take her to the floor and rip her panties off right then.

“Please, don’t.” Gods, if she knew he held himself with the strength of a thousand oxen, she wouldn’t dare tempt him that way.

“Shhhh.” She pressed her lips to his temple, and Calix could sense the pulse at her throat, the very essence of life, of her fragile human half that he longed to feed upon. “I’m going to take care of you.”

“I can’t let you do this.”

“I won’t let you starve.”

Before he could utter so much as a whimper of protest, that warm satin skin wrapped around his length as she stuffed her hands down his pants, and Calix’s eyes rolled back at the pleasure of her touch.

“You’re going to charm me. And I’m going to let you. I want you to use me. Make me your whore. Your lover. Whatever you need me to be. I want you to fuck me, Calix, and don’t stop until you’ve had your fill.”

“No.” The tension snapped inside of him, and with a curl of his lip, Calix gripped her hair, yanking her head back. “You’ll regret this.”

Chin held to an angle of defiance, her lip quirked. “I won’t.”

Something dark and wicked rose from Calix’s gut. As if those two words unlocked a beastly shadow hidden deep inside of him. “Ava, once you open this door, I can’t stop it. I won’t have the strength to overcome the hunger.”

“I don’t want you to stop.” She stepped closer, her sweet breath fanning his skin, heating his desire. “Use me. I want this.”

Calix gripped the collar of her T-shirt with both hands and split the fabric down the middle. A shudder of excitement zipped up his spine as her tits bounced with his roughness. His thumbs circled both nipples, and he licked his lips as they puckered beneath his skin.

He tugged at her nipples, reveling in the sight of her head tipped back, mouth gaping, just begging to be filled.

“Gods, Calix. I’ve waited so long for this.”

“And when I’m finished, you’ll wish you’d have waited long—” An intense knot hit just above his groin, and Calix chuffed a grunt, the tight squint of his eyes shutting Ava off from his view. Flames shot through his veins, every muscle burning with the effort of keeping himself under control.

Ava pinned beneath him, sweat pouring off his body, as she lay nearly comatose. Used. Exhausted.

He held the heel of his palm at his temple, rubbing the ache there as he mentally willed those images away. Fucking stop. Please. Not Ava.

The monster inside of him craved her, though, so much that it forced a grin on Calix’s face, just thinking of her body beneath him. Helpless.

Trapped, for days.

“Calix? Are you okay?” The softness of her fingers drifting down his arm tingled all the way to his damn bones, rattling and teasing the beast.

“No, Ava. I’m not okay.” Scooping her legs out from under her, Calix lifted her into his arms and tossed her onto the bed, his eyes glued to the jostling of her tits. The hunger blinded him for anything but her body. He wanted to ravage her, bury his dick so deep inside of her, she’d scream.

Peeling out of his clothes, he didn’t bother to look at anything else in the room. The singular objective of getting inside of her had him kicking his clothes away from his feverishly warm body, while pulses of tension wound tight through his groin, the pain like a war drum in his muscles.

The misery of his hard-on brought his attention down to the bastard, sticking up completely erect, and Calix grabbed up his fallen jeans, tugging the belt free. He folded the thin leather and held it to her mouth. “You’re gonna need this.”

Pushing up onto her elbows, Ava shot him a quick glance before dropping her jaw, and allowing him slide it between her lips, she bit down.

Gripping her hips, he flipped her over onto her hands and knees, grinning at her muffled gasp. A bastard evil had risen to the surface, and all that he was, all that he cared about dissolved to nothing more than plunging his dick into something warm.

Calix kept himself on the brink of insanity as he tugged the briefs she’d borrowed down over her ass, before a harsh yank tore the bastards to shreds, unveiling her perfect ass. Tossing the tattered fabric aside, a tingle hit the back of his jaw at the site of her perfect flesh that begged to be bitten, and he shivered, every muscle flexed and ready to feed.

With rough hands, he licked his lips and skimmed his palms over those plump cheeks, spreading her apart to reveal both holes he’d be taking pleasure in before night’s end.

Take her. Fuck her.

“Grip the bars.” The husky tone of his voice reflected his desperation.

The moment her fingers curled around the bars of his headboard, Calix scrambled to his knees behind her and lined his tip at her tight entrance. Guiding his dick inside, he tipped his head back with the motherfucking relief that swallowed him. He held himself there for a moment, his eyes closing as he savored the second’s worth of calm before all hell would break loose.

And without apology, he plowed into her, pushing past her natural urge to resist him.

Around the leather clenched between her teeth, Ava cried out, but not even that would stop him. Nothing could stop him.

Calix didn’t even feel himself at that moment, but like a starved animal feeding on a delectable cut of fresh meat. Carnal. Ruthless. Prepared to devour her until she was nothing but a pile of soft bones that he’d lick as a reminder of his savagery.

Holding tight to her hips, he curled his fingers over her small waist and fed his cock in and out of her, the wet slide of her pussy making his knees damn near buckle beneath him.

His muscles buzzed with excitement. The exhaustion of before fizzled into the exhilaration of renewed strength. He could feel his body energizing, becoming more virile with every drive of his hips.

Don’t stop. Feed. The beast beseeched him, reveling in the heat and scent of her body. The sweet vanilla of her skin mingled with the heady scent of arousal and called to his instincts.

Ava’s pussy contracted around him, drawing him deeper inside of her, and the tiny vibrations exploded into a full-blown twitch and arch of her back.

“Oh, Gods!” She screamed out the last of her orgasm, and still he kept on, ignoring it.

As the wet spurt of her arousal slickened his thrusts, his grip of her arms tightened.

The sting of his fangs told him he could claim her. Bite the hell out of her throat and anesthetize her.

He wouldn’t, though.

Calix would get his fill of her.

All night.

“Fuck, that’s a good girl, Ava.” He rested his head against her spine, hips jackhammering into her thighs. “You’re mine. No one else touches you.”

She cried out, taking each slam from behind.

His muscles tightened, stomach tensed with the impending blast of ecstasy. More. More. More. The beast demanded inside his head, forcing him to hold out until every muscle in Calix’s body trembled, ready to snap.

The tingle climbed up his spine, shooting straight to the back of his head, and exploded.

“Motherfuck—!”

Stars danced in his eyes like he’d breached the heavens, while supernovas burst all over his body, tingling his limbs.

The relief. Sweet goddamn relief bathed his muscles as he unleashed months of pent-up frustration.

“Calix! Oh, Gods!”

He’d climaxed for the first time inside of a female. His female.

And he couldn’t stop.

Still pumping in and out of her, Calix continued to feed his craving.

From the depths of his body, a quiet whisper of words passed his lips, and he watched with awe as Ava’s head slowly rolled against the pillow, her body arched upward, knuckles white as they held the bars of the bed.

She moved and undulated in a seductive roll of her hips with every thrust, finding a rhythm through the pain, meeting him for every violent drive of his hips.

The sound of her wetness watered his mouth, and as she moaned her pleasure, he upped the pace, accumulating more sweat that damn near sizzled across his skin.

Fangs still in place, he stared at the back of her neck. It begged to be marred, claimed. Calix needed to sate the hunger. He needed to calm the fire burning inside of him that craved more of her. All of her.

Every fiber of his being taunted him. Mine.

He needed distraction, or he’d risk doing something without her permission.

His muscles damn near screamed when he slowed the pace of his hips to a lazy roll that produced a long droning moan from Ava.

She reached between her legs, fingers brushing over his balls, and the way she bounced into him told Calix her body craved fast and hard as much as he did, desperately searching for another orgasm.

As Calix drove into Ava from behind, he caught the curl of her fingers gripping tight to the sheets. Closing his eyes, he savored the stricture of her tight pussy, and groaned at the way she tilted her hips, taking him deeper. The silky walls welcomed his cock, while her ass bore the bruising clench of his fingers. Calix upped the pace again, and allowed himself to fall forward against her back. He gripped both of her wrists and held tight, locking her small frame in a cage beneath him as he pounded into her.

The beast inside of him broke free on a possessive growl, and Calix snarled with every glide. It wanted more. More. Faster. Harder.

The red clouded his eyes while he continued to rut against her, ignoring the mewling cries that died into the cotton of the pillow below her.

Take. Take more.