19. Vix

Chapter 19

Vix

K issing his bottom lip, she made sure to open her mouth just a little so he could feel the wet heat that would remind him of what was right there if he felt like taking it.

Even when she licked the seam of his lips, he didn't move or push her away. His lips parted ever so slightly though, giving her just enough access to run her tongue over the sharp canines in his mouth that were a lot bigger than hers.

"I can't go slow anymore," she confessed, her entire body shaking from the effort to hold back. "But I want you to like it. Tell me what to do, Alpha."

Sharp claws dug into her thighs and she gasped.

"I'm not the alpha," Mylo growled.

It was too much.

Vix kissed him hard, sliding her tongue in his mouth with a soft groan, needing everything from him and more.

"Do you think I don't know?" she whispered against his lips, staring into the golden eyes of his tiger. "I can scent it, even if it doesn't feel quite right. I can hear it – a melody that pulses through my bones."

She kissed the scar that went across the bridge of his nose and all the way around, slicing his head in half. It was full of so much pain, held in place by memories full of screaming, but she didn't look. Not yet. Those moments could wait, because she needed to convince him she really could be better.

"You're an alpha," she told him, the words so soft it almost sounded like a dirty secret echoing in an empty church. "You can even be my alpha, if you want. I'd let you, though I'm not always good at listening…or remembering."

Moving down his body, she kept her eyes on his, wondering what he thought of that – why he was so still beneath her when he claimed to hate her.

Vix kissed the scar in the middle of his chest, eyes fluttering closed when she stole just a tiny bit of his pain and turned it back into energy – life .

Placing the flat of her tongue against the brutal scar, she licked up to the very top of it, watching the way Mylo just lay there. There was no scent other than his essence, no sound aside from his steady heartbeat, but the tiny inhale of breath was just a little bit shaky and his eyes were glowing .

"Hello, Alpha," she purred, reaching up to brush her thumb over his cheek, taking another sliver of pain from the scar there. "Why do you keep hiding from me when you're so very pretty?"

A low growl in his chest warned her, but neither of them knew what he was trying to warn her about. It could be a promise of death or maybe a promise of life. Vix was willing to take the gamble regardless, because he was hers.

"My pretty alpha." She rubbed her cheek against his and stole another sliver, proving to him she could be better. "Even if you're not the alpha, you are what you are regardless. Just like me. I can't shift, and I have no fur, but I'm still a fox."

"You need to stop," Mylo warned, his voice deep and delicious, and she shivered at the sound of it. "This is dangerous."

"Stop what?" Vix didn't dare sink her teeth into him. She was positive she'd break the skin and claim him without permission if she did.

"Stop playing games with me, kitten."

"But I love a good game," she purred, sitting back onto his stomach and spreading her thighs as far apart as she could to show him everything she could give him, everything he could take . "Don't you, Alpha?"

His soft snarl made her grin and she licked her lips when his hands settled on her thighs, claws digging in. "This game is going to get you killed."

"Probably," she agreed, reaching up with both hands to run her fingers through her hair to tease him. "I knew that the moment I decided to come here with you, but I couldn't resist. You saw how monstrous I am and told me you wanted me anyways, even if it's just for Rune."

"You don't understand," Mylo hissed, his eyes following her hands as she slid them down her sides. "If someone touches me…not even Rune or Samuel are immune to it and I love them. Imagine what I'll do to you?"

Vix licked her lips, feeling those words vibrate through her bones with the sweet promise of pain. "As long as you don't abandon me, you can do whatever you want to me. This body was made to bear the kind of agony even you might not be able to comprehend."

"What is wrong with you?" Mylo growled, flipping her onto her back.

"Everything," she breathed, mesmerized by the understanding she saw in his eyes.

Claws dug deep, and Mylo raked them up her thighs, her sides, her arms…all the way to her wrists until he was holding them above her head. He'd pulled back as he'd gone up, as if he couldn't quite commit to tearing her all the way open.

Staring into those golden eyes, she waited, embracing the pain and making it hers, converting it to energy as she fed her body and let it heal.

Being able to feed on pain…it was both a blessing and a curse.

She could use it as sustenance, but that didn't mean she couldn't feel the pain. Everything she took, she felt as if it were happening to her – everything she experienced was branded into her body so it would never forget.

Only a fox could convert the agony and pain into life, easing some of the side effects of chaos that tortured everyone between birth and death.

Death was merciful, and Vix took comfort in the knowledge that those people wouldn't suffer anymore when she took a job and that those around them wouldn't suffer.

"Do you want the truth?" Mylo asked, dipping his head down so they were eye to eye.

" Yes ."

Was he really going to give it to her?

"You're too broken." He didn't blink as he stared into her eyes, so she'd know he wasn't lying.

The pain in her chest felt like she'd been struck by lightning and Vix tried to pull away, but he wouldn't let go.

"Everything about you disgusts me," Mylo admitted, tracing the line of glyphs down her left arm. "How could I possibly want to claim someone who can't even live in my world?"

" Stop ." She pushed him away, but claws were digging into her skin and his whole body pressed her into the mattress.

"You wanted the truth, kitten. Can you taste a lie?"

No. She couldn't.

"Then deny the bond."

Mylo stared down at her, calculating just how serious she was.

"Or I can do it for you," she murmured. "I just have to mean it, right?"

They stared at each other and Vix knew she couldn't mean it – that forcing him to deny it would shatter her broken pieces into insignificant shards. It would be impossible to use them for anything anymore, let alone a pretty picture.

But Mylo was always so careful with his choice of words. He was good at playing games.

He'd said he wanted her but not for what. Now he thought she was disgusting – too broken, but he hadn't said he couldn't claim her. He'd posed it to her as a question, almost as if he couldn't figure out why he still wanted to claim her either.

Nothing he'd said was a lie – her summer tiger was just as devious as a demon or the fae.

If he truly didn't want to claim her, it would be easy for him to deny the bond.

Vix opened her mouth, carefully watching the way his eyes widened just the teensiest bit. "I deny?—"

Mylo slapped his hand over her mouth with a snarl, eyes flashing gold. "Don't you fucking dare."

She was very careful not to show him just how relieved she was, not yet.

Pressing her hand to his chest, she stole another sliver of pain as she slid her palm down his scar, relishing in the feel of his skin.

Her hand slid under the fabric of his pants then and she gently wrapped her fingers around his cock, but she couldn't even close her hand all the way thanks to just how fat it was. I don't need human words to deny the bond, Alpha.

Mylo looked down at where her hand disappeared, and a dangerous smile played on his lips. "How exactly are you speaking to me right now? Are you a mind reader, little vixen?"

No. I was born wild, and so were you, Vix told him, sliding her hand down his ridiculous length to feel just how fucking big and hard he was. Her eyes closed as she tried to keep her teeth to herself instead of playfully biting his hand like she wanted to. I am what I am, no matter what my body looks like. All I have to do is touch your wildness with mine.

Gripping him harder made him hiss at her, but Mylo didn't try to stop her. "Then deny the bond, kitten. Mean it ."

I…

The words wouldn't come out, no matter how hard she tried. Vix looked up at him and saw the moment he feared she could. It hurt her just as much as it hurt him, and she had to look away from all that pain she had caused.

I can't.

His grip on her mouth loosened ever so slightly. She didn't dare look at him, not when she was trying so hard not to ruin whatever progress she'd made with him. Mylo was actually swelling even more under her brutal hold now.

Even if I don't like you very much right now, you're mine . I can't deny the bond…but you can . Her thumb found the slick precum at his tip and she spread it around, marveling at his control. Deny it, Mylo. Put me out of my misery already.

"We're a triad. I can't deny the bond, or it will be taken from Rune as well."

I'm a fox , she reminded him, looking back at him just in time to see something like devastation in Mylo's icy golden eyes. I am the one who will claim you, not the other way around. Deny our bond, and I can still give Rune his.

Vix licked Mylo's palm when his entire body froze as he processed that. It was adorable to see how angry it made him that she could still give Rune something he wouldn't be able to possess.

This summer tiger had claimed him somehow. He was that tiger's alpha, and the reason Rune listened to Samuel was because Mylo had acknowledged him as his alpha.

It would destroy her if Mylo denied the bond, but Vix was used to pain. She'd been made for it. She let the tiger see that in her eyes – the resignation and the acceptance of what it would do to her.

His hand eased up and wrapped around her throat instead, the touch oddly gentle, like he was afraid to hurt her.

Vix waited, ignoring the pounding of her heart as the anticipation of his rejection coursed through her veins like poison. Her eyes burned, but she waited .

No one was quite as cunning as the fox.

"You would let me go so easily?" Mylo asked, his tone so bland she might not have noticed how upset he was if she couldn't feel the excruciating pain in his chest as the silver thread of their bond threatened to snap. "Makes me wonder if you really are my mate."

Running her tongue over her canines, Vix decided he was ready for the truth even if it might get her throat torn out.

"You think this is easy?" She released his dick and reached up to take his face in her hands. "You set my entire body on fire. My skin hurts because you won't touch it. The ache in my chest is somehow worse than the ache of the emptiness where your body should be, and still…that's not even close to the ache in my teeth. It's taking every, single, tiny drop of sanity I have left not to force a claim on you. I almost lost control in that cavernous bathroom when I first scented it, and now you're above me, practically begging for it."

Finally , his body was starting to react to the things she was saying. Mylo's chest began to heave as he tried to breathe through the painful truth he could hear in her words.

"I could do it, you know," she murmured, licking her lips as his tiger started to shred through Mylo's cage of humanity. "Foxes are just as strong as apex predators – a little secret we keep to help us play our tricks and games."

His grip on her throat tightened, but not enough to cut off her oxygen, and Vix smiled, deciding to prove it to him.

She wrapped a hand around his wrist and the other around the back of his neck. "The only reason this is still here is because I want it. I like how possessive it feels," she admitted, tightening her grip on his wrist until the bones creaked.

Vix stopped just before they snapped and forced him closer with the hand on his neck.

Relishing in the flicker of surprise she could see, his bones scraped together when she squeezed just a little more.

"Do you want me to force the claim?" she asked, grinning up at him when she sensed his desire start to leak into his scent. "Do you want me to take the choice away from you?"

His alpha tiger growled at her, and her grin widened.

"You can't smell it, but I'm just as dominant as you," Vix confessed, squeezing his wrist until he winced when the bones started to fracture. "I could make you deny the bond, if that would be easier."

The sound of bones cracking felt faraway as Mylo stared at her with something like disbelief when he didn't feel the pain of it at all, because she stole it from him before he could.

"You think I would come to this dead place with three massive tigers so immersed in humanity and secrets without knowing how to deal with the consequences?" Vix shattered what was left of his unbroken bones and took all the pain before releasing him so it could heal. "I knew how dangerous you were, but it was worth the risk because Rune is mine ."

Then she let go of his neck and lay there, showing him just how much she didn't care what he did with her at this point.

" You are mine," she murmured, watching as every single word she'd spoken took root in his mind to flourish and grow. They might even help hold him together a little better. "You can reject me, but that doesn't change the fact that I was made for you. I won't abandon you, Mylo. Even if you deny our bond."

He looked like he was trying to deny the bond, like he wanted to, but…couldn't. It was a fascinating thing to watch as he went through so many emotions in such a short amount of time, but Vix didn't rush him.

It gave her the time she needed to cool down and remember she didn't want to force a claim on him…unless he asked her to.

"I want to kill you," Mylo admitted, but there was no bite to his words. "I keep trying, but I can't seem to crush your throat as easily as you crushed my wrist."

Vix held her breath as she waited for his decision.

"Your lack of scent is revolting," Mylo practically purred, his voice somehow getting even deeper. "Your chaos is ridiculously dangerous and yet…"

He released her throat and settled his body over hers, letting a good portion of his weight press down on her so she was completely covered like he was her very own personal blanket, and finally her skin stopped hurting. His cock was still hard and it nestled against her thighs and clit, the damn thing so big she could feel it on her stomach too.

It was impossible not to touch him when he was like this. Vix settled her hands on his lower back as softly as she could and slid them up as he watched her, stealing tiny sips of pain from all his scars until she felt his muscles relax just a little.

That should be enough for now. Too much and he might rip at his seams until they burst. Vix had never been good at putting things back together and if he fell apart, there was nothing she could do to fix it.

"The only touch I allow is through violence," Mylo told her. "Even with Rune and Samuel, I can barely stand skin-on-skin contact unless there's pain."

"Pain is easier," she agreed, pressing her hands to his shoulder blades just to feel the strength in his body. "It's easier to understand and control."

His cock flexed against her then and she hissed in a breath, clenching her teeth against the sudden, overwhelming need . It didn't keep her from raising her hips though, or digging her claws into his shoulders.

"So, what makes you different?" Mylo growled against her throat, his teeth taunting and teasing. "If I keep touching you, what will keep me from unraveling? All these seams will rip if I let this happen."

Vix understood exactly what he was saying because it was the same thing she kept wondering about herself. She wouldn't fall apart the same way he would, but the glass would shatter into tiny pieces she'd never be able to find again.

There was only one thing that she could give him.

Vix slid her hands down his back, dipping them under his sweatpants. Her claws dug into his ass when he growled, pressing him harder against her.

"Whatever pieces you lose, you can replace with mine," she managed, pressing her cheek to his when he scraped his teeth against her skin. "Cut them from my body if you have to. I don't care."

His growl turned into a deep groan and it made her lose her fucking mind to hear him want her.

Her claws shredded through his pants, and her magic did the rest, disintegrating them completely without once harming his body. The shock of his bare skin against hers was almost enough to overwhelm the sensation of his hot dick against her throbbing pussy.

A small whimper escaped her and Vix tried to get closer to him, but Mylo wrapped his hand around her throat again, pinning her to the bed as he watched her writhe beneath him.

For a second, Vix could almost see hell in his eyes.

"I still don't trust you, kitten, but I'm going to fuck you until you bleed ," he snarled softly.

Oh, fuck yes, please—yes, fuck me so hard you break bones so I'll never forget.

Her eyes stung again, but she didn't care.

Mylo's sharp edges were finally going to cut her into pieces and make her into something new .