Chapter 32

Chapter

Thirty-Two

The moisture zapped from my mouth as Fane pushed away from the closed door. "What are you doing?"

Did he finally decided he'd had enough and couldn't resist choking the life out of me?

"I need some fucking sleep." He marched across the room to the other side of the queen bed and slipped under the covers.

I blinked, waiting on the punchline. "Why do you think sleeping in here will help?"

He hit his pillow to puff it up. "You thought it just a second ago. You didn't mean for me to hear it, but I did."

Son of a bitch. I'd said that into his head?

"Yes, you did."

My eyebrows slammed down my forehead. "Stop reading my thoughts."

"Stop projecting them to me."

With a huff, I turned on my side, giving him my back. It wasn't the smartest idea. I should have slept facing him with one eye open.

Fane's warmth swelled over me as he closed the gap between us, his body aligning with mine. "I might still kill you, maybe even while you sleep. That would be one way to get rid of your nightmares."

"Or they could permanently stick with you once I'm gone."

A low rumble shook his chest. "You would be that vindictive."

"Me vindictive?" I scoffed and yanked the covers up to my neck. "The pot calling the kettle black, Maverick."

I expected him to move away after he delivered his threat, but he remained directly behind me, curving into me as his breathing evened out.

After a few minutes, his quiet voice spilled into the room. "Did those things really happen to you? Everything in your nightmares?"

"Some of them," I admitted.

"The ones with a man in a pool house?—"

I stiffened to stone as soon as he brought up Mr. Bowden. "Don't." My stomach soured at the thought of Fane seeing what that sick bastard did to me while I was so weak and vulnerable.

Angry heat blazed from his skin like an inferno as a snarl clawed up his throat. "I'd like to hunt him down and kill him."

"I know." He'd told me the same thing when he first realized what had happened. "Be my guest. I never want to see him again."

"What if I bring you his head on a stake?" He hummed, deep in thought. "His hands too. What about his?—"

"I don't need any part of him." Tears burned in my eyes as memories of that man tried to drown me. "Kill him. Don't kill him. I don't care anymore." That was total bullshit. I wanted Mr. Bowden to die a slow, agonizing death for all the horrors he caused.

Rough fingers glided over my shoulder, and Fane's warm breath stirred my hair. "I'll slaughter him and make sure he screams for hours."

The edges of my lips twitched. Fane wanted to kill me, but he also sought vengeance on someone who hurt me.

Maybe he was starting to break through the spell all on his own.

Familiar arms wrapped around me, and a body curved against mine as warm breath blew on the back of my neck. I hadn't felt this safe and content since before Fane and I were taken to Heldrok.

My eyelids fluttered open to the blue walls of my room at the Anders, and I didn't have to look to know Fane was the one holding me. He'd slipped into my bed last night so we could attempt to sleep without my nightmares, but I didn't expect him to stay until morning. I also didn't think I'd wake up to us twined together like lovers.

His lips nuzzled my neck as his hips tilted forward, pressing his hard length into my backside. Fire zipped straight to my center, and I bit my lip to keep my groan from breaking free. He was definitely still asleep.

"Fiera mika," he mumbled in a rough, sexy voice. His hand skimmed down my side and slipped between my legs. "Too many clothes on. "

Air barely made it into my lungs as Fane pushed aside my shorts and underwear, dragging his finger through my aching center. I moaned into my pillow and bit it when bursts of electricity crackled low in my belly.

It had been so long since he touched me like that. My body was on the verge of melting into the mattress.

But he wouldn't be doing this if he was fully awake.

"Fane, you better stop." For shit's sake, I could barely get the words out. "You'll regret it if you don't."

The demon shifter rubbed against me, his flesh scorching my backside even through his sweatpants. "Fuck regret. I want your legs opening wide while I bury my?—"

Someone cleared his throat, and Fane and I jolted as Ruin leaned against the doorjamb in dark jeans and a t-shirt, still looking suave and debonair without the suit. "It's nice to see you two kids getting along, but I thought I'd interrupt before things got too hot and heavy." The demon lord winked. "Unless you'd like me to join."

Fane yanked away from me and sat up, the bloodstone bouncing on his chest. Realizing he was still in my bed and had been on the verge of ripping our clothes off, he sent me a scathing glare like it was my fault. "What are you doing here, Ruin?"

"Nice to see you too." He pushed off the doorjamb and hitched his thumb over his shoulder. "Nadia and a witch from Maleor Suprema are downstairs. They'd like to examine you to see if they can break Kaspin's spell."

I sat up, my heart slamming into my ribs. "Really? Do you think they can help?"

Ruin shrugged. "Everlee is pretty powerful, and together, they can at least come up with somewhere to start. "

"No."

Fane's sharp response caught my attention, his face hard and stare boring holes into the demon lord.

"What do you mean?" Ruin motioned his hand toward Fane. "You have to know you're under a spell, Mav. Everyone has told you that, even your mother. If you believe anyone, it should be her."

"That's not the point." He ground his teeth so hard I felt the vibrations. "Maybe I don't want the spell to be removed."

My shoulders felt like a thousand-pound weight pressed against them. "Why not?"

He yanked the covers off and placed his feet on the ground, giving me his tattooed and scarred back. "Because if there really is a spell and all of the shit everyone has been saying about us is true…" He jammed his hand through his unruly hair, his body so tense he could shatter with a tiny flick. "Then I really have betrayed my brother with his killer."

An invisible fist punched my ribs so hard I couldn't breathe. He would rather keep the urge to kill me than be with me.

"You don't get a fucking choice in this, Fane." Ruin's eyes blackened as shadows curled around his face, sharpening the edges. "It's reality."

Fane bolted from the bed and marched by the demon lord. "Well, I'm choosing a different reality."

A growl burst from Ruin's teeth. "He can really be an asshole."

"Yeah, he can." I dragged my fingers through my tangled raspberry strands. He also knew how to rip my heart to shreds.

Ruin crossed the room and sat on the edge of the bed. " We'll get him back, Tate. I promise. And when we do, he'll grovel at your feet and beg for forgiveness."

"I'll take pictures so we can blackmail him."

He chuckled. "Most definitely."

As much as I wanted to believe Kaspin's incantation could be broken, that might not be the case. Maybe this was Fane now, and I'd have to live with the pain of never having him. I always knew I didn't deserve happiness. Was this my punishment for all the bad I'd caused?