Chapter 8

Chapter

Eight

My hands curled into fists as rage blasted through the ice. Images of Mykel's harpoon dragging Fane across the bridge in the Underworld infiltrated my mind, and the urge to tear the dux demon to pieces overwhelmed me.

I stepped forward, bloodlust and violence warping my thoughts.

A savage pain erupted in my thigh, and I screamed as a maltera dug his horn into my leg, searing poison leaking into my system.

"Tate!" Fane's fierce snarl pierced the night and even gave the maltera pause. While the critter was distracted, I reached down and ripped my talons through his neck, severing his head.

I stumbled back, unable to hold myself up on my injured leg, and slammed into a hard chest, familiar arms enveloping me.

"What the fuck?" Fane sucked air sharply. "How bad is it?"

He already knew the answer. He could feel the agony wrapping my muscles.

"Not that bad," I lied anyway.

My gaze tracked to the alley across the street, the figure gone. Had that really been Mykel, or had I imagined him? Either way, I had no plans to tell Fane. He'd alert Barric, and I'd never be allowed out of the compound.

Fane picked me up and marched toward the bar. "Out of my way!"

Shifters parted for him, and when Dante saw the wound in my leg, blood oozing down my jeans, he ushered us to the back.

"Take her to the employee lounge. I'll get some towels and water."

Fane stormed into a small room with exposed brick walls and scuffed hardwoods and laid me on a leather chaise, his concern throbbing within our link. "How did that sub-demon catch you off guard?"

I shrugged, wincing from the sharp pain in my leg. "I thought they were all gone."

His brows slammed together at the lie. "What aren't you telling me?"

"Nothing. I just wasn't paying attention."

"Here." Dante returned with some rags and a bucket. "I'm assuming you're going to suck the venom out."

Fane gave a sharp nod and snatched the bottle of water the bartender offered. He unbuttoned my jeans but stopped before pulling them down and glanced over his shoulder at Dante who lingered in the middle of the room. "Get the fuck out."

"Oh, sure." He spun and dashed out, closing the door behind him.

"Stop being so mean to him," I hissed as Fane carefully drew my jeans to my knees, revealing the puncture wound from the maltera's horn. "He didn't do anything."

The demon shifter scoffed. "He did plenty, Teague. And you're the one who almost ripped that female shifter to pieces for talking to me."

A wave of hot anger washed over me at the memories of Greta's hands on him. "That bitch had the nerve to touch you even after I told her to back off."

"You're adorable when you're jealous." The edges of his lips twitched into the ghost of a smile, his lip ring shining under the soft overhead lights.

"I'll be real adorable when I'm ripping her throat out and—" Another hiss shot from my mouth as Fane dipped forward and latched onto my thigh, sucking hard to pull the venom out.

My nails dug into the arms of the chair as I gritted my teeth against the pain. Fane drew away and spit into the bucket before returning to my leg. After a few more times, the burn from the poison lessened, leaving behind a stinging ache.

"I think that's all." Fane gargled water and spit it into the bucket. The wet rag he used to carefully clean the wound gently glided over my skin, sending shivers over my spine. He suddenly looked up, blinking. "I—this seems familiar. Déjà vu, I guess."

My heart rate doubled as invisible bands tightened around my chest. Was he remembering? "This has kind of happened before."

He cocked his head. "What are you talking about?"

"A poisonous agrigon demon bit me on the leg once, and you took me to Logan's apartment." A sad smile curved my lips. "You sucked the venom out, too, even though you would have rather I died at that point."

"I don't remember." Fane drew away, examining my leg but not really looking at it. "You had the Infernal Sol, so I probably didn't have a choice."

"You didn't have a choice in saving me, but you sure as hell had a choice in giving me an orgasm. "

Fane's fingers tightened on my thigh. "Excuse me?"

Heat flowed over me as hyperdetailed memories resurfaced. Fane had used the phantom touch we'd just discovered to make me fall apart in the chair with Logan a few feet away in the kitchen, no less. "You only did it to torment me, or at least you claimed that. I think you just wanted to watch me shatter from your touch."

A low hum vibrated his throat, and those phantom fingers suddenly detached from him, running between my legs. My jaw clenched against the moan that wanted to burst out, but he felt my desire anyway, embers stoked into flames with each pass of his fingers.

"You're really going to tease me right now?" I tried to steady my breathing as my pulse hammered. "I've already had a shitty day. I don't need you messing with my head to top it off."

Fane leaned forward, his nostrils flaring as he scented my arousal. He bared his teeth, and the veins in his neck protruded. "Maybe I like messing with you, Teague." His head dipped forward, his tongue licking the sensitive flesh close to my aching center.

My back arched, and I squirmed, flames lapping everywhere. "Don't mess with me like this, Fane. I'm not in the mood for your hot and cold bullshit, so if you're not?—"

His teeth snagged my underwear right over the blooming wet spot and ripped them off, baring me. "Does this look like I'm messing with you?" His voice and hot breath traveling over my damp center had me trembling. As he peered from between my legs, his ebony pupils thinned within his glowing irises. "My primal side is not allowing me to even think about walking away without a taste."

Sweat leaked down my nape as heat and lust swelled over me. I craved Fane, and being unable to touch him when I wanted had my mind fragmenting. Soon, I'd go crazy. But it appeared he was having the same battle, only with himself instead of an outside force.

The demon shifter pressed my legs farther apart, dipped forward, and ran his tongue over my throbbing core.

I arched off the chair as a moan burst from my lips at the flood of sparking sensations. The satisfaction rippling from Fane through our link only made me fall deeper into the cloud of bliss.

A low snarl slithered out of him, shooting electricity through my belly. "I'm going to feast on you until you're screaming my name. And when I'm done, you'll forget your own."

It wouldn't be the first time.

Fane's hot, wet tongue lapped at me, setting off bolts of energy all through my body. My fingers dug into the leather arms of the chaise as I squirmed and moaned. His phantom hands never stopped touching me either, running up and down my thighs and around my ass. They slipped under my clothes, cupping my breasts and then pinching and twisting my nipples.

Sweat collected at the base of my throat, and my vision grew hazy. "Fane," I mumbled as my talons tore through my fingers and shredded the leather chair. He hadn't given in to his desire in so long. No matter how much he tried to ignore it, it ricocheted between us.

"You fucking taste like honey." Fane's real hand skated between my legs, plunging a finger into my entrance as he flicked and nibbled my clit.

I cursed and jerked at the overwhelming flood of fire boiling within me. My breath came in ragged pants, and my hips tilted to meet his movements. His other hand pressed against my stomach to keep me in place, right where he wanted.

The restrictions on my movements drove me insane, and from his rough chuckle echoing in my mind, he knew it .

I gripped his dark strands of hair, pulling on the roots until he released a savage growl. His tongue twirled while his teeth nipped, driving me closer to the edge with every moment of delicious torment.

In response to the hard hold on his hair, Fane's ministrations grew faster, and I could barely breathe while his touch consumed me. The room spun, and it felt like I was floating off the chair. Whimpers spilled out of my mouth, and my muscles tightened while the building in my center intensified.

"Fane," I cried out, tears burning in my eyes. "Please." I had no idea why I was begging, but he seemed to understand.

He withdrew from between my legs, his fingers still thrusting in and out, and bit the tattoo on my neck, marking me once again.

The scream that tore out of my mouth as an explosion of bliss erupted through me and shook the entire room. Every nightworlder inside Lunar Souls would have heard it, but I didn't give a shit. I could be embarrassed later. Now? I was floating in a whirlwind of delight as Fane coaxed the intense orgasm from me.

I trembled in his arms, his mouth still latched around my throat, his own pleasure rippling into me. "Fane." Damn it. I missed him so much it hurt. For a moment, I pretended that Kaspin's spell didn't exist and Fane had his memories. He remembered the night in Heldrok he brought me back from the Infernal Sol's control, and we knew, without ever speaking the words, that we loved each other.

We never said it for fear that something would rip us apart. But it did anyway. Maybe we should have confessed our feelings.

When Fane drew back, blood running down my neck, he gripped my jaw. "No one else could ever make you feel this good, fiera mika. You know that, don't you?"

"What happens when you decide it's time to kill me?"

He grinned, crimson staining his teeth. "Then I'll kill you as you shatter beneath me, screaming my name."

That didn't sound like the worst way to go.