CHAPTER 8

Nika

The mercenary's feral, chest-deep growls made my hips indecently swivel in surprise, but a thick thigh corded with muscle pushed its way past my legs, and I was lifted closer to Silas's face.

As if possessed, I gripped the powerful man around the neck and fused our bodies together, taking control for the first time since the kiss started. Tasting his sinfully soft lips, I let my eagerness to kiss the light-haired Fae overpower sense. I gave in so fucking quickly that even I didn't know what came over me. But in that moment, it didn't matter.

I wanted him.

I'd seize the opportunity and solve the mystery this man was, and regret it all later if I had to.

Large hands lifted me around the rear, and I locked my legs around a firm, sinewy waist. I heard an all-animal sound leave the other Fae's throat before his hand sunk under the cover of my shirt and touched naked flesh.

"Wait—" I breathed, curving.

His lips tilted confidently. "Not even if you paid me to, love."

What an asshole...

Silas groaned, golden eyes glowing, and his hand fled upwards, blatantly ignoring my heated glare. The Fae's hold on me tightened as if he were worried I'd run away. Then he kissed me harder, tongue entangling with mine in a way that made it difficult to think. His fingers stroked and scraped along my stomach before the Fae cupped my breast and kneaded it expertly, deriving wanting sounds from my mouth I never intended to give him.

My legs squeezed around him and my hips undulated, reacting to the erotic stimulation and falling perfectly into Silas's trap. It was difficult not to. Everything inside of me wanted more and relished every intuitive action that the mercenary took. He knew effortlessly what it was I wanted.

What I needed.

When my hips pressed into his again, it was plenty clear I wasn't the only one with runaway passion—and the size of him alone was impressive enough to make me take a second's pause. I looked down between us, peering down at the third arm the other Fae sported in his pants. But I wasn't given long to look because Silas had me around the jaw, forcing our gazes to lock.

The liquid swirl of pale yellow and vibrant gold was captivating, and it was a fight not to say so out loud. I didn't want to give the man more than he'd already dragged out of me. Something told me that giving this man an inch would be my first and last mistake.

Silas's chest heaved in and out with effort, drawing my eyes to it before he slipped a hand into my pants, snaking it between my open thighs. The strong hand holding my jaw didn't let me look away from the mercenary's ethereal eyes the entire time he swept thick fingers across the place I was lewdly wet for him.

Sucking in a breath, I swallowed a moan and bit my lip. I couldn't help the small circle my hips took when pleasure washed my thighs, or how my eyes fluttered when the delicious waves of sensation wreaked havoc on my already terrorized body. Silas's intelligent gaze captured every single unintentional reaction my body gave way to—which would normally mortify me, but for some reason, it only made the place he touched hotter and wetter.

The other Fae's kiss-moistened lips were swept up. "Aye, you drive me right mad, you do," he whispered gruffly, almost as if he hadn't meant to say it out loud. "You're the real danger here, yeah? Not what waits out there, princess, but this right here is what might be the thing that finally does me in."

I smothered another moan as he rubbed a thumb over my clit and then sunk three fingers knuckle-deep inside of me. My spine curved while Silas's other thumb pushed boldly past my gaping lips, tasting oddly of vanilla. I didn't want to admit how hot the simple action made me, but it did.

Shit, I'd fallen under his spell.

Biting, I punished Silas's brazen thumb for a second, overcome by sensations, and the mercenary let loose another feral growl.

"Fuck," he cursed before leaning in and kissing me again. "Hope my luck holds out because even a monk couldn't resist a captivating beauty like you right now."

His fingers slammed and curled inside of me, and I gasped and groaned into the other Fae's mouth, foregoing sense to enjoy the pleasure I might never get a chance to feel again after today.

I guess everything stupid became an instant "Oh well, YOLO!" when it was very likely your last few days alive. A world of powerful Dark Fae chasing after you did that to a person. To be fair, I'd been the sensible one for long enough to forgive a momentary lapse in judgment. Because while I'd never tell Silas as much, he definitely knew his way around a woman's body. I'd come to expect that men were generally disappointing when it came to sex, but Silas was an exception. So, I might as well enjoy it for what it was.

A bit of fun.

I had to trust I wouldn't be stupid enough to make the same mistake twice, and this was a one-off, freak moment where the stars aligned and I was horny enough to give in; where my mind was weak and my body even more so to the idea of a pleasurable escape. For the first time in my life, I put my safety on the line for a taste of the unknown.

Decided, I went all in and worked the other Fae's pants open. It didn't take him long to figure out what was happening, because his lips twitched and his blue magic swirled around us, making quick work of our clothes. Our weapons landed on a perfect pile of discarded clothes, well within reach, and it made me smile to think that there might be a moment where our foes would have to fight a pair of naked Fae.

Talk about distracting.

The other Fae's hot breath fell on my lips for a second, and then we were both wrapped up in another messy kiss, touching anything within reach and fusing our bodies together anywhere we could.

Silas let out a small chuckle, kissing my neck and gripping my hair violently. "This is probably one of the daftest things I've done yet," he disclosed, giggling cutely.

I tilted my head back, having a difficult time thinking coherently. "I hate to agree with you on anything, but me too."

Unfortunately, with pleasure going straight to my head, I was being far too honest for my liking. I would've loved to blame some sort of sexy enchantment or seduction magic, but my defensive magic could easily break apart something like that. It wouldn't work for long, so the only thing I could truly blame was myself.

Fuck.

The Dark Fae's happy grin was misplaced in all the naked flesh and tense muscle. Even though there wasn't any source of light in this tunnel but the residual sparkle of his blue magic, Silas's powerful frame was aglow. But one look down confirmed the weapons the mercenary dropped weren't the only ones the Fae kept on him, and I idly wondered what something that large could do to a person's body.

I'm fucked—literally.

The gorgeous Fae caught my stray gaze, and his muscles rippled across beige flesh as he crossed his arms, beaming proudly at me. "Like what you see, love?"

"It's better when you don't talk, mercenary," I snapped back, sighing.

"Right..." he murmured, closing in on me. "These things are better said with the body, yeah?"

I was already starting to regret giving into him at all. It wasn't every day I regretted a choice I made, let alone one in real time. I was hardly the girl who fell for a sexy playboy's tricks, but I guess even I had it in me to be stupid as fuck when pleasurable bliss was on the table.

I'm more of a Dark Fae than I thought I was.

I wasn't given long to bemoan the other Fae because he swiftly grabbed me around the neck and kissed me like it was our last day on Earth. Turning me towards the wall, Silas angled my ass out and gripped me around the hips. I could hear his ragged breath as he positioned himself and then thrust inside of me without warning. The euphoric sensation took the both of us by surprise, the sounds leaving our throats giving us away, and I struggled to hold myself upright to the intense pleasure hitting my hips.

"Oh, fucking hell," Silas groaned, smacking into me several times, the size of him reaching places no one had ever touched before. "It's like a bloody homecoming inside you, little bird."

My forehead was pinned to the cement wall, palms sliding over the uneven sandy surface, and I couldn't think straight with the other Fae plowing into me.

It was beyond imagination. Nothing but sin explained away the amazing sensations ripping through my body with every thrust. It wouldn't be exaggeration to say that our coupling felt like fate the second our bodies joined. If there was ever a sin that would lure me to the Dark, it would be this. There wasn't any other way to describe it.

I hated how much the two of us together like this made sense; how right it felt to be with him. We hardly knew one another, and he was far from my ideal, but after a few minutes, I couldn't deny how perfect it all was as the other Fae gripped, thrust, and groaned behind me.

After only a few moments, both blue and pink magic swirled around us in a dense fog. My arms shook, so I painted my naked front against the cement and fought to stay upright.

The mercenary's thrusts didn't slow, always hitting the same damn spot that shot fire up my spine and down my legs. I heard his telling grunts, knowing instinctively that we were both close by the way his movements grew frantic and his large hands ate into my flesh. Eager for the end, I met every thrust, cheek smooshed into the wall, scratching my skin raw. I bit my lower lip, rolling my hips and relishing every single gasp and grunt that escaped the other Fae when I did.

"Only a bloody imp can move her hips the way you do," Silas remarked hoarsely, smacking into me harder in punishment.

It took me a minute to remember how to breathe.

Legs quaking violently beneath me, I stopped trying to smother my moans. It wasn't possible anyway with how good it all felt. Soon, I was tensing, back arching, with Silas's hand around my throat, holding my body against his.

I dropped my head back against his shoulder and felt the mercenary's teeth nibble the shell of my ear. Then my pleasure reached its peak and the string of tension in my lower half snapped, sending me hurtling over the edge of my orgasm. My voice fled in a series of curses before the mercenary smothered it with another dominating kiss, his strong hips colliding with my backside a few more times before he went rigid.

It was mortifying when my legs gave out and the other Fae was forced to swoop down to save me from a meet-and-greet with the floor.

His naked chest glimmered in pink-blue light, then we were both fully clothed. "Oh, they must be taking the piss to come after us right here, right now," he murmured angrily. "Love, you need to shake it off fast. We need to move."

I blinked lazily, shaking away the lustful fog. It wasn't me who normally needed to get it together, and I resented the other man for breaking my dazed-and-confused cherry.

Damn him to Lilith and the Underworld.

I was helped to my feet, and I looked around to figure out what the mercenary meant. The distinctive feeling in the air was enough to clear the rest of the pleasurable haze in my head.

"I thought you said this place was safe," I gritted out, angry more at myself than the mercenary.

These little moments always came at a cost—and I'd be the one to pay the greatest price in the end, no doubt about that.

"Safe-ish," he amended sarcastically, hurrying me over with a hand.

It wasn't the time or place to lay into the other Fae, so I did what he commanded and let the mercenary lead the way to safety.

Silas had me by the hand and quickly took a small tunnel off the main one. He cursed a few times before turning towards me. "Reaper knows where we are, and it's not an easy task to escape him after he does."

It would normally give me intense pleasure to see the man out of sorts, but it was my funeral if we didn't figure out how to get out of here without having to fight some badass motherfucker named Reaper.

"So, what's the plan?"

"Aye, plan, yes. I should have one of those," he replied to my never-ending frustration.

"You don't have a plan?" I asked, close to sending my fist into his stomach. Damn the consequences.

Silas shrugged, lips tilted boyishly. "I'm more of a do-it-as-I-go sort, if I'm honest."

I had a blade already unsheathed, ready to cut the stupid oaf's head from his neck. "So you're just dead weight now? Am I hearing you right?"

"Just a minute ago you were panting my name and shaking your hips at me. Where'd that woman go?" Silas teased, though his gaze was razor-sharp. My expression soured, and Silas chuckled happily like we weren't running for our lives. "Aye, you get my loins blazing with that look, it's true."

"Just shut up," I barked, over it and ready to ditch the dude before he got me into any more trouble.

Shaking my internal fist at Lev, who assured me that he was professional and wouldn't screw things up for me, I quickly formed a plan after shedding the dead weight—aka, Silas—to find my way to the location marked.

We were only a few days away from reaching it, and I refused to nearly get there only to be thwarted by an idiotic buffoon incapable of foresight. I was better off alone, and not even otherworldly sex could hold me.

I wanted to spit venom at the tactless asshole, but we didn't have the time to sit around bickering. Instead, I dragged the large troll with me down another path where my magic indicated an escape hatch was.

Our best bet was to get out of here and use the open space to our advantage if we were forced to fight. Stuck down here was a sure-fire way to die. Escape was our only option against the types Silas mentioned. We'd be heavily outnumbered and outpowered if more than one came, and it'd be stupid to think any one of them would come alone. If they thought I was anything like my father, they'd make sure I never stood a chance.