Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen

FERN

Relic smiled and chatted with people as he served drinks, and there was no missing the way the female population of this room reacted to him. Lust. All the lust. Females touched his arm and looked up at him with awe. I saw several slide napkins to him with their numbers, and then I watched him toss them in the trash when they weren’t looking.

“You need anything?” he asked me when he was at my end of the bar.

“I’m good, thanks.”

He asked me that every time he was down here—always checking I was okay, that I had a drink, that no one was hassling me. I was starting to think that perhaps Relic really was a good guy, and that made me feel kind of like shit. I was also feeling a lot calmer. My anxiety had been through the roof, not just from coming in here, there was also the break in, and because of that, my emotions had been getting the best of me. Then, his alpha had eyeballed me across the bar, and I almost peed myself. No, he hadn’t done or said anything threatening, but he didn’t have to. That healthy fear of hellhounds, built into my DNA, had wailed in my skull, telling me to run. Yes, I’d gotten used to Relic, but the other hounds were another story completely. So I’d done the only thing that would help: I’d taken a small shot of my “courage” potion when no one was looking. I’d pay for it later, but there were too many predators in this room, not only hounds but wolves, and I’d even seen a couple of crows in the corner—a breed you did not ever want to draw attention from. I sure as fuck didn’t want any of these beings sensing my weakened emotional state.

“Hungry?” Relic asked, and his gaze dipped to my mouth.

“Nope,” I lied.

There was a gnawing in my gut that was constant now, and it wasn’t for food. I needed blood. Exhaustion had settled in my bones in a way it never had before. I hadn’t been able to get off the couch all day today and it hadn’t just been about the rage and sadness I was feeling over losing nearly all of my worldly possessions—and I now knew there was only one thing that would cure it.

“So, I’m curious. Why do you work here? You guys own it, right? Why not just hire more people?”

“I’m not too good to work the bar, Fern. Plus, I like it. When we first left Hell and set up the clubhouse, then the garage and this bar, we had no choice but to work them ourselves. We got to know the people in this town. Good people—humans, not just others. So, we all still like to do the occasional shift and hang out.”

That kind of surprised me. “And I guess it’s a good way for you all to hit on females,” I said, my curiosity getting the better of me.

He frowned a little. “Sure.”

His big hands rested on the bar, and I had the crazy urge to slide my hand over his, to feel his rough skin, his warmth. Nope, that was not the kind of courage I wanted from my potion.

“It’s also a good way to hear what’s happening in the city, to keep tabs on things,” he added.

“You seem pretty popular,” I said, unable to help myself. I subtly motioned to a human down the bar, watching him. “I wouldn’t turn your back on that one. She’s barely looked away from you since she walked in.”

Relic glanced over his shoulder and frowned, then grunted when she perked up, her smile widening as she waved enthusiastically. He turned back to me. “Fixed her car a few days ago. When she picked it up, she asked me out.”

He was watching me closely, and that weird feeling filled me again—that tug in my chest. “So, you’re dating her?”

Relic frowned. “Fuck no. Turned her down.”

I winked. “Well, don’t look now because she’s headed this way.”

“Fuck,” he muttered.

She tapped his arm. “Relic?”

The sudden urge to grab that finger and snap it off hit me from out of nowhere.

He turned. “Hey, uh …”

“Bethany.” She giggled, her eyes sliced to me and narrowed before going back to Relic. “You said you were busy, so I thought I’d come here to see you instead.”

“I see that,” he said. “I’m working right now.”

Her gaze slid back to me, then up at Relic. “You have time to talk to her.”

Relic’s head jerked back, and his expression hardened. “Said I’m busy, and I’m busy. I also don’t owe you an explanation—”

“No, I just mean, you said you were busy, but I’ve been watching you, and you’ve been talking to that girl all night. So, maybe you do have time for me after all.” She licked her lips. “Just tell her to leave.”

“No,” he said to her.

“I don’t like people playing games—that’s all. Tell the girl to leave, and you can come home with me later.”

She looked at me again. When her eyes met mine, fear filled them instantly. Humans could sense darkness, danger. My rage spiked, and it was a struggle to stop my eyes from turning red. I didn’t know why, but I was barely holding myself back. Unfortunately, her horniness was overriding any sense of self-preservation, and she pressed her hand to his chest.

I gripped the edge of the bar when the urge to leap over there and scratch her fucking face off slammed into me—hard.

Relic swiped her hand away. “I didn’t fucking say you could touch me. And as for games? I’m not playing games with you, female. I don’t know you. I tried to let you down easy, but now, I see that isn’t going to work. Not interested. Don’t want to go out or hang, and I sure as hell don’t want to fuck you.”

“I gave you my number,” she said as if that actually meant something.

“And I tossed it as soon as you walked out of the shop.” He crossed his arms. “Time to leave.”

“But, Relic—”

“Best you find a new garage as well.”

Her face crumpled, and she ran from the bar.

Relic shook his head, looking pissed off and kind of bewildered.

I sat there, fighting the feelings swirling inside me, feelings I should not be having. I was irrationally angry, and my skin was hot and tight.

What the hell was wrong with me? Relic was an extremely handsome male—I got that—but I wasn’t interested in him, right? I was just confused because of the whole owning-his-soul thing, because he made me feel safe, and I was mixing that all up in my head with something else, something that wasn’t real. And, okay, waking up, draped all over him, wasn’t helping; it was creating this illusion of closeness that didn’t exist. I’d never had any kind of closeness with someone—ever—so I didn’t know what to do with it. I was confused. I was just really fucking confused.

Hunger gripped my stomach tighter, and heat hit my face. I quickly slid off my seat.

“Where are you going?” he asked, eyeing me in a way that I didn’t like, as if he could see deep inside me.

“Bathroom.” Then, I took off before he could round the bar and insist he come with me.

I rushed down the short hall and into the restroom, and as soon as the door shut behind me, silence engulfed the small space like a heavy blanket. I locked myself in a stall and tried to calm my racing heart. The hunger wouldn’t subside though. In fact, the silence was making it worse.

I finished up and washed my hands. Then, through the stillness, a heartbeat—no, two—reached out to me, pounding through my skull. I shook my head, trying to get it to stop.

Why was this happening to me now?

Drawn to those throbbing pulses, I walked back out to the hall and froze when a moan somehow reached me over the loud music and voices out in the bar, as if my senses had zeroed in on the owners of those heartbeats. Instead of going back to the bar, like I should, I followed the sounds of pleasure farther down the hall.

A door was ajar, and I looked through the inch-wide gap. An office. A female was sitting on the desk. She was bare from the waist down, and I recognized the auburn hair of the male crouched in front of her. The hound I’d first met when we got here—Fender. His large hands were gripping her hips, his face buried between her legs. His growls of enjoyment and her cries of pleasure started a deep throb inside me.

I felt out of control, dirty, afraid, and so incredibly turned on that I had to squeeze my thighs together. Fender snarled, and the female fell back, arching against the desk, trembling uncontrollably. The oxygen punched from my lungs when a vision of Relic and me doing what they were doing filled my head. I swallowed thickly.

No.

Nausea tried to creep in, but the hunger inside me shoved it back.

I spun away, rushing back to the bar. The thud of heartbeats, of blood pumping through veins, bombarded me. My gaze darted around the room. I felt cornered, terrified of the deep hunger inside me, gnawing in my gut and throbbing between my thighs.

I didn’t know myself at that moment. I didn’t know my own mind or my body.

Gasping in a breath, I looked over at the bar and locked eyes with Relic. He was already rounding it, heading for me. My hands came up all on their own, warding him off. I was afraid of what I’d do or say, of my own thoughts and feelings.

One of the wolves howled suddenly, and then someone was tossed across the bar. With a snarl, they jumped up and ran back. The thud of bodies colliding and fists hitting flesh came next, and the room broke out into chaos. The scent of blood saturated the room, and my mind spun, my fangs tingling. Terror washed through me as my hunger deepened, yawning wider. I felt my eyes change, and I tried to change them back, but I couldn’t stop it.

“Fern,” a rough voice barked.

I looked up, and Relic was staring down at me. He saw my eyes and cursed. He snatched me off my feet when another body went flying across the room and all but tossed me over his shoulder. The hounds were wading in, breaking things up, but Relic strode through the crowd, knocking people out of his way like bowling pins as he went, heading for the exit.

Clamping my eyes closed to hide them, I waited until I felt the cool night air hit my face before I dared open them again. Relic kept walking until we hit the parking lot, but he didn’t walk into the clubhouse. He carried me around the side of the garage, where it was dark and quiet. Then, finally, he eased me down his front, putting me back on my feet.

My back was to the wall, and he was crowding me, not touching me, not anymore, but he was close enough that I could feel the heat radiating from his body, making my already-hot flesh burn.

“What are you doing?”

“You were scared, Tinker Bell. Thought you might need some fresh air.”

And he knew I hated being below ground, so he’d brought me here.

“Thank you.”

“It’s my job, remember?” he said low—so low that goose bumps rose all over me.

His job because I’d forced him to do it, to be with me.

“Right.”

“You’re shaking,” he said in that extremely rough voice. “You need soothing?”

I knew he was here with me now because he had no other choice, but I did need that. I really fucking did, no matter how dangerous it felt for so many reasons.

“Yes, I think I do.”

He moved closer, just the tiniest bit, and my mouth watered, and my pussy ached, and my vision sharpened.

His massive chest expanded, and his nostrils flared. “You’re the boss, Fern. Tell me what you need, and I’m here to obey.”

He could smell how turned on I was—he was a hound, so there was no way he couldn’t—but I was too lost in the turbulent feelings running through my body to care.

“I’m yours to command,” he said when I didn’t answer right away.

His declaration was like a slap in the face. I was starved, turned on in a way I never had been in my life, but I would never take advantage of the power I held over him. I knew what that felt like—I’d experienced it over and over again—and I’d never do that to someone else.

“I want to go home,” I choked out past my scratchy, tight throat. “I’m tired. I don’t want to be here anymore.”

His golden eyes studied mine, and then slowly, he nodded. “You can’t go home, baby—you know that.” Then he took my hand and led me to the clubhouse.

By the time we reached his room, I was trembling. The sound of blood pumping through his veins had me salivating, and his … sweet Lucifer, his scent was making me hot and trembly, and that ache between my thighs wasn’t going away—no, it was only intensifying.

I rushed to the bathroom and shut the door.

“Fern?” Relic called through the wooden barrier between us, and that deep, growly voice only made the ache, the need, worse.

“Don’t come in. I’m getting in the shower.”

I turned on the water, then all but tore off my clothes. My skin was too hot—fuck, it burned. The throb between my legs didn’t ache anymore; it hurt so bad that I whimpered. I stepped under the cold spray, but it did nothing to cool me down. My potion had all but worn off, and it sure as hell wasn’t helping the out-of-control feelings building inside me.

My hand went between my thighs, and I pressed my palm against my aching flesh. I normally avoided this for more than one reason, but right now, there was no way I could ignore the need pounding through me, distract myself, or exercise until I passed out—not this time. Resting my forehead against the shower wall, I spread my pussy with one hand and worked my clit with the other. Usually, I kept my eyes open so memories didn’t invade my mind, but this time, I let them drift closed. I tried to think about Fender and that female and the things they had been doing, but no matter how hard I tried not to think about Relic, that was who kept invading my mind. It wasn’t Fender on his knees; it was Relic. It wasn’t some random female sitting on the desk; it was me—my thighs held wide, my pussy being licked and sucked.

I bit my lip and tried to hold back my moan so Relic wouldn’t hear when the first orgasm quickly rolled through me, making me shudder and turning my knees to jelly. I cupped myself but stopped rubbing. I kept the images playing through my head, letting my need build once more. My sensitive clit needed to recover for a moment before I carried on. Finally, slowly, I began again, building myself back up until I was panting, rocking my hips, imagining Relic behind me, slamming into me, his mouth at my ear, his growls rumbling through his chest, vibrating through me. I whimpered, gasping for air, so I didn’t cry out when I came a second time.

Breathing heavily, I did what I had before, cupped myself without pressure, allowing images of Relic to fill my head because it was the only thing that worked. I knew it was dangerous to think about him like that, but I couldn’t stop now. I started again, building back up, but the familiar panicky feeling filled me as I rubbed my clit, trying to get there again.

I was sweaty, hot, desperately trying to come, but I couldn’t.

Just wait. Give it a few minutes, then try again.

I worked at slowing my breathing, at forcing down the panic.

Two more. Just two more, then you can sleep .

I started again, gently circling my clit, but it was extremely sensitive, and it wasn’t working. Nothing was working.

I shook harder. I just had to wait a bit longer.

Self-loathing filled me, followed by shame.

What the fuck is wrong with you?

Angry tears welled in my eyes as I tried again, until I felt raw and it hurt. I covered my pussy with a washcloth and tried again over the top of it, but it wasn’t fucking working.

You stupid fucking bitch. Now, look what you did. You couldn’t just not touch yourself? Are you that much of a slut that you couldn’t just not play with yourself? Dirty fucking whore.

A sob burst from me, and I collapsed on the shower floor, still rubbing my now-stinging flesh.

Two more times. Two more times. Then, everything will be okay, and nothing bad will happen. You fucking idiot. You dumb bitch.

The bathroom door opened.

“Fern?”

I didn’t stop, lost to my compulsion, ruled by it, even more now than usual. The potion hangover was already setting in and making everything worse.

“Get out,” I shrieked.

The door to the shower opened. One moment, I was on the floor, sobbing and masturbating like a psychopath, and the next, I was in Relic’s arms, and he was carrying me out of the bathroom.

“Put me down,” I wailed. “I can’t … I have to … I need to …” I whimpered.

He lay me on the bed, and I scrambled up the mattress, my back against the wall, sweating and naked and flustered, while I rubbed at myself like a fucking twisted whore.

“Talk to me, Fern,” Relic said, an unreadable look on his face. Not scorn or disgust, just blank.

Thank fuck, he barely had any emotions. I couldn’t bear to see those things on his face right then.

“I have to come. I’ve only come twice. I need to do it two more times, and I … I can’t do it. I can’t.”

He nodded slowly. “Okay, baby. We’ll get you there. Stop rubbing, okay? Right now, you’re hurting yourself, and you’re not going to get off when you’re hurting.”

His calm voice slid through me, over me. Somehow, the panic receded, but the shame grew because there was no stopping now.

“Don’t look at me,” I choked out.

“You got it, Tinker Bell.” He turned away. “You got some toys, babe? Something that vibrates?”

I shook my head, then realized he couldn’t see me. “No. I’m not a whore.”

“Making yourself feel good doesn’t make you a whore, and toys can help get you there easier and faster than your hand. You got some lube?”

“No,” I said, dying inside.

“It’s okay. We’ll figure this out,” he said.

He didn’t ask me why I was doing this or tell me to stop, or say there was something wrong with me. No, he was going to help me.

I stared at his wide back. “I’m disgusting. You think I’m disgusting, don’t you, Relic?”

His fingers curled into fists. “No, baby, you’re not disgusting. Far fucking from it.”

“I’m ugly and scarred,” I choked out. “And depraved.”

“If getting yourself off is depraved, then I’m depraved as well, Tink. And if you call yourself ugly ever again, I’ll take you over my fucking knee. There’s not one thing about you that is ugly. Not one fucking thing.”

I felt his words deep inside me, and I couldn’t hold in the ones that came out of my mouth next. “If I didn’t own your soul, would you want to … be with me?”

A growl rolled through the room. Then he chuckled without humor, so low that I felt it in the pit of my stomach. “Fuck yes.”

I chewed my lip, my heart pounding hard. “Would you know how to … get me off?”

“Yes.”

That was it—one word said with utter certainty. I was desperate. He was kind and handsome, and he’d sworn to protect me, apparently even against himself.

“Then I order you to … get me off.”

His back was still to me, but I didn’t miss his sharply indrawn breath.

“Your fear just skyrocketed, Tinker Bell.” He took several more deep breaths. “But your pussy—it’s hot, and it’s getting wet again. I can smell it. You want it, but you’re scared as fuck.”

He was right; my clit was too sensitive, but just asking Relic to do that for me had that deep ache throbbing all over again.

“I’m more turned on than scared.”

“You’re still scared of me though.”

“A little,” I said, giving him the truth.

“You think I’m going to hurt you, sweetness?”

No one had ever called me sweet anything in my entire life.

“No.”

“But you’re scared anyway?”

This was getting too damn deep. I just needed to get off. I needed him to get me off.

“I gave you an order, hound.” The demand was ruined, though, by my trembling voice.

He turned slowly, and I yanked the sheet over my nakedness, hiding my scarred body even though he’d already seen everything.

“Then, I guess I’d better obey.”