Chapter 23

Chapter

Twenty-Three

I opened my mouth to scream, but a piece of duct tape was slapped over it.

Son of a bitch.

Fane fucking Maverick had slipped into the abandoned house, found me, and tied my hands together while I slept.

My legs kicked out, cracking him on the cheek. He snarled and crawled over me, straddling my hips to keep me still. It made me fight more, bucking like a wild animal. I managed to twist my wrists, almost freeing them from the leather binds.

Fane cursed and lifted, shoving me back on my stomach. "I should have known you'd be tricky enough to get out of those." When he leaned forward to adjust the cuffs, I attempted to ram my head into his nose.

He dodged left and then dropped, pinning me with his weight. His heady scent that enveloped me stirred a fire low in my belly. His length, hardening with every move I made, pressed into my backside while his mouth curved into a scowl .

"Stop fucking moving," he hissed, his breath hot against my neck.

"I think you want me to keep going, Maverick."

He froze as my voice flowed through his head. "How are you doing that?"

"The bond between us has some crazy side effects," I said. "The out-of-body thing you saw earlier is another."

Fane pulled away, tightened the leather restraints, and jerked me onto my back. "Bullshit! Why would we have any kind of bond? I wouldn't touch you other than to kill you."

"You sure about that?" My legs popped out from under him, and I wrapped them around his waist, rubbing against his throbbing erection. "Your body certainly doesn't believe you."

His pupils thinned into diamond slits as he lowered over me, his lips curling back to reveal sharpening teeth. "You're using the Infernal Sol to fuck with me. I would never be attracted to Warin's killer."

I fought off the hot tears burning my eyes. "Give it time, and you'll beg me to jump into your bed."

A savage growl tore out of him, and he shoved away while his hand pressed into my chest so hard it would bruise. "I'm done with your games." He reached into his pocket and pulled something out.

"No games, Maverick. Just try to remember."

"All I need to remember is my revenge." He tore the tape off my mouth and blew something into my face.

I coughed, inhaling more of the dust. The room blurred around the edges and then darkened.

Shit. Malefic ash.

"I'm taking you to Venna." Fane replaced the tape on my mouth. "And then I'll get my revenge when I rip your last breath out."

Strong arms held me against a warm chest and then gently lowered me to a soft bed. The restraints vanished from my wrists, and I sighed as blood rushed back into my arms.

A rough hand caressed my cheek. The scent of fire, cinnamon, and leather drifted around me as lips brushed my ear.

"You're going to die by my hands, and I'll discard you in a dumpster like the piece of trash that you are."

Like vicious daggers, those words slammed into my heart, ripping the remnants of sleep away. My lids popped open as Fane loomed over me, leering. He studied me like a killer studied his prey.

Now that my hands were free, I yanked the tape off my mouth and screamed. "You are such a bastard!"

His low laughter grated on my ears. "You're at Venna's mansion. Scream all you want. I'm sure she'd prefer it."

A crystal chandelier dangling from the ornate ceiling spilled soft light on the gleaming hardwoods and polished wood furniture. Lavish silk and velvet in shades of scarlet and gold decorated the huge, opulent room like something out of a fairytale castle. And I was the evil queen's captive.

Heavy drapes framed the windows, allowing the ruby streetlights to cast a bloody hue beneath the chandelier's glow. The previous ruler of Vlehull had lived in a massive mansion in the center, but it had burned down thanks to Fane. So where did Venna reside?

As a burst of adrenaline hit me, I shoved Fane away. He didn't expect me to recover from the Malefic ash that quickly, so he stumbled back, catching himself on a chair in the corner. If he knew he was the one who turned me, he would have expected it.

I bolted for the door only to have arms made of iron wrap around my waist and yank me back. The air expelled from my lungs, and my ribs felt like they'd crack under the pressure.

"Where do you think you're going?" The demon shifter slammed me onto the bed, covering me with his body. "There's no escaping, Teague. Just accept your fate."

Blood pumped through my veins, and my muscles burned as I fought. "The others will be looking for me. Ruin and Logan won't let you kill me."

"I have no idea why you're with them—or my mother—but they won't be able to find you." Chains rattled as Fane withdrew them from the headboard. "I know how to cover my tracks."

My pulse jumped as he attempted to shackle me to the bed. I managed to pull my knee between us, using it to shove him off. The Infernal Sol stirred at the violence unfolding. It wanted to come out and play.

Not now.

One day, I'd really like to be able to rely on my shifter side to help me fight instead of the demon amulet's addicting power.

I crawled to the end of the bed, but Fane was on me in seconds, tossing me back. My head collided with a bed post, stars exploding in my vision. Warmth ran down my temple, and I reached up, my fingers coming away with blood.

Fane's blurry figure appeared, and as he lifted my arm to lock the metal cuff around it, he saw the crimson liquid on my fingers. His brow dipped, and then he rubbed the same spot on his head as if he could feel it.

He probably could.

"Bond, remember?" I mumbled, blinking my vision clear.

The demon shifter uttered a curse in a demon language and chained my other wrist. "You're not leaving this place alive."

"We'll see," I said as he locked manacles around my ankles. "I'm pretty good at getting out of tricky situations. You should know. You helped me out of a few of them."

As he straddled me, he sat back to admire his work. "I'll never believe any of this bullshit you're spewing. I'm not a fucking idiot."

"You sure about that?"

He leaned forward, gripping my jaw. "A hundred percent sure."

"Well, you're a hundred percent wrong, and you're going to feel pretty stupid when you figure it out." I shifted my hips to a more comfortable position, rubbing against Fane.

A flash of lust whipped through his glowing irises, and even as hard as he tried, he couldn't hide it.

The demon shifter's gaze dropped, watching a bead of sweat roll down my neck and disappear between my breasts. He licked his lips as if he wanted to lick me. Memories of the night we fought in Karn's bedroom flashed through my mind.

He'd pinned me to the demon lord's bed and tried denying the lust throbbing inside him then too. So had I. I was a raven at the time and disturbed by the thought of being turned on by a nightworlder.

But even then, the demon shifter had me so hot and bothered I probably would have let him do anything to me .

Fane's pupils remained in long slits while mine thinned. The room warmed as if someone lit a fire in the hearth.

"What are you doing to me?" His rough voice swirled out like a tangible caress.

"I'm not doing anything, Maverick." My breaths came in ragged pants. "You're the one who has me chained to a bed, sitting on top of me, licking your lips like you want to eat me." I pulled at the chains to test them. They were solid and probably enchanted. Venna wasn't that stupid.

She was also confident that the spell Kaspin cast wouldn't break. She didn't know about our bond, though. She only assumed we had a connection because Fane turned me.

A resonant rumble vibrated the demon shifter's chest as he lowered over me, his nostrils flaring. "I think you like being chained up."

"Maybe I do." I'd fantasized about Fane tying me up while he took advantage of me over and over again. A strong wave of lust washed over me, hitting him so hard his head yanked back.

He'd undoubtedly felt that through the bond.

Fane's eyelids lowered to half-mast until his eyes were nothing more than burning slits. "You're using the Infernal Sol to control me, aren't you? That's why I feel like this."

My laugh ricocheted between us. "I can't make the Infernal Sol do anything. I can barely keep it from controlling me. What you're experiencing is not?—"

As if he couldn't hold back any longer, his mouth slammed onto mine in a heated kiss that went from zero to sixty in seconds. His tongue shoved into my mouth, tasting and lapping up my flavor. A moan, his or mine, erupted as he rocked his hips against mine.

Fane might have been confused about who I was, but his body certainly recognized me. His length throbbed against the apex between my thighs as he let his weight fall, pushing me into the mattress.

I'd never get used to him or get enough. Even when we hated each other, we couldn't ignore the attraction pushing us together like magnetics.

The binds bit into my wrists and ankles as I struggled to touch him. The fact that I couldn't turned me on more. Fire flooded my bloodstream, and soon, an inferno would surround us both. I didn't care, though. I'd burn in this bed with him.

Fane slid his hand up to fondle my breasts, squeezing one and making me whimper. The sound provoked his darker side, which I was hopelessly addicted to.

My beast.

A smile pulled at my lips as his movements grew rougher, and the chains rattled. Electric jolts of pleasure hit my center.

"Fane," I couldn't stop his name from tumbling off my lips in a plea for more. I wanted so much more.

His hand left my breast and slid up my neck, fingers coiling around my throat. "Why aren't you afraid?"

My husky laugh wasn't much more than a breathy moan. "I've never been afraid of you." I bit his lip, sucking it into my mouth.

"You should be." A warning radiated through his words while danger dripped from each syllable, but I ignored it. As usual.

"I like this side of you," I admitted. "You never need to hold back with me."

"Is that so?" His fingers tightened around my throat. "No holding back?" The smile that laced his lips sent frost down every vertebra.

My pulse fluttered as the danger set in. Fane was not currently the wild beast. Instead, he was the cold, calculated killer. And I was his next victim.

The demon shifter's grip tightened, completely cutting off my air. I bucked beneath him and tried to shove him off, but he was like a force of nature unleashed on the world. He wasn't letting go until he was damn good and ready.

I poked at the Infernal Sol, reaching my hand out and asking for some of its power.

I thought you'd never ask.

Wickedness slithered out from my core, twisting with my veins and muscles to give me strength. Just as the edges of my vision blackened, a burst of power erupted in me. Fane's head tilted as he felt the ancient demon amulet waking up.

"What is?—"

I yanked on the chain holding my left hand, tearing off the other end tethered to the headboard. Fane cursed as I jerked his grip off, gasping for air. I didn't give him a moment to recover before I grabbed his neck and pushed him down on the mattress beside me.

"My beast wants to play rough?" My voice was mixed with the one who harbored inside of me.

He blinked as I lowered over him. "What are you doing?"

My laugh came out huskier than usual. "Just a little taste. It's only fair." Fane didn't stop me as I gripped his jaw, pried his mouth open, and skimmed my lips over his.

This wasn't a kiss. It was so much better. I'd make it feel like a hit of pleasure neither one of us would ever come down from .

I gently coaxed it from his center, stroking his lips with my tongue. When I inhaled deeply, euphoria filled me as I took him in, brushing over every nerve ending and pleasure center. Fane's moan mirrored mine, and he gripped the back of my head, sealing our lips together, offering more of his…

Soul.

Oh fuck. I was sucking his soul out.