18. Vix

Chapter 18

Vix

V ix felt sweaty, but it wasn't uncomfortable. If anything, she wanted to get closer so she could bask in the heat like a fox taking a nap in a patch of sunlight in the forest. It would warm her fur and make her sleepy as summer sounds buzzed lazily around her.

Stretching her arms, she froze when her knuckles brushed against something that felt a lot like skin. Her eyes popped open and she held her breath when she saw Mylo's chest in her face. She wanted to bury her nose in it, but she couldn't get herself to look away from the scar.

It was massive, like he'd had open-heart surgery, or maybe…

An autopsy.

The thought had her heart pounding as she pulled back, pressing her hand to his chest, desperately trying to find his beating heart. It was so slow she couldn't even feel it, and Vix grabbed his face, terrified he might be dead.

Icy, golden eyes blinked back at her, so sharp and dangerous she should have instantly released him, but she couldn't, not with the fear still trickling through her veins.

"Are you alive?" she whispered, not quite sure this wasn't a dream. "They didn't take your heart?"

Another slow blink that told her nothing.

" Mylo ." She rested her hand on top of his mouth and nose, but didn't press down. "Please don't be dead. If you are…I'll just wake up. It'll be fine. You won't be dead."

There, a soft breath against her fingers and she dropped her head back down to the bed, her inhale shaky as she tried to calm down.

"Why didn't you answer me?" she whispered, like they were at a sleepover and didn't want to wake anyone else up. "It's…difficult…"

Vix blinked, hating the way her eyes stung.

The tears only fell faster thanks to the way she was lying on her side, curled up in Mylo's arms.

"I don't always know what's real," she confessed, dropping her voice even more so no one else could hear her. "It's hard to remember sometimes, and…"

A single claw brushed her tears away and she looked up to see his golden eyes glowing in the darkness, but he didn't look inclined to speak.

"I don't want you to be dead," she breathed, burying her face in his neck so she wouldn't have to see him watch her cry.

Waking up with him in the bed with her had been the last thing she'd anticipated. Mylo had so many sharp edges and he really didn't like how he couldn't scent her. Having his warmth when she woke up? It was more than she would have dared to hope for.

She pulled herself closer, breathing in his scent to help calm down her remaining panic.

"You're here for Rune," Mylo whispered into her hair. "Not me."

Vix pulled back, not sure she heard him right. Those pale golden eyes were back, so cold compared to that of his tiger. "You don't want me?"

Sharp pain in his chest made her gasp at the sudden intensity and she just…didn't understand.

Mylo stared down at her, his eyes and face giving nothing away, but the new pain he felt…he couldn't hide that from her even if he could hide his emotions from his scent. She'd almost believed he really didn't want her, but he hadn't answered the question, and he was still lying here with her, allowing her to use his arm as a pillow.

Refusing to blink, she studied him and tried to ignore the fact that he wasn't wearing a shirt.

"You only wanted me for Rune," she whispered, understanding then why this whole thing had felt so odd from the very beginning.

Mylo blinked so slowly she would have thought he was asleep except his eyes finally opened again, but he still didn't say anything.

"It's disgusting, isn't it?" She chewed on her bottom lip, knowing the real problem. "I don't have a scent or fur…I have nothing to give you, but…"

Vix gently pressed her hand to his chest, watching his reaction closely.

She couldn't give them anything, but she could take what they couldn't bear.

"I can be better," she promised, her soft words barely audible even for a shifter. "I promise."

You desecrate everything you touch.

Instantly, she yanked her hand back at the sound of those vile words slithering through her mind, and Vix felt like she could hardly breathe, but it didn't matter because he was still looking at her.

"You played a trick on me, Mylo. It wasn't a very nice one, either."

Her heart was pounding just as hard as it was when she'd thought he might be dead. Tears burned her cheeks and she held her breath, waiting for him to tell her this was all just a mean game.

Or maybe she'd wake up…

"I thought you wanted to claim me."

"No." Mylo watched her like none of it mattered to him at all. "I don't."

"I suppose that makes sense," she whispered, dropping her eyes to the scar along his throat that was in a perfect, straight line. Even where they'd stitched him back together had scarred. "Not even hell will claim me, so why would you?"

Still, he was her mate.

Vix brushed the tip of her finger along that scar, easing just the tiniest sliver of his overwhelming pain. " Please …don't abandon me—I'll do better, I promise."

"What could you possibly do better?" Mylo asked, wrapping his long fingers around her wrist and pulling it away from his throat.

If she could figure out the answer, maybe he wouldn't push her away, maybe?—

"Vix."

She looked up to see him bringing her finger to his mouth, his long, wet tongue licking the tip of her claw. It was so obscene to watch she couldn't stop him even if she wanted to.

"What kind of shifter are you?"

"I ca—can't shift," she stuttered, cheeks burning in embarrassment. It wasn't her fault though when that tongue of his slid over the tip of her finger. "Am I even a shifter if I can't…"

He wrapped that pink tongue around her finger then and Vix had no idea what was going on. Didn't he just say he didn't want her?

"Before," Mylo clarified, using the same word she had. "What animal could you shift into? What fur did you wear that was all your own?"

"I'm scared you won't like my answer." She swallowed hard, blinking just once to ease some of the burning in her eyes, but more tears fell and she hated it. "What if it makes you hate me more?"

"Impossible," Mylo murmured, pulling her hand so her arm could drape over his neck. "I already despise you for making me need this. Nothing could make me hate you more ."

Then he pressed his hand to her lower back, bringing her just a little closer.

Vix felt too hot.

She sat up, trying not to rip the coat off of her, but it was so hard when she was panicking and her claws were so sharp?—

Her panic froze when Mylo sat up and pulled the coat off of her with smooth, practiced movements. He yanked up the sweatshirt too and tossed them both to the floor, his pale golden eyes so hauntingly patient.

It was like he knew what it felt like to be choked by humanity.

Dropping her gaze to his chest, she realized then that was what had happened – why his suit was missing.

"A fox," she whispered, not daring to reach out for him until she saw how he reacted to that information.

"A fox ." Mylo actually reached for her then, like he found that captivating instead of repulsive.

She flinched when his claws brushed against her ear, but she didn't stop him when she was still too shocked he wasn't yelling at her to get out.

"A little vixen." Mylo smirked then, his tiger making an appearance when the pale gold started to glow. "Is that where Vix comes from?"

Nodding was the only way to answer him when she was still trying to process this new development. "He took my name," she reminded him. "He took everything from me, and now I have nothing to give you, but…"

He tucked her hair behind her ear, completely entranced despite everything he'd said to her.

"Mylo?" She placed her hand on his chest again, swallowing hard. This could be a mistake, but she wasn't sure what else to do. "I know you're lying."

Instantly, his entire demeanor changed, and he mentally closed himself off, the tiger disappearing.

She just had to tell him. There wasn't much to lose at this point, was there?

Vix cleared her throat and looked down at her claws. "I felt the pain in your chest when I asked if…if you didn't want me. It was excruciating the way it echoed in mine…" she trailed off when his hand was suddenly wrapped around her throat, dragging her closer.

Mylo didn't stop until his nose was pressed against hers. "And? Foxes can sense pain. It doesn't mean anything."

"No," she agreed, the word so soft it was just an impression on his lips. "But the scent right here…"

Reaching out, she caressed his neck with her claw, careful not to break the skin.

"You're mine , Mylo. You smell like lemongrass and sunshine. The mate bond on you is such a dark chocolate I keep choking on it." She smiled slightly, feeling like that matched his personality somehow but she couldn't say why when she hardly knew him.

Suddenly, she was on her back, pinned to the mattress by her throat. Vix looked up, not the least bit afraid. No, the only thing she feared was him rejecting the bond and abandoning her.

"Do you think if I cut all the runes off your skin, your scent would come back?" Mylo asked, his deep growling voice a warning.

"It might." Vix lifted her chin, giving him access to whatever he wanted. "It also might kill you."

"Let's give it a go," Mylo purred, using his claws to slice through the alpha's shirt. "A little death might do me some good."

"I don't want you to die," she reminded him, lying still as he peeled the fabric off her skin until the top half of her body was completely exposed. "Besides, it's summer's job to murder winter, not the other way around."

The tiger gave her a curious look she couldn't decipher.

Vix closed her eyes when she felt his hand tighten on her throat. "You don't want to believe I'm your mate, do you?"

Claws dug into her skin. "I don't trust you, vixen ."

"You're the one who convinced me to come here," she reminded him. " You are the one who's been lying from the very beginning, playing such mean tricks…and you don't trust me? "

Then he had her face pressed to the mattress and his teeth on her throat. Vix caught his jaw before he could bite down, digging her claws into his face as she tried not to give in to the sudden, overwhelming need to let him bite her.

It would feel so good .

"My pretty liar," she murmured, feeling that vicious thing she tried to hide stretched when she scented his blood on the air. "You think you could scare me with mortal pain? I burned for centuries , Mylo. You know nothing of true agony."

His hands dug into her, bones threatening to snap but she wouldn't let go of his face no matter how much pain he tried to give her. His growl became mangled when she wouldn't release him, forcing the tiger to keep his teeth over her throat.

"You think I don't understand?" She pulled him closer, his teeth scraping against her skin and making her shiver. "Bite me and find out. You'll see then. You'll know…"

Mylo's soft growl was too much, and she flipped them, so he was the one on his back.

His face was gilded by the glow of her golden eyes, and Vix stared down at this beautiful, broken thing that looked so fucking ravaged by her he wanted to destroy her for daring to make him feel so much.

Leaning down, she licked the blood from his cheek, staring into his eyes as she did so.

It tasted so fucking good her grip on him tightened and her teeth ached even more than her pussy did.

"You're mine," she hissed, staring into those pale eyes that had no life in them at all. "Even if you hate me."

It was far more difficult than it should have been to release his face.

Vix sat back, her ass on his stomach thanks to his stupid apex predator height.

Pulling the ruined shirt from her body helped her focus on his heartbeat, his breathing…every tiny little thing. Maybe she could get that strange piece of his to come out and play with her even if it was an idiotic, dangerous thing to do.

"I suppose they do say to never trust a fox," she murmured, slicing through her sweatpants instead of taking them off. "And you can't scent me, but can you feel me?"

Using her thighs, she pushed up, removing the fabric so she was naked on top of him. Vix tossed it to the floor and then took his hand, bringing it up to her chest.

"Right here," she told him, covering the scar left by a bullet with his massive hand. "I know you can hear my heart beating, and you can feel the thread connecting us, but maybe you can't feel how badly I want to bite you?"

His sharp inhale shredded what was left of her sanity.

Vix leaned down and licked her lips, wondering if he'd kill her for this. "If you hurt me, I'll forgive you, because even that might not stop me from tasting you."

Before he could say something annoying and human, she licked the small drop of blood from his other cheek, just barely resisting the violent urge to bite him.

"You'll have to kill me, Mylo," she whispered, running her fingers through his hair to see the blond glitter like gold in the darkness. "The urge to claim you is almost impossible to resist. I don't have enough strength to keep from tasting you too. So, tear out my throat if you don't want it."

Nothing happened when she leaned down, forcing herself to go as slowly as possible.

Even Mylo seemed to be holding his breath, like he wasn't sure what he would do when she tasted him either.

Vix closed her eyes and brushed her lips tentatively over his, needing to get used to the sensation first. It had been a few years since she'd been so intimate with someone, and after kissing Samuel, he'd acted like he didn't want her. The sting of his rejection was still raw.

Would Mylo be the same?